NVIDIA Secures Exclusive AI Compute Role at SB Energy’s PORTS-Pike Campus in Ohio; OpenAI Named Customer for Up to 8 IT-GW
NVIDIA announced today that it will serve as the exclusive AI compute infrastructure provider at SB Energy’s PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio. OpenAI will be the customer under a 20-year lease. SB Energy will build, own, and operate the data center.
Key data points from the official announcement:
- NVIDIA is providing credit support on land, power, and shell (LPS) capacity for an initial 4.25 IT-GW, with an option on the remaining 3.75 IT-GW (total potential 8 IT-GW).
- The AI factory will run on NVIDIA’s full-stack DSX platform (GPUs, CPUs, and networking).
- Capacity is expected to come online in phases beginning in 2028.
- NVIDIA is investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy (joining existing investors SoftBank Group and OpenAI).
- SB Energy and SoftBank will develop at least 10 GW of new energy generation and invest at least $4.2 billion in regional grid infrastructure through a partnership with AEP Ohio structured to protect ratepayers.
- Community benefits fund totals $80 million ($40 million previously committed by SB Energy + $40 million incremental from OpenAI), targeted at affordable energy, job creation, workforce development, and local economic priorities.
- Projected employment impact: tens of thousands of Ohio jobs (reports citing ~35,000 construction jobs through the multi-year buildout and ~2,500 long-term operating jobs).
The campus redevelops the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site and surrounding private land in collaboration with AEP Ohio, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA founder and CEO, framed the deal as securing “long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute” so OpenAI can deploy upgradable AI factories. SB Energy co-CEO Rich Hossfeld and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasized job creation, community investment, and Southern Ohio’s role in next-generation industrial capacity.