According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, Nvidia is in discussions to provide a $250 billion guarantee to support OpenAI's Ohio data centre project. The guarantee would help OpenAI, which lacks an investment-grade credit rating, secure financing for the project on more favourable terms. This potential partnership represents one of the largest financing efforts yet tied to the artificial intelligence boom in the United States. The discussions come as part of a massive data centre project in southern Ohio, where Japanese-based SoftBank Group is developing a 10-gigawatt mega-campus at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon. The power for the project is controlled by the U.S. government and funded separately by Japan under a recent bilateral trade agreement, with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick overseeing power distribution decisions and playing a key role in determining which companies will receive access to the available power.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the $250 billion guarantee would serve as a crucial financing mechanism for OpenAI's Ohio data centre project, with the overall project including the advanced AI chips required to power the facilities potentially exceeding $500 billion. The guarantee structure would enable OpenAI to access capital markets more effectively despite its current credit rating constraints. Nvidia would specifically guarantee lease and construction debt for the project, while separately discussing financing for OpenAI to purchase $350 billion in Nvidia chips. This financial arrangement would potentially provide OpenAI with more favourable financing terms and improved access to capital for the substantial infrastructure investment required for the data centre project. Nvidia's backing would allow the SoftBank unit to raise debt at more favourable terms than it could if OpenAI had no financial backer, since OpenAI has no investment-grade credit rating as an unprofitable private company.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the proposed guarantee would help OpenAI finance both the 10-gigawatt campus construction and chip purchases as talks continue. The planned campus would require approximately 10 gigawatts of electricity—enough to supply power to several million homes—and would take years to complete. The first phase, delivering roughly 800 megawatts of capacity, is expected to be operational in 2028. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son described the site as the world's largest power generation location, with OpenAI believed to be the leading contender for the project, although Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google have also held discussions with Lutnick regarding access to the location. These guarantees aim to help OpenAI secure favorable financing despite the company lacking an investment-grade credit rating, though formal terms between the parties remain unfinalized.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this potential partnership highlights the growing collaboration between major technology companies in the artificial intelligence infrastructure sector. OpenAI is one of Oracle's largest new customers, making the potential development a major tailwind for both companies. Oracle Corp.'s stock rose 1.4% in overnight trading late Sunday and was the most-discussed ticker among retail traders on Stocktwits after the report emerged. However, Oracle shares have faced pressure in recent months as investors scrutinize the mounting debt the company has taken on to build out data center capacity, much of it to support the cloud contracts with OpenAI. The stock is down 54% from its 2026 high on June 1 and 65% from its peak last September, making its valuation increasingly attractive despite the increased risk profile from rapid debt accumulation. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for ORCL was 'bullish' on Sunday, with traders forecasting the stock could nearly double if major AI companies announce full support for Oracle's data center expansion.
On Monday night's episode of "Mad Money," Jim Cramer linked Nvidia's financial strength to Washington's stake in the outcome, stating that "they have the best balance sheet of any company in the world" and that the government serves as a "subtle backstop" so China does not win the AI race. Cramer emphasized that Nvidia's cash and the government's control of power access make a powerful combination that helps explain why he still calls Nvidia a stock to own despite recent share price declines. However, investor Michael Burry has criticized the arrangement as circular, arguing that Nvidia's guarantees would fund OpenAI's purchases of Nvidia's own chips. The bigger question remains what happens if Washington's role in AI infrastructure becomes the industry's financing template, with the arrangement already including Jensen Huang's open-model push and Nvidia's new security alliance.
