NVIDIA Discloses $105 Billion Conditional Guarantee for OpenAI Ohio Data-Center Leases
On August 17, 2026, NVIDIA disclosed residual-value guarantees with a cumulative payment cap of $105 billion for leases covering approximately 4.25 gigawatts of IT load at SB Energy’s planned PORTS-Pike data-center campus in Ohio, where OpenAI is the tenant. The guarantees are conditional and may be triggered by specified OpenAI lease defaults; they do not represent an upfront $105 billion payment.
The development is supported by the reported statement and context quoting NVIDIA’s August 17, 2026 SEC disclosure. The underlying action was NVIDIA entering conditional residual-value guarantee agreements capped at $105 billion for leases covering approximately 4.25 GW of IT load at SB Energy’s Ohio campus, rather than making an upfront $105 billion payment. I classify it as financing because the central action is a material contingent credit guarantee, corrected the occurrence timestamp to the agreement/disclosure date rather than the later publication time, and retained the existing event because this is a distinct financing milestone within the same PORTS-Pike/OpenAI Ohio data-center buildout. The guarantee is highly material for NVIDIA and the project but is conditional and project-specific; its surprise is moderated by earlier reports of a potentially larger proposed backstop. Only NVIDIA and SoftBank are approved stakeholders because the evidence directly links the guarantee to NVIDIA and its SB Energy subsidiary; other infrastructure and technology companies are indirect exposures.
But with Nvidia guaranteeing more than $100 billion in leases for OpenAI’s Ohio data center, the dependence runs both ways.