SANTA CLARA, California: Nvidia has agreed to guarantee up to US$105 billion to support OpenAI's lease of a major Ohio data center being developed by SoftBank-owned SB Energy, marking one of the chipmaker's largest infrastructure financing commitments.

Nvidia said it will also invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, following a $1 billion investment from OpenAI and SoftBank earlier this year to expand data center infrastructure.

The deal is another example of Nvidia financing infrastructure built around its chips, a strategy that helps drive demand but has also prompted questions about circular funding between the company and its customers.

Last week, Nvidia partnered with six major financial institutions, including BlackRock, to launch financing platforms targeting more than $500 billion in third-party funding for AI infrastructure.

CEO Jensen Huang rejected the suggestion that the Ohio agreement represented circular financing, saying Nvidia was using "its scale and long-term visibility" to help.

"We are securing long-lived infrastructure for Nvidia compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics," Huang said.

Nvidia will be the exclusive chip provider for the Pike County, Ohio, facility, which will have total capacity of up to 8 gigawatts. The first 800 megawatts are expected to come online in 2028, while OpenAI is leasing the site for 20 years.

Nvidia said its guarantee covers part of the lease and power payments and includes a commitment to ensure the site retains a minimum value. It does not cover the project's full cost or all of OpenAI's obligations.

OpenAI will pay the rent. If it defaults, Nvidia will cover the difference between the guaranteed minimum value and what the owner can recover by re-leasing or selling the site.

Huang said the site, which would have an initial capacity of 4.25 gigawatts, could generate as much as $200 billion in revenue for Nvidia. Overall, Nvidia could make $600 billion in revenue from OpenAI by 2030 by selling it 16 gigawatts of computing power, including a 3.75-gigawatt expansion of the Ohio facility.

SoftBank and SB Energy plan to support the project by building at least 10 gigawatts of new power generation and investing $4.2 billion in new regional grid infrastructure through a partnership with AEP Ohio.

The project is expected to create about 35,000 construction jobs through 2032 and around 2,500 long-term operating jobs, OpenAI said.