Nvidia and OpenAI discuss a $250 billion infrastructure backstop

CNBC reporters Ashley Capoot and Kate Rooney describe Nvidia and OpenAI's talks over a proposed financing backstop for a 10-gigawatt data-center campus in Ohio. The article covers the debt Nvidia may support, the scale of the campus, and the companies already financing OpenAI's infrastructure.

CNBC reports that Nvidia may put its credit behind as much as $250 billion of lease and construction debt for an OpenAI data-center campus in Pike County, Ohio. Financing for the Nvidia chips is under separate discussion.

The former uranium-enrichment site could cost more than $500 billion and use 10 gigawatts of power. CNBC compares that with the annual electricity use of about 8 million U.S. homes. The site and financing terms remain under negotiation. Nvidia declined to comment.

Nvidia and OpenAI had previously announced a plan under which Nvidia could invest up to $100 billion as OpenAI deployed at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems. CNBC says that plan did not happen, although Nvidia invested $30 billion in OpenAI's March funding round.

CNBC reports that OpenAI has confidentially filed for an IPO without disclosing a timetable and is valued near $1 trillion by private investors. SoftBank and SB Energy are developing the Ohio campus with the U.S. Department of Energy. SoftBank is also a major OpenAI investor.