NVIDIA is currently in negotiations with SB Energy, a data center developer under Japan's SoftBank Group, regarding a potential investment of up to $3 billion. SB Energy, which previously concentrated on renewable energy projects, has recently expanded into the data center sector. In late 2025, the company acquired Studio 151 to strengthen its capabilities in data center construction, management, engineering, and operations.
Currently, SB Energy is advancing a massive data center project in southern Ohio, with a planned capacity of 10 gigawatts and an estimated total development cost of up to $500 billion. OpenAI is expected to be a major user of this facility, while NVIDIA would likely supply a significant number of its AI chips to the data center. Additionally, SB Energy is developing a 1.2-gigawatt data center in Texas for Oracle and OpenAI. In January, OpenAI agreed to invest $500 million in SB Energy.
If talks proceed smoothly, NVIDIA could pay approximately $1.5 billion to SB Energy upon signing the Ohio data center project agreement, with the remaining $1.5 billion to be paid at the time of SB Energy's initial public offering (IPO). SB Energy plans to launch its IPO as early as next month, aiming to raise at least $5 billion. Should NVIDIA invest $1.5 billion under the current proposal, it would become one of the largest investors in the IPO. The negotiations are still ongoing, and the final investment amount could be reduced.
Notably, in response to investor concerns about "circular financing" and debt risks, NVIDIA has scaled back its guarantee plans for the Ohio data center project in a financing agreement nearing completion with OpenAI. The financial guarantees provided by NVIDIA will be reduced from $250 billion to no more than $120 billion, a decrease of over 50%.
Where to focus
In recent years, NVIDIA has been actively investing across the AI industry chain, extending its capital from model companies to cloud service providers, power infrastructure, and data center developers. This year, the company invested $2 billion each in cloud service providers CoreWeave and Nebius, and $30 billion in OpenAI. Earlier, NVIDIA reached an investment arrangement with power infrastructure developer Lancium, committing $2 billion and providing an additional $1 billion to support the company in securing more power resources.
Why the financing model matters
For NVIDIA, this model helps clients secure the funds needed to build AI infrastructure, thereby driving further demand for its GPUs. However, this approach has also sparked concerns among some investors about "circular financing." The term refers to a cycle where chipmakers directly invest in clients, provide loans, or offer credit support, enabling them to purchase the chipmaker's products, thereby creating a feedback loop of "chipmaker invests in clients—clients buy chips—chipmaker generates revenue."
To address these concerns, NVIDIA recently partnered with Wall Street financial institutions such as Apollo, BlackRock, and Blackstone to establish an independent financing platform, aiming to raise $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure construction. CEO Jensen Huang stated that NVIDIA may provide residual value support of up to 25% for certain investment projects to help financial institutions reduce asset financing risks.
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