Nvidia is capping OpenAI's warranty to about $100 billion.

Nvidia has reduced its financial guarantee for OpenAI’s massive data center project in Ohio to approximately $100 billion, according to reports. Initially, the company had planned to secure less than $120 billion for the project, which was previously estimated at up to $250 billion. This adjustment comes just over two weeks after the initial figures were announced, reflecting a significant downward revision in the scale of the financial commitment. The latest estimate, reported by The Information, suggests that the final amount will be around $100 billion, with Nvidia limiting its own credit risk to no more than 25 percent of the total financing. This sum is intended to support the first phase of the expansion, which is expected to last roughly two years and cover about half of the entire project. A second, similarly large phase is anticipated to follow. The overall cost of the project is projected to reach up to $500 billion, making it one of the largest planned data center initiatives globally. It would mark the first time OpenAI directly rents infrastructure rather than relying on cloud providers such as Microsoft and Amazon. Until now, OpenAI has primarily sourced its computational power through these third-party services. Concerns among investors have been growing due to Nvidia's expanding financial commitments. The reduction in the guarantee for OpenAI is partly attributed to worries over the chipmaker's increasing exposure to large-scale risks. Beyond this deal, Nvidia has already secured billions in guarantees for other data center projects. Recently, the company partnered with six major financial institutions to launch an initiative aimed at mobilizing over $500 billion in capital for AI infrastructure. These mounting obligations have raised concerns among investors, recently affecting the company’s stock performance. In the OpenAI project, Nvidia serves as a financial backstop. The campus is being developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank Group. OpenAI intends to lease the infrastructure, requiring external funding for the extensive build-out. Since OpenAI remains unprofitable as a tenant, Nvidia’s guarantee aims to provide additional security to lenders, enabling them to offer more favorable loan terms. By securing part of the rental and financing obligations, Nvidia is not directly investing the $100 billion but is instead backing a portion of the financial commitments. For the chipmaker, this move represents a bet on the continued growth of the AI industry. As new data centers become easier to finance, the potential market for Nvidia’s chips could expand significantly. This connection between financing and semiconductor sales is evident in the Ohio deal itself. According to The Wall Street Journal, Nvidia is also negotiating a separate financing package with OpenAI for chip purchases worth up to $350 billion. Investors fear that such circular financing models might increase the risk of a bubble forming.