TLDR
- Nvidia has cut its planned financial guarantee for OpenAI’s Ohio data center from $250 billion to under $120 billion initially.
- The change came after investors raised concerns about Nvidia’s risk exposure to large financing commitments.
- A deal between Nvidia and OpenAI could be signed as early as this weekend.
- The Ohio project is a 10-gigawatt data center developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary, and would be the largest ever if completed.
- Nvidia separately launched compute financing platforms this week with six major financial institutions, targeting over $500 billion in third-party AI infrastructure capital.
Nvidia has scaled back how much it is willing to guarantee for OpenAI’s planned Ohio data center, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Friday.
WSJ reports that Nvidia is cutting its proposed OpenAI data-center guarantee from $250B to below $120B, reducing its initial balance-sheet exposure.
The revised backstop would cover only the first roughly 5GW of a planned 10GW Ohio campus.
So basically, Nvidia is converting a… pic.twitter.com/yY3vCBBnp8
— Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) August 15, 2026
The chipmaker is now expected to back less than $120 billion for the first phase of the project, down from the $250 billion figure that had previously been under discussion.
Nvidia stock (NVDA) was trading at $225.16, down 0.06%, at the time of the report.
The two companies are said to be nearing an agreement. A deal could be signed as soon as this weekend, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Nvidia will only provide a financial backstop for the project’s first phase under the revised terms. The full scope of the project remains on the table, with OpenAI still in talks over a binding lease covering the entire 10-gigawatt site.
The Ohio development is being built by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank. If completed in full, it would be the largest data center project ever announced.
The revision came after investors pushed back on Nvidia’s exposure to large financing commitments, the Journal said.
Investor Pressure Behind the Change
Nvidia’s decision to pull back on the guarantee reflects direct pressure from its investor base. Large financing commitments tied to projects that are not yet operational create risk on the balance sheet, and investors wanted that exposure reduced.
OpenAI, despite a valuation of $852 billion, remains unprofitable. That has kept questions open about its ability to fund large-scale infrastructure buildouts over the long term.
The project is central to OpenAI’s push to own and control more of the infrastructure it uses to train and run its AI models, rather than relying entirely on outside cloud providers.
Nvidia’s Broader Financing Push
Earlier this week, Nvidia announced partnerships with six major financial institutions to launch compute financing platforms. The goal is to raise more than $500 billion in third-party capital to fund AI infrastructure.
That move is designed to bring outside investors into the funding chain for data centers and computing equipment, reducing the direct burden on companies like Nvidia itself.
The Ohio project sits within that broader shift toward complex financing structures in the AI infrastructure space.
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. OpenAI declined to comment.
OpenAI is still in active discussions over a binding lease for the full 10-gigawatt Ohio site, according to the Journal.
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