Nvidia is in talks to invest up to $3 billion in SB Energy, the SoftBank subsidiary developing a massive data center campus in Ohio for OpenAI, according to a report from The Information. The proposed investment is part of broader negotiations over roughly $100 billion in credit support for the project, underscoring the enormous capital required to build AI infrastructure.
The report, citing people familiar with the discussions, said Nvidia has discussed providing half of the $3 billion investment when the Ohio project agreement is signed, with the remaining $1.5 billion potentially invested through SB Energy's planned initial public offering. That IPO could come as soon as next month and may raise at least $5 billion.
A shift toward physical infrastructure
The potential deal would deepen Nvidia's involvement in the physical infrastructure behind the AI boom. Nvidia is best known for supplying advanced processors used to train and run AI models, but the rapid expansion of AI workloads has created an equally significant need for data centers, electricity and financing.
SB Energy, which is also backed by OpenAI, develops large-scale power and data center infrastructure. Founded in 2019, the company is building multiple data center campuses designed for growing AI workloads. The Ohio project is considered notably viable because it is part of OpenAI's broader effort to secure the computing capacity needed to train and operate increasingly powerful AI models.
The scale of the proposed financing illustrates just how much capital the AI infrastructure buildout requires. Data centers cost billions to construct, and the electricity systems needed to power them demand additional investment in generation, transmission and storage.
For Nvidia, this is more than a conventional investment in an infrastructure company. It would align one of the world's largest AI chip suppliers with the companies building the facilities in which those chips will ultimately operate.
An evolving financing structure
The proposed Ohio financing has shifted significantly in recent months. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Nvidia revised its plans to support the OpenAI data center project and is now expected to initially guarantee less than $120 billion, down from the $250 billion previously discussed. That reduction suggests the financing structure remains fluid as the companies determine how much capital and credit support will ultimately be required.
The potential SB Energy investment could also provide Nvidia another route to participate directly in the infrastructure buildout, without limiting its role to supplying chips. A public listing that raises at least $5 billion would give SB Energy additional capital to expand its portfolio while AI companies compete aggressively for access to electricity and computing capacity.
The discussions point to the growing interconnection among Nvidia, OpenAI and SoftBank, with SB Energy sitting at the intersection of those interests. For IT leaders, the deal signals that the next phase of AI competition will focus as much on physical assets and capital access as on model performance.
The proposed investment remains subject to negotiations, and the broader credit-support arrangement has yet to be finalized. But the talks highlight how the boundaries between AI developers, chipmakers, infrastructure companies and financial investors are blurring as the industry enters a capital-intensive expansion phase.
For IT professionals responsible for AI strategy, the infrastructure procurement cycle is fundamentally shifting. The economics of AI now require large-scale facilities, power procurement and financing structures, not just semiconductor choice. For IT managers, this shifts more attention toward capacity and energy, directly impacting infrastructure roadmap decisions - from how much compute to reserve, to where workloads should run, and whether third-party facility providers make sense in many cases. For a deeper look at how these shifts affect planning, AI for IT Managers addresses the skills needed in infrastructure-heavy roles. And for those tracking how these AI capital dynamics shape their job function, AI for IT & Development covers relevant topics for this audience.
What happens next
The discussions are still ongoing, and the investment size could change before any final agreement. The involvement of the three companies - Nvidia, OpenAI and SoftBank - highlights the scale of resources required to build out AI's physical footprint.
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