June 9 (Reuters) – OpenAI is in talks to lease a proposed 10-gigawatt data center campus on federal land in Ohio, in a deal that could include financial backing from Nvidia, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.
Here are some details:
• Construction of the campus could cost at least $500 billion, based on current prices for chips, labor, energy and other inputs, according to the report.
• OpenAI would control the facility’s equipment under a 20-year lease, with payments beginning once operations begin; The first phase is expected in 2028, the report adds.
• The facility, one of the largest of its kind, would be developed by SB Energy, a unit of SoftBank, on Department of Energy land in southern Ohio.
• Nvidia is expected to supply hardware at the facilities and provide financial guarantee for OpenAI’s lease and SB Energy financing, according to the report.
• Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside normal business hours.
• Earlier this year, ChatGPT maker halted its proposed ‘Stargate’ data center project in the UK, citing regulatory hurdles and high energy costs.
• Separately, Apollo and Blackstone are funding a $35 billion expansion of Anthropic’s AI capabilities using Broadcom chips, Reuters reported this week.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Eileen Soreng)