Nvidia in Talks to Back OpenAI Lease of SoftBank US Data Center

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Or sign-in if you have an account.(Bloomberg) — Nvidia Corp. is in discussions to provide a financing guarantee to help OpenAI lease computing from a US data center project planned for 2028, underscoring how the world’s most valuable company is funneling capital into the infrastructure that drives its business.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountNvidia is in discussions to help the creator of ChatGPT lease a $500 billion, 10-gigawatt hub that SoftBank Group Corp. is overseeing in Ohio, people familiar with the matter said. The US chipmaker may provide a guarantee of as much as $250 billion to the AI lab, one of the people said. Negotiations are in their early stages and could collapse or financing terms may change, the people said, asking to remain anonymous to describe private talks. A guarantee by Nvidia would highlight the increasingly circular financing behind the AI boom, as tech giants fund ever-larger projects that ultimately generate business for themselves. Investors have in recent weeks begun to cool on lofty tech stock valuations, worried that there’s more capacity under construction than future AI services will require. Big US players from Meta Platforms Inc. to Alphabet Inc. have accelerated borrowing in recent months to bankroll that historic buildout, prompting fears about overly ambitious spending on a technology that’s yet to provide consistent returns.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe Ohio data center complex as envisioned would be among the largest in the world — a mega-symbol of the enormous demand for computing to propel AI development. It’s also a centerpiece project for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and the Trump administration, which hailed the investment as a major win. The Japanese investment powerhouse intends to join big tech firms in driving trillions of dollars into data center construction and AI development in coming years. A major financing deal involving Nvidia would help SoftBank borrow more capital for its tentpole Ohio project, which is being developed by subsidiary SB Energy.“While Nvidia’s investments and partnerships reinforce confidence in long-term AI buildouts, investors remain concerned about circular financing,” said Gary Tan, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments. ChatGPT’s developer has been in talks to secure that capacity for weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier. Nvidia is separately discussing financing for OpenAI chip purchases that may total $350 billion, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Representatives for Nvidia, OpenAI and SoftBank didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.What Bloomberg Intelligence SaysNvidia’s talks to provide a roughly $250 billion financing backstop for an OpenAI data-center lease, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, look constructive for CoreWeave, Crusoe Energy and other neoclouds. The structure suggests Nvidia is prepared to support larger AI infrastructure build-outs, easing concern that capacity demand is fading or that funding markets won’t absorb the next wave of projects. Alphabet’s capex increase last week pointed to sustained hyperscaler spending, and similar signals from Microsoft, Amazon and Meta this earnings season would reinforce our view that high-end AI computing remains supply-constrained. We’ll watch whether Google makes similar credit-wrapper commitments to neocloud partners in its orbit, as it previously did with Fluidstack, and whether such backing lowers financing costs. This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.– Anurag Rana and Josh Christensen, analystsClick here for the research.Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has directed billions of dollars into companies throughout the AI supply chain. He’s aiming to accelerate the uptake of his products and eliminate roadblocks that threaten to slow the adoption of artificial intelligence. Nvidia is separately investing $1 billion in Naver Corp. to help finance an AI data center under construction, and is teaming up with SK Group to build more than 2 gigawatts of AI data centers on the Korean Peninsula.For Nvidia, closer ties with SK will help improve its access to high-bandwidth memory chips. That conglomerate’s SK Hynix Inc. business and South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. are the two biggest providers of the crucial components — semiconductors that are in short supply because of the global build-out of AI data centers.Huang has argued that investments in companies such as Anthropic PBC and OpenAI will help not only his business but provide an investment return. Critics have expressed concern that such moves represent an artificial inflation of demand. —With assistance from Min Jeong Lee, Ian King, Shirin Ghaffary, Winnie Hsu and Mark Anderson.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.