OpenAI is in negotiations to lease a proposed 10-gigawatt data center campus on federal land in southern Ohio, with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) potentially backing the project financially, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

The campus, which could cost at least $500 billion to build at current prices for chips, labor, and power, would be developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank-backed power developer, Reuters further confirmed. The reported deal is structured as a 20-year lease, with OpenAI controlling the equipment at the facility and payments beginning only once operations start. The first phase is expected to deliver 800 megawatts of capacity in 2028.

Nvidia would supply hardware for the site and could provide a financial guarantee for OpenAI's lease and SB Energy's financing, according to the report. Reuters said it could not independently verify the details.

The site is tied to the Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio, a former uranium enrichment facility that produced weapons-grade material during the Cold War before ceasing operations in 2001. The U.S. Department of Energy announced a public-private partnership with SoftBank and AEP Ohio in March 2026 to redevelop the land, including 10 gigawatts of new power generation and $4.2 billion in transmission upgrades.

Of the planned generation, 9.2 gigawatts would come from natural gas plants funded by $33.3 billion in Japanese capital tied to the U.S.-Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Agreement.

"Thanks to President Trump, the U.S. government is leveraging its assets, like our federal lands, to add power generation, create jobs, and ensure the United States wins the AI race," U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the March announcement.

Ratepayer costs and grid buildout

The infrastructure costs are meant to be covered by the companies involved rather than passed on to households, under the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge. OpenAI, Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), and xAI were among the companies that signed the pledge, which requires firms to "build, bring, or buy new generation resources and cover the cost of all power delivery infrastructure upgrades required for their data centers."

"If it were not for the partnership between all parties, the Administration, SoftBank and our team, this type of investment would not be possible," AEP Chairman and CEO Bill Fehrman said. "This partnership unlocks billions of dollars of electric transmission infrastructure, all without increasing customer rates."

Source: Yahoo Finance