Insiders: NVIDIA reduces its plan to provide $250 billion in guarantees for OpenAI's data center

According to informed sources, NVIDIA is about to reach an agreement with OpenAI to provide financing for a large data center park in Ohio, but the two parties have modified the transaction structure: NVIDIA initially guaranteed only half of the construction project worth tens of billions of dollars, rather than the full amount.

Some insiders stated that the revised plan reduces NVIDIA's financial guarantee scale from $250 billion to below $120 billion. This adjustment was made to alleviate investors' concerns about the chip manufacturer's risk exposure—NVIDIA is using its own balance sheet to stimulate market demand for its AI chips. The transaction could be signed as early as this weekend.

Under the current negotiation framework, NVIDIA will provide financial backing for the first phase of the project, with a total power supply scale of approximately 5 gigawatts; subsequent decisions will be made on whether and how to finance the remaining portion. Two individuals familiar with the project indicated that OpenAI is still negotiating and plans to sign a binding lease for the project's 10 gigawatts of computing power in the coming days.

The 10 gigawatt project is being developed by SBEnergy, a subsidiary of Japan's SoftBank, and will become the largest publicly announced data center project to date upon completion.

Media reports indicate that the initial guarantee will cover the data center lease and the debt required for project construction; by enhancing lenders' confidence in the project's funding security, this will lower the borrowing costs for the project. NVIDIA is also negotiating another independent transaction to provide financing for chip procurement for OpenAI, with the total scale of chip procurement for the entire project potentially reaching $350 billion. The project's power resources are controlled by the U.S. government, and according to a recent trade agreement, Japan will provide separate funding.

Informed sources stated that Goldman Sachs is serving as the transaction advisor for SBEnergy, while Morgan Stanley is advising NVIDIA.

The two companies announced on Monday that NVIDIA will announce this week that it will collaborate with Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to establish a "computing power financing platform." The parties plan to invest over $500 billion in external capital over the next few years, aiming to provide financing for chip procurement at "attractive interest rates."

In September last year, NVIDIA signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI, under which NVIDIA would build at least 10 gigawatts of computing power for OpenAI, while the chip company committed to contributing up to $100 billion to help OpenAI cover related costs. However, reports indicated that the agreement was once stalled due to doubts from some senior executives within NVIDIA regarding the transaction