Nvidia is in talks to back OpenAI’s ambitious 20-year lease for a sprawling data center campus in Pike County, Ohio. The project, part of OpenAI’s Stargate initiative, aims to build a 10-gigawatt facility with total construction costs expected to surpass $500 billion. The first phase targets 800 megawatts of capacity, set to be operational by 2028.
Building an AI Powerhouse
The Ohio campus will function as a vertically integrated AI production hub, featuring 9.2 gigawatts of natural gas power generation on site. This energy component is a collaboration with SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary, and backed by support from the US Department of Energy. The scale of the project is unprecedented, representing one of the largest AI infrastructure integration efforts ever attempted.
Unlike typical suppliers who simply deliver GPUs, Nvidia is being asked to share the capital risk by financially supporting the lease itself. This marks a significant shift where hardware companies invest directly in infrastructure, not just the equipment. The move follows Nvidia’s 2025 commitment to allocate up to $100 billion towards deploying at least 10 gigawatts of AI hardware configurations, and this Ohio deal seems to be the first tangible step in fulfilling that promise.
Investors should watch the financing structure closely. If chipmakers begin routinely backing infrastructure leases, it could change how capital moves through the tech sector. With the initial phase not going live until 2028, the project still faces hurdles in permitting, construction, power grid integration, and regulatory review, especially given its size and location in rural Appalachia.
