Nvidia to invest US$1.5 billion in SB Energy under OpenAI data centre deal

[NEW YORK] Nvidia will invest US$1.5 billion in SoftBank-backed SB Energy and secure up to 8 gigawatts of AI computing capacity at an Ohio campus being built by the data centre developer for OpenAI.

The deal is the latest where Nvidia is financing the ecosystem consuming its chips, a strategy that has helped fuel demand but also drawn scrutiny over the circular flows of funds from the chipmaker to its biggest customers.

Leading tech firms are increasingly tying together chips, power and data centre development as they race to secure the infrastructure needed for increasingly power-hungry AI models.

Chip giant Nvidia has secured land and power at Ohio’s PORTS-Pike Technology Campus for an AI data centre that will use its graphics processors and networking gear, with an initial capacity of 4.25 GW.

SB Energy and SoftBank plan to build at least 10 GW of new power generation and invest US$4.2 billion in Ohio grid infrastructure to support AI data centres.

Also backed by OpenAI, SB Energy develops large-scale power and data centre infrastructure projects. Founded in 2019, the company is building several data centre campuses to support rising demand tied to AI workloads. REUTERS