OpenAI in Talks to Lease 10 Gigawatt Ohio Data Center with Backing From Nvidia

OpenAI is in advanced negotiations to lease a proposed 10 gigawatt data center campus on federal land in Ohio as part of a deal that could include financial backing from Nvidia, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

The campus under discussion would be among the biggest of its kind, with a total cost of at least $500 billion if fully built out based on today’s prices for chips, labor, power and other materials, the people said. OpenAI would control the equipment in the facility under a long-term lease and would be on the hook for payments once the project starts operations, with the first phase expected in 2028.