Hajra Naz
Nvidia announced a major investment on Monday. The company will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy. This company operates a data center connected to SoftBank and OpenAI.
This investment secures Nvidia’s position. It ensures Nvidia will be the sole supplier of compute infrastructure. That applies specifically to OpenAI’s Ports-Pike data center. The facility is located near Cincinnati, Ohio. Nvidia’s involvement doesn’t stop at investment alone, though.
The company will also provide up to $105 billion in credit. That credit will help finance construction of the facility. According to documents filed with the SEC, the facility’s scale could grow significantly. It could expand from an initial 4.25 gigawatts up to 8 gigawatts over time.
Read More: Nvidia Launches Nemotron 3.5 Lightning as Its First Open-Source AI Model
SB Energy already has notable investors backing it. That list includes both SoftBank and OpenAI. SoftBank has an interesting connection to Nvidia beyond this deal. The company previously held $5.8 billion worth of Nvidia stock. SoftBank sold that entire stake back in November. The proceeds went toward funding other AI-related investments.
There’s a major infrastructure project tied to this site as well. The data center and power developer plans to build something substantial. That’s a 9.2 gigawatt natural gas power plant. It will sit on the same property. Notably, that land is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. The site itself has significant history. It previously enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It also supported enrichment work for U.S. Navy submarines.
The power plant carries a substantial price tag. It’s expected to cost $33 billion total. That steep figure reflects a broader industry trend. Costs for building natural gas power plants have surged recently. According to BloombergNEF, those costs have risen 66% over the past two years.
Read More: Nvidia Teams Up With Wall Street Giants on $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Financing Plan
There’s a bigger concern looming as this project moves forward. By the time SB Energy’s plant, and others like it, are completed, competition will intensify. These facilities will be competing directly with export markets for natural gas. That growing conflict could have serious consequences. In some parts of the country, natural gas prices could triple as a result.
