The largest financing deal in AI infrastructure history is quietly shrinking.
NVIDIA is close to finalizing a financing agreement with OpenAI for a massive data center campus in Ohio, but sources report the deal has been restructured. NVIDIA's financial guarantee has been reduced from the original $250 billion to under $120 billion. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on August 14, with Reuters following up.
The reason behind the halving of the guarantee is investor pressure. According to insiders, the direct cause of this adjustment is that investors expressed concern about the risk exposure of NVIDIA using its own balance sheet to drive chip demand. Following the initial report of the $250 billion guarantee, NVIDIA's stock price fell 5% that same day—a clear market reaction.
Securing Only the First Phase, with the Rest to Follow
The core logic of the new plan is a "phased guarantee."
Reports indicate that NVIDIA is currently discussing a plan where it will only provide financial guarantees for the first phase of the project, which covers about 5 gigawatts of computing power. This guarantee secures the debt financing needed for the data center lease and construction. The financing arrangements for the remaining 5 gigawatts will be decided later. This guarantee acts like a credit enhancement for the loan—with NVIDIA's backing, lenders have more confidence in the project's capital security, thus lowering the project's financing costs.
On OpenAI's side, two sources say the company is still negotiating to sign a binding lease for the entire 10-gigawatt project, with a timeline expected in the coming days. The overall agreement could be signed as early as this weekend.
The data center campus, developed by SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy, will be the largest data center project ever announced once completed.
The Full Picture of This Deal
The financing structure for the Ohio project goes far beyond this single guarantee.
NVIDIA is separately negotiating a chip procurement financing agreement to provide funding for OpenAI's chip purchases. The entire project could involve up to $350 billion. The electricity required for the project is controlled by the U.S. government, and the funding is provided separately by Japan under a recent trade agreement framework.
Goldman Sachs is serving as the financial advisor to SB Energy, while Morgan Stanley is advising NVIDIA.
On the timeline, this is not NVIDIA's first collaboration attempt with OpenAI. In September 2025, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding, with NVIDIA promising to build at least 10 gigawatts of computing power for OpenAI and agreeing to contribute up to $100 billion to cover costs. However, reports say the agreement stalled after internal doubts arose within NVIDIA about the plan.
NVIDIA Simultaneously Introduces External Capital
During the negotiations for this deal, NVIDIA announced this week that it is collaborating with six financial institutions: Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, and KKR. Together, they will establish a "computing power financing platform."
According to an NVIDIA announcement, these institutions plan to deploy more than $500 billion in external capital over the next few years, with the goal of providing financing for chip procurement at "attractive interest rates."
The intent behind this move is clear: to shift the financing risk away from NVIDIA's balance sheet and into the external capital markets.
It is worth noting that OpenAI, despite its $852 billion valuation, is still operating at a loss. Its ability to make large-scale infrastructure commitments at the 10-gigawatt level remains under market scrutiny. Reuters pointed out in its report that "the company's ability to make large-scale commitments for AI infrastructure is still being questioned."
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