Nvidia is cutting back its planned financial guarantee for an OpenAI data center campus in Ohio from $250 billion to less than $120 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The revised structure would see Nvidia initially guarantee only about half of the multi-hundred-billion-dollar project. The change was made to address investor concerns about the chipmaker’s risk exposure, particularly after Nvidia shares fell 5% when the original $250 billion backstop was first reported. The two companies are still nearing a deal, but the reworked terms reflect a more cautious approach from Nvidia as it balances support for key customers against pressure to maintain financial discipline. Neither company has publicly commented on the revised terms.
Nvidia is scaling back the size of a planned financial guarantee for a massive OpenAI data center campus in Ohio, cutting its commitment to less than $120 billion from an earlier $250 billion figure, according to people familiar with the matter.
The revised structure, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday, would see Nvidia initially guarantee only about half of the multi-hundred-billion-dollar buildout rather than the full amount. The move is intended to address investor concerns about the chipmaker’s risk exposure as it uses its balance sheet to help drive demand for its artificial-intelligence chips.
Nvidia and OpenAI are nearing a deal to finance the large-scale data center project, but the reworked terms reflect a more cautious approach from the semiconductor giant. Some people familiar with the discussions said the change was made specifically to ease worries among shareholders about how much financial risk Nvidia was taking on.
The pullback comes after Nvidia shares fell 5% when the Journal first reported the discussions around the $250 billion backstop. Investors had signaled unease about the scale of the commitment, which would have been one of the largest financial guarantees ever extended by a technology company for a single infrastructure project.
The Ohio data center campus is viewed as a critical piece of OpenAI’s strategy to secure the computing capacity needed to train and run increasingly large AI models. Nvidia, as the dominant supplier of the graphics processing units that power such workloads, has been exploring ways to support major customers without overextending its own finances.
Neither Nvidia nor OpenAI has publicly commented on the revised terms. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.
The Pike County Site and Its Financing Web
The campus at the center of the guarantee sits on U.S. Department of Energy land in Pike County, Ohio, on the site of a decommissioned uranium-enrichment plant. First disclosed in March, the project is designed to eventually support roughly 10 gigawatts of AI computing capacity, with a first phase of about 800 megawatts targeted for 2028, according to CNBC.
SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary in which OpenAI is also an investor, is building the roughly 10 gigawatts of new power generation needed to supply the site, including about 9.2 gigawatts of natural gas plants. As part of a broader U.S.-Japan trade agreement, Japan’s government has committed $33 billion to that natural-gas power project; Japan and the U.S. will split power-sale revenue until Tokyo recovers its investment, after which Washington is set to collect 90% of the proceeds.
Importantly, Nvidia’s guarantee covers only the lease and construction debt for the campus itself, not the GPUs that will fill it. The chip purchases are being negotiated as a separate financing arrangement that people familiar with the talks say could total as much as $350 billion, layered on top of the roughly $30 billion Nvidia already contributed to OpenAI’s record funding round in March.
| Nvidia-OpenAI Financial Ties | Amount | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity investment | ~$30B (of a planned $100B) | OpenAI funding round | Completed, March 2026 |
| Data center backstop | Under $120B, down from $250B | Guarantees Ohio campus lease and construction debt | In negotiation (this report) |
| Chip financing | Up to $350B, reported | Financing OpenAI’s GPU purchases from Nvidia | Separate talks, unconfirmed |
Investor Pressure Reshapes Deal
The decision to trim the guarantee underscores the tension between Nvidia’s ambitions to lock in long-term demand for its chips and the need to maintain investor confidence in its financial discipline.
Nvidia has spent much of the past two years riding an unprecedented wave of AI-driven growth, with its market value soaring as companies raced to build out data center infrastructure. But the company’s willingness to backstop customer projects with its own balance sheet has raised questions about how far it can go before investors begin to balk.
The initial $250 billion guarantee would have represented roughly a quarter of Nvidia’s market capitalization at the time, a figure that some analysts viewed as excessive. By reducing the commitment to under $120 billion, Nvidia appears to be striking a balance between supporting key customers and protecting its own financial position.
| Key Figures | Original Plan | Revised Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Nvidia financial guarantee | $250 billion | Less than $120 billion |
| Guarantee as share of buildout | Full amount | Approximately half |
| Nvidia share price reaction | -5% after initial report | Not yet disclosed |
Note: Figures based on the report and people familiar with the discussions.
What’s Next for the Ohio Campus
The Ohio data center project remains one of the largest single-site computing infrastructure initiatives in the United States. While the revised guarantee reduces Nvidia’s immediate financial exposure, the overall scale of the buildout is not expected to change materially.
OpenAI has been aggressively expanding its computing footprint as it competes with rivals including Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft-backed initiatives. The company’s reliance on Nvidia hardware makes the chipmaker a natural financing partner, even as the two companies navigate the complexities of structuring a deal that satisfies both operational needs and investor expectations.
The renegotiation also highlights a broader shift in how AI infrastructure projects are being financed. Rather than relying on a single backer to guarantee the full cost, developers are increasingly turning to layered financing structures that spread risk across multiple parties.
For Nvidia, the message to Wall Street is clear: the company remains committed to supporting the AI buildout, but not at any cost. The trimmed guarantee suggests that even the most aggressive players in the AI economy are beginning to apply more conventional financial discipline to their expansion plans.
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