Corrected: UPDATE 1-OpenAI weighs leasing Ohio data center with Nvidia backing, The Information reports (June 9)
CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-OpenAI weighs leasing Ohio data center with Nvidia backing, The Information reports (June 9) Repeats corrected story to fix technical issue
June 9 (Reuters) - OpenAI is in talks to lease a proposed 10-gigawatt data center campus on federal and private land in Ohio, in a deal that could include financial backing from Nvidia NVDA.O, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.
Here are some details:
The campus could cost at least $500 billion to build, based on current prices for chips, labour, power and other inputs, the report said.
OpenAI would control the equipment at the facility under a 20-year lease, with payments starting once operations begin; the first phase is expected in 2028, the report added.
The facility, among the largest of its kind, would be developed by SB Energy, a unit of SoftBank 9984.T, on Department of Energy land in southern Ohio. Some of the campus will also be built on private land, the report said.
Nvidia is expected to supply hardware in the facility and provide a financial guarantee for OpenAI's lease, according to the report.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Earlier this year, the ChatGPT maker paused its proposed 'Stargate' data centre project in the UK, citing regulatory hurdles and high energy costs.
Separately, Apollo APO.N and Blackstone BX.N are financing a $35 billion AI capacity expansion for Anthropic using Broadcom AVGO.O chips, Reuters reported this week.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Eileen Soreng)