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Nvidia to Invest $1.5B in SoftBank-OpenAI Data Center Developer
Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, a data center developer backed by SoftBank and OpenAI, securing its role as sole compute supplier for OpenAI's Ports-Pike facility near Cincinnati, Ohio.
The investment, announced Monday, makes Nvidia the sole compute provider for the Ports-Pike data center, a project located on land owned by the U.S. Department of Energy near Cincinnati, Ohio. Nvidia will also extend up to $105 billion in credit for construction, with the facility's capacity planned to grow from 4.25 gigawatts to 8 gigawatts.
SB Energy already counts SoftBank and OpenAI among its investors. SoftBank previously sold its $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia in November to fund other AI initiatives.
The site will include a 9.2-gigawatt natural gas power plant, expected to cost $33 billion. The land previously enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal and Navy submarines.
The hefty power plant price reflects a sharp rise in natural gas construction costs, which have climbed 66% in two years, according to BloombergNEF. The new facilities may compete with export markets for natural gas, potentially tripling prices in some parts of the country.