Nvidia Backs Giant Ohio AI Data Center

Nvidia (NVDA) is investing $1.5 billion in the developer SB Energy to help fund the PORTS‑Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, a large‑scale data center project focused on artificial intelligence workloads. The arrangement is structured so that SB Energy will build, own and operate the campus, while Nvidia provides both capital and credit support for the development.

The campus is planned as a significant source of AI computing capacity. The initial deployment is designed to support 4.25 gigawatts of IT capacity dedicated to AI "factory" workloads, with an option for Nvidia to extend its participation beyond the initial capacity. This structure gives Nvidia a path to scale its involvement as demand for AI compute grows.

OpenAI will lease the PORTS‑Pike Technology Campus for twenty years, creating a long‑duration demand profile for the site’s computing resources. Within that framework, Nvidia will be the exclusive provider of the AI compute infrastructure installed at the campus, positioning its platforms at the core of the facility’s operations.

Nvidia states that at the Ohio site it has secured land, power and shell capacity, ensuring the foundational inputs for hosting large‑scale AI systems. By locking in these elements alongside a long‑term tenant, the company is aligning infrastructure availability with anticipated future needs for advanced AI models and services.

As part of the arrangement, Nvidia describes its exposure as covering defined portions of lease and power payments at the PORTS‑Pike campus, supported by credit commitments. In addition, the company has agreed to a specified residual‑value commitment tied to the facility, sharing some of the long‑term infrastructure risk associated with the buildout.

These financial commitments are intended to underpin the development while enabling repeated deployment of Nvidia’s accelerated computing stack over time. Capacity at the campus is expected to begin coming online in 2028, giving Nvidia a multi‑year runway to supply successive hardware generations into a single, scalable AI‑focused site.

The Ohio project illustrates Nvidia’s strategy of expanding from solely selling chips into securing broader AI infrastructure, including land, power and data center shells. By participating directly in the physical layer of AI facilities and becoming the exclusive compute provider, Nvidia aims to embed its systems deeply into long‑lived AI data center campuses.

With an initial 4.25‑gigawatt design and optional expansion, the PORTS‑Pike campus offers Nvidia a concentrated venue to supply large volumes of AI compute. The combination of a 20‑year lease to OpenAI, SB Energy’s role as owner‑operator, and Nvidia’s investment and guarantees is structured to support sustained deployment of AI infrastructure starting in 2028.