Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This site contains affiliate links.
NVIDIA's $105B Ohio Number Is a Guarantee, Not a Check
OpenAI is the 20-year tenant for 8 IT-GW at PORTS-Pike. NVIDIA is exclusive compute. SB Energy builds, owns, and operates.
Key takeaways
- OpenAI is the 20-year tenant for 8 IT-GW at PORTS-Pike. NVIDIA is exclusive compute. SB Energy builds, owns, and operates.
- The $105 billion in NVIDIA's Aug 17 8-K is a cap on residual-value guaranties, not a cash outlay.
- The check that is a check: $1.5 billion of equity into SB Energy, alongside SoftBank and OpenAI.
Local LLMs on NVIDIA Spark / ASUS GX10
NVIDIA and OpenAI announced a 20-year campus at PORTS-Pike in Ohio. OpenAI is the tenant for 8 IT-GW. NVIDIA is the exclusive compute stack. SB Energy builds, owns, and operates.
The $105 billion in NVIDIA's Aug 17 8-K is a cap on residual-value guaranties for about 4.25 IT-GW, with an option on ~3.8 more. Conditional. Ready-for-service starting around 2028. If OpenAI defaults, SB Energy finds a replacement tenant or sells. NVIDIA covers the shortfall. That is not a $105 billion check.
The check that is a check: $1.5 billion into SB Energy, alongside SoftBank and OpenAI.
First 800 MW expected in 2028. Phased through 2032. Generation on the order of 10 GW is planned. SB Energy says a $4.2 billion grid package with AEP Ohio is not on ratepayers. Community money sits on a different ledger: a $40 million fund, and up to $84 million in Codex credits for Ohio students. Neither of those is the $105 billion cap.
I run a GX10 with 128GB of unified memory. This campus is a different scoreboard. The useful habit is the same one I use on launch-day model cards: read the instrument, not the headline.
Frequently asked questions
No. The Aug 17 8-K describes residual-value guaranties with a $105 billion cap. NVIDIA covers a shortfall after default if a replacement lease or sale comes in below the guaranteed residual. The equity investment NVIDIA disclosed is $1.5 billion into SB Energy.
SB Energy builds, owns, and operates the campus. OpenAI is the tenant. NVIDIA supplies exclusive AI compute under its DSX stack.
NVIDIA and SB Energy describe first ready-for-service around 2028, starting at about 800 MW and phasing through 2032.
Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This site contains affiliate links.