NVIDIA has secured land, power and shell (LPS) capacity through a partnership with SB Energy, a data center and power infrastructure company, to develop a large-scale AI data center campus at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio. SB Energy will build, own and operate the data center under a 20-year lease with OpenAI.
According to a press release, the initial deployment is designed to provide 4.25 IT-GW of AI factory capacity. The facility will use NVIDIA’s DSX AI factory platform, including its GPUs, CPUs and networking systems. NVIDIA also has an option to expand the project beyond the initial capacity.
The project reflects the growing demand for infrastructure needed to operate AI systems. Securing land, power and data center shell capacity will allow it to deploy AI computing infrastructure at scale and support future upgrades as new generations of hardware become available.
“AI is becoming infrastructure, the foundation for intelligence in every industry and land, power and shell have become vital in the age of AI. Now is the time to scale the AI infrastructure that will power the next industrial revolution,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, NVIDIA. “We are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics.”
SB Energy and SoftBank plan to build at least 10 GW of new energy generation for the broader development, which the companies say will support 8 IT-GW of AI factory capacity. Both companies also plan to invest at least US$ 4.2 billion in regional grid infrastructure through a partnership with AEP Ohio.
Rich Hossfeld, co-CEO, SB Energy, said, “Infrastructure is vital for the AI economy. With SoftBank Group, OpenAI and NVIDIA, SB Energy is building power-first infrastructure at unprecedented scale while strengthening the communities that make it possible protecting ratepayers, creating tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, and investing in infrastructure to revitalize Southern Ohio that has long shaped America’s future.”
OpenAI will contribute an additional US$ 40 million to a US$ 40 million community benefits fund previously announced by SB Energy.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said, “This is going to be a huge site, with enough computing power to help millions of people use AI to do things we can only start to imagine today, from finding new medicines to starting businesses and solving hard problems.”
Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group Corp, said, “The next era of intelligence will transform every industry and require infrastructure built at unprecedented speed and scale. Together with our partners, SoftBank will help unlock the power of AGI and move humanity forward.”
SB Energy’s project is backed by SoftBank Group and OpenAI, and NVIDIA will now join them as an investor. NVIDIA will invest US$ 1.5 billion in SB Energy, supporting the company’s expansion as an AI infrastructure developer.
The PORTS-Pike campus will span private and federal land and is being developed in collaboration with AEP Ohio, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The planned computing capacity is expected to come online in phases beginning in 2028.
The companies did not disclose the overall cost of the PORTS-Pike data center itself. The planned US$ 4.2 billion grid investment and US$ 1.5 billion NVIDIA investment are separate elements of the broader development. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan served as financial advisers to SB Energy, while Morgan Stanley advised NVIDIA.