Nvidia's OpenAI data center guarantee just got signed at $105 billion — less than half the number first reported
Nvidia finalized a guarantee of up to $105 billion for the first phase of OpenAI's Ohio data center campus, down from the $250 billion floated in July. The signed deal also confirms who a GC or sub would actually be contracting with: SB Energy, not OpenAI or Nvidia.
Nvidia finalized its guarantee for OpenAI's Ohio data center campus on August 17 at up to $105 billion — a little over a third of the $250 billion figure first reported in late July. The number matters less than what the signed deal confirms: SB Energy, not OpenAI or Nvidia, is the entity building, owning, and operating the site, which is the party a GC or sub would actually be contracting with.
What's now confirmed that wasn't in July
Construction AI Brief covered the rumored version of this deal three weeks ago: Nvidia was reportedly in early talks to backstop $250 billion in debt for a 10-gigawatt campus, with the deal described as fluid and possibly headed nowhere. It's no longer a rumor. Nvidia, OpenAI, and SB Energy announced the signed terms on August 17:
| Reported in July | Signed August 17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Nvidia guarantee | ~$250 billion (talks only) | Up to $105 billion, covering the first 4.25 GW |
| Total campus size | 10 GW | 8 GW-IT, with 3.75 GW of the guarantee still optional |
| First phase | ~800 MW | 4.25 GW |
| Nvidia's other involvement | Not specified | $1.5 billion direct equity stake in SB Energy |
| Deal status | Early-stage talks | Signed |
The site is the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio — the same location reported in July. SB Energy, SoftBank's energy subsidiary, is developing the campus and will own and operate it under a 20-year lease to OpenAI. The first capacity is targeted for 2028, with the full buildout running through 2032.
Who does a GC actually sign with here?
This is the piece that was still fuzzy in July. With the deal signed, the contracting chain is specific: SB Energy is the developer and long-term owner. OpenAI is the tenant paying rent under a 20-year lease. Nvidia is a financial guarantor plus a minority equity investor in SB Energy — not a party to construction contracts. For a GC or major sub evaluating this award, the entity whose bonding requirements, payment terms, and change-order process you're actually working under is SB Energy (or its general contractor), not OpenAI and not Nvidia. The guarantee is what got the debt priced and the project funded; it doesn't sit anywhere in your pay chain.
Why did the guarantee shrink by more than half?
Going from a rumored $250 billion covering a full 10-gigawatt build to a signed $105 billion covering the first 4.25 gigawatts — with the remaining 3.75 gigawatts left as an option rather than a commitment — reads as lenders and Nvidia declining to underwrite the whole campus in one shot. That's consistent with what this newsletter has tracked all year: even with a chipmaker's balance sheet behind it, debt markets are pricing AI data center risk in phases, not all at once. A 35,000-job, six-year construction commitment is real, but the financing structure signals that the people writing the checks still want to see the first phase perform before extending to the rest.
The takeaway for anyone bidding this work
The mechanic's lien and payment-bond questions from July haven't changed — Nvidia's guarantee still doesn't reach subcontractors directly. What's new is that there's now a specific, named owner of record to run diligence on: SB Energy's bonding capacity, its track record on prior builds, and its GC selection process, rather than an abstract question about who might eventually stand behind the money. If your firm is being pulled into pre-qualification for PORTS-Pike or a comparable SB Energy site, that's where the due diligence should start.
- What did Nvidia actually agree to on August 17, 2026?
- Nvidia agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion in financing for the first phase of the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio — an 8-gigawatt data center campus SB Energy is building for OpenAI. The guarantee covers the initial 4.25 gigawatts of capacity, with an option to extend it to cover 3.75 more. Nvidia is separately investing $1.5 billion in equity directly into SB Energy.
- Who is building and who will own the Ohio data center?
- SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, is developing, building, and will own and operate the campus. OpenAI is the tenant, leasing the capacity for 20 years. Nvidia's role is a financial guarantee that makes the construction debt easier to finance — it isn't the builder or the owner.
- How many construction jobs will the project create?
- OpenAI's announcement puts the figure at roughly 35,000 construction jobs over a six-year buildout running through 2032, plus about 2,500 permanent operating jobs once the campus is running. The first phase of capacity is targeted to come online in 2028.
- Why did the guarantee shrink from the $250 billion reported in July to $105 billion?
- The Wall Street Journal reported in late July that Nvidia was in early talks to guarantee roughly $250 billion for a full 10-gigawatt build. The signed deal covers a smaller initial commitment — the first 4.25 gigawatts, with an option on the rest — at $105 billion. That's a sign lenders and Nvidia priced the project's risk in stages rather than backstopping the whole 10-gigawatt build at once.
- Does Nvidia's guarantee mean subcontractors are protected if OpenAI can't pay?
- No. The guarantee backstops the construction and lease debt that lenders extended to SB Energy — it doesn't create a payment relationship between Nvidia and the contractors working the job. A sub's payment protection still runs through its actual contract, typically with SB Energy or its general contractor, and through standard mechanic's lien and payment bond rights, not through Nvidia's credit guarantee.