Archive · 18 Aug 2026
OpenAI Signs 20-Year 10-Gigawatt Ohio Data Center Lease
OpenAI makes smart computer programs called artificial intelligence, or AI.
These programs need giant buildings full of computers, called data centers, to think and learn.
OpenAI signed a very big deal to rent a data center in Ohio for 20 years.
The building will use a huge amount of electricity, enough to power seven million homes.
A company called Nvidia, which makes computer chips, is helping pay for the project.
Nvidia will also be the only chip seller for the first half of the building.
Another company called SB Energy, owned by SoftBank, will build the data center.
The land used to be a place where the government made nuclear fuel.
This is one of the biggest data-center projects ever announced.
OpenAI signed a 20-year, 10-gigawatt data-center lease in Ohio with SoftBank's SB Energy, described as the largest data-center project announced to date.
Nvidia will backstop up to $105 billion of the initial phase's value and serve as exclusive chip provider for the first half of the site.
Nvidia will make a $1.5 billion equity investment in SB Energy, which is majority-owned by Japan's SoftBank.
The southern Ohio campus sits partly on a former uranium-enrichment site owned by the US Department of Energy and could power seven million homes.
SB Energy is reportedly working with bankers on a possible IPO as soon as next month, aiming to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion.
- Who
- OpenAI, Nvidia, and SoftBank's SB Energy, with involvement from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright
- What
- A 20-year, 10-gigawatt data-center lease in Ohio, described as the largest data-center project announced to date, with Nvidia backing part of its value
- When
- No specific date was given; the agreement was signed after weeks of negotiations
- Where
- Southern Ohio, partly on a former uranium-enrichment site owned by the US Department of Energy
- Why
- To help OpenAI secure large-scale computing capacity for AI, with Nvidia's backstop making the project cheaper to finance
- Lease term
- 20 years
- Power capacity
- 10 gigawatts
- Initial phase
- About 5 gigawatts
- Nvidia backstop
- Up to $105 billion for the initial phase
- Nvidia equity investment
- $1.5 billion in SB Energy
- SB Energy majority owner
- SoftBank (Japan)
- Site
- Former uranium-enrichment site owned by the US Department of Energy
- SB Energy IPO
- Possible as soon as next month, targeting $5-7 billion