OpenAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) research and deployment company behind ChatGPT, has signed onto a 20-year data centre lease in Ohio, with financial backing worth up to $105 billion coming from NVIDIA, world leader in artificial intelligence computing. The arrangement forms part of a broader partnership between NVIDIA and SB Energy, an infrastructure developer that will handle both construction and operation of the facility.
OpenAI has entered into an agreement to utilize capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Data Center in Pike County, Ohio, working with SB Energy, NVIDIA, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Pike County helped power American industry in the last century. Here’s how we’ll ensure this…
— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) August 17, 2026
Set to begin in 2028, the lease positions OpenAI as the primary tenant at what’s being called the PORTS Technology Campus, a large-scale AI data centre project taking shape in Ohio, underscoring just how much physical infrastructure is now required to keep pace with surging AI compute demand.
Inside The Structure Of The Deal
According to NVIDIA’s own announcement, the facility will run on the company’s full-stack DSX AI factory platform, combining GPUs, CPUs, and networking hardware into a single integrated compute environment. NVIDIA has already secured an initial 4.25 IT-gigawatts of capacity at the site, with the option to expand that further by another 3.75 IT-gigawatts down the line.
A separate SEC filing from NVIDIA revealed that the company’s total financial commitment under these agreements is capped cumulatively at $105 billion. As part of the lease terms, NVIDIA has also agreed to cover any gap between the guaranteed minimum value of the lease and whatever amount gets recovered if the space needs to be re-leased or sold to someone else.
A Deal That Reflects Explosive Demand For AI Infrastructure
NVIDIA has been vocal about how quickly AI compute needs are scaling, describing AI itself as evolving into a form of infrastructure that now demands its own dedicated stack of critical resources.
The Ohio agreement also lands at a notable moment for OpenAI, arriving ahead of what could be a public listing as soon as next year. That said, prediction markets aren’t fully convinced of the timeline data from Polymarket currently places only a 20% probability on OpenAI actually going public within this calendar year.
NVIDIA’s CEO Pushes Back On Circular Financing Concerns
Given the eye-watering figures involved, questions naturally surfaced about whether this arrangement amounts to circular financing, where NVIDIA essentially funds its own customer’s purchases.
Source: nvidia.com
Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s chief executive, addressed that directly in a public post, clarifying that OpenAI itself will be responsible for lease payments. He also noted that if OpenAI ultimately doesn’t use the full capacity, NVIDIA retains the ability to resell it elsewhere, pointing to the flexibility of its compute across a wide network of cloud providers, enterprises, AI labs, and startups worldwide.
— Jensen Huang (@JensenHuang) August 17, 2026
Huang framed the PORTS-Pike agreement as a natural extension of NVIDIA’s evolution, tracing the company’s journey from building standalone chips to now delivering complete AI factory systems spanning networking, software, and infrastructure. He also connected the deal to NVIDIA’s recent open-source push, referencing the company’s release of its Nemotron 3.5 Lightning model, part of a broader strategy to encourage adoption of open-weight AI systems that ultimately drive more demand for NVIDIA’s underlying hardware.
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