Nvidia Weighs $250B Guarantee for OpenAI Data Center Financing

According to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter, Nvidia is in talks to provide a roughly $250 billion（約40兆円） financial backstop for OpenAI's planned 10-gigawatt AI data center in southern Ohio. The guarantee would cover financing tied to the data center lease and construction debt, allowing OpenAI to secure favorable terms despite lacking an investment-grade credit rating. Separately, Nvidia and OpenAI are discussing an additional $350 billion（約56兆円） in financing specifically for Nvidia chip purchases—reflecting the staggering compute requirements of the facility. The project is being developed by SoftBank Group's energy subsidiary and is expected to deliver approximately 800 megawatts in its first phase by 2028, with a total cost potentially exceeding $500 billion（約80兆円）. Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic have also reportedly expressed interest in the site. Neither Nvidia nor OpenAI immediately responded to requests for comment on the arrangement.

The financing proposal has triggered criticism from prominent investors. Michael Burry, known for shorting subprime mortgages ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, reacted on social media with the phrase "Around and around we go. Nvidia to guarantee $200 billion（約32兆円） of ChatGPT's spending on $NVDA chips." On Friday, Burry disclosed that he had increased his short position in Nvidia at $210.28, along with added short positions in Micron, Caterpillar, and a semiconductor ETF, while leaving his bearish Tesla bet unchanged. Tech commentator Ed Zitron expressed similar reservations, writing that the arrangement was "insane on so many levels" and questioning where the underlying capital would originate, particularly given SoftBank's role as the project's developer.

The proposed financing arrangement sits at the intersection of AI infrastructure scale-up and financial engineering. OpenAI, lacking investment-grade credit, would struggle to borrow $250 billion（約40兆円） on its own terms for the Ohio data center project; Nvidia's guarantee essentially substitutes its own creditworthiness for OpenAI's. The structure creates a tightly coupled loop: Nvidia backs OpenAI's debt, enabling OpenAI to build infrastructure and purchase Nvidia's chips at enormous scale (potentially another $350 billion（約56兆円） in chip financing).

Investor concern, voiced by Burry and tech commentator Ed Zitron, centers on the circularity and risk concentration. Burry noted the arrangement as "Around and around we go," highlighting the feedback loop in which Nvidia guarantees spending on its own chips. Zitron questioned both the structure's sustainability and SoftBank's role as developer, asking where the underlying capital would ultimately come from. The deal effectively ties Nvidia's balance sheet to OpenAI's ability to execute, build, and deploy—a concentration of risk that may concern Nvidia shareholders even as it unlocks a multi-hundred-billion-dollar infrastructure deal.

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