Nvidia eyes investing $3 billion in SB Energy under OpenAI data center deal, Information says

Aug 15 (Reuters) – Nvidia is in talks to invest as much as $3 billion in SB Energy, a SoftBank Group subsidiary developing a massive planned Ohio data center project for OpenAI, the Information reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Here are some details:

• The proposed investment is part of Nvidia’s talks with OpenAI and SB Energy on providing around $100 billion in credit support for the planned Ohio data center campus, the report said.

• Nvidia has discussed investing half of the $3 billion when the Ohio project deal is signed and the other half as part of SB Energy’s planned initial public offering, according to the Information.

• Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Nvidia and SB Energy did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.

• SB Energy is aiming to go public as soon as next month and could raise at least $5 billion in the IPO, the report added.

• SB Energy, which is also backed by OpenAI, develops large-scale power and data center infrastructure projects. Founded in 2019, the company is building several data center campuses to support rising demand tied to AI workloads.

• The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Nvidia has revised its plans to support a proposed OpenAI data center project in Ohio and is now expected to initially guarantee less than $120 billion, down from the $250 billion previously discussed.

(Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru)