Nvidia Invests $1.5B in SoftBank-Linked Data Center Developer Behind OpenAI Project

Nvidia announced on Monday that it will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, a data center developer backed by SoftBank and OpenAI. The investment solidifies Nvidia as the sole supplier of compute infrastructure at OpenAI’s Ports-Pike data center near Cincinnati, Ohio. Nvidia will also provide up to $105 billion in credit to support construction of the facility, which is expected to scale from an initial capacity of 4.25 gigawatts to 8 gigawatts, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SB Energy’s existing investors include SoftBank and OpenAI. SoftBank had previously held $5.8 billion worth of Nvidia stock but sold its entire stake in November 2025 to fund other AI investments. (In 2026, SoftBank has continued to pivot toward AI infrastructure, making this partnership a strategic move to secure Nvidia’s advanced chips for its data center projects.) The Ports-Pike site will also feature a 9.2-gigawatt natural gas power plant, to be built by SB Energy on land owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. The site was historically used for uranium enrichment for the U.S. nuclear arsenal and Navy submarines. The power plant is projected to cost $33 billion, reflecting the sharp rise in natural gas power plant construction costs, which have increased 66% in the last two years, according to BloombergNEF. As SB Energy and other developers complete their plants by 2026, they will face increased competition for natural gas with export markets. Some analysts warn this confluence could triple natural gas prices in certain regions, adding further pressure to the economics of AI data center expansion.

via TechCrunch AI