Nvidia invests $1.5B in SoftBank data center for OpenAI project

Key takeaway

• Nvidia is investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy, a data center developer co-backed by SoftBank and OpenAI, and committing up to $105 billion in credit to build a facility near Cincinnati that will serve as OpenAI's primary compute infrastructure.

• Nvidia becomes the sole hardware supplier for the project, which will scale from 4.25 gigawatts to 8 gigawatts and rely on a new 9.2 gigawatt natural gas power plant expected to cost $33 billion.

3 Key Points

FAQ

Where is the data center being built, and what was the site used for before?

The data center is being built near Cincinnati, Ohio on land owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. The site previously enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal and for U.S. Navy submarines.

How much power will the facility need, and what is the cost of the power plant?

The data center could scale from an initial 4.25 gigawatts to 8 gigawatts in size. SB Energy will build a 9.2 gigawatt natural gas power plant on the site, expected to cost $33 billion.

Why are power plant costs so high?

Natural gas power plant construction costs have risen 66% in the last two years, according to BloombergNEF.