Nvidia is in talks with OpenAI to provide a financing guarantee of about $250 billion for a data‑center project, the Wall Street Journal reported on July 26. The guarantee would support the lease of a 10‑gigawatt facility that SoftBank Group’s energy subsidiary is developing in southern Ohio, the report said. OpenAI would use the financing to secure its own infrastructure rather than rely on cloud providers such as Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle, the report added. Nvidia’s involvement would ensure demand for its graphics processing units for the project, the report said. The backing would support financing vehicles intended to reassure lenders. The total estimated cost of the data‑center project exceeds $500 billion, including the chips required for operation, according to the journal. The $250 billion guarantee covers the lease and debt financing but does not include the chips, the report said. Nvidia is also discussing financing OpenAI’s chip purchases up to $350 billion. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2028 with about 800 megawatts of capacity, the Journal reported. Power for the project is managed by the U.S. government and funded separately by Japan under a trade agreement that includes a $33 billion investment in a natural‑gas plant, the report added. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is involved in decisions about access to the project, according to the report. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Nvidia, OpenAI and the U.S. Commerce Department declined to comment. In addition to OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Google have spoken with Lutnick in recent weeks, the report said. The involvement reflects broader interest in the project. The deal illustrates a trend in which technology companies are increasingly financing AI infrastructure through debt and equity markets, with total spending projected to exceed $700 billion this year.