NVIDIA Will Back a $600 Billion AI Computing Deal with OpenAI Anchored by a 20-Year Ohio Campus
The chipmaker is guaranteeing power and land costs at a giant data centre site in Portsmouth, Ohio, where OpenAI will run what NVIDIA says could eventually hold 1.5 million of its processors per generation.
Key points
- NVIDIA announced a partnership with energy developer SB Energy to secure a 20-year data centre site at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Portsmouth, Ohio.
- OpenAI will be the paying tenant at the site, which is expected to reach 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity.
- Each generation of processors deployed at the site could represent roughly 1.5 million NVIDIA GPUs and between $150 billion and $200 billion in NVIDIA revenue.
- OpenAI's total commitments to NVIDIA computing infrastructure through 2030 could reach approximately $600 billion across roughly 12 to 16 gigawatts of capacity.
- NVIDIA's financial guarantee covers defined portions of lease and power payments, not the full cost of the site.
NVIDIA is stepping into a role most people would not expect from a chip company: landlord and financial backer for one of the world's most powerful AI laboratories.
The company announced it is partnering with SB Energy, a clean-power developer, to secure long-term land and power capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Portsmouth, Ohio. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, will move in as the tenant and run its AI training and product work there.
What is actually being built here?
Think of it as a purpose-built factory, except instead of cars or microchips, it produces artificial intelligence. The site is expected to hold 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity. For context, a single gigawatt can power roughly 750,000 average American homes. Most of that electricity will run processors around the clock, training and running AI models.
Each full deployment of NVIDIA's latest processors at the site could include around 1.5 million GPUs (the specialised chips that do the heavy number-crunching AI needs). NVIDIA says each such deployment represents between $150 billion and $200 billion in revenue for the company.
The deal stretches 20 years, and the plan is to swap in newer, more powerful chips every few years as technology improves, the way a factory replaces its machinery without tearing down the building.
Why is NVIDIA guaranteeing the lease?
NVIDIA is not just selling chips here. It is co-signing the real estate.
The company says frontier AI labs, a term for organisations doing the most advanced AI research and development, often grow faster than their finances can support. They may have strong revenue but lack the credit history that landlords and power companies need before signing 20-year contracts. NVIDIA, which has the balance sheet and long-term purchasing relationships that those labs do not yet have, is stepping in to bridge that gap.
The guarantee covers specific portions of lease and power payments, not every dollar the site costs. As OpenAI pays rent and data centres come online between 2028 and 2030, NVIDIA's exposure shrinks.
How big is the total OpenAI commitment?
The PORTS-Pike deal sits inside a much larger arrangement. OpenAI has committed to deploying NVIDIA computing infrastructure across roughly 12 gigawatts of capacity through 2030, with room to expand to 16 gigawatts if NVIDIA extends the Ohio agreement. At those scales, NVIDIA estimates the total opportunity at approximately $600 billion in compute.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Initial site capacity | 4.25 gigawatts |
| Potential site expansion | Up to 3.75 additional gigawatts |
| GPUs per generation at PORTS-Pike | ~1.5 million |
| Revenue per generation | $150 billion to $200 billion |
| OpenAI total capacity commitment (to 2030) | ~12 to 16 gigawatts |
| Total estimated NVIDIA revenue opportunity | ~$600 billion |
What does this mean for ordinary people?
For most people, the direct impact is indirect. More computing capacity means OpenAI can build and run larger, more capable AI models, which flow into products like ChatGPT. Faster, cheaper, and more capable AI tools tend to reach consumers sooner when the underlying infrastructure exists to support them.
NVIDIA is also explicit that if OpenAI ever stops using the site, the company believes it can find another tenant from its network of cloud providers, businesses, and other AI labs.
Common questions
Is this a loan from NVIDIA to OpenAI?
NVIDIA says no. OpenAI pays the lease directly. NVIDIA's role is closer to a co-signer: it uses its own financial scale and long-term supplier relationships to help secure the site, then steps back as OpenAI's payments reduce the shared exposure over time.
When will this actually be running?
NVIDIA says data centres at the site are expected to come online in phases between 2028 and 2030. The 20-year term means new generations of chips will keep arriving at the site well into the 2040s.
Could NVIDIA do this for other AI companies?
The company says it plans to be selective, focusing on sites that can support multiple chip generations and tenants with durable long-term demand. Most of NVIDIA's customers, including large cloud providers, are expected to keep securing their own land and power independently.
