How the 10 GW Ohio data-center pact between Nvidia-OAI-SB Energy unfolded: ⬇️⬇️ [thread via @WSJ reporting]
Since early June, OpenAI has been in talks to sign a massive, 10-gigawatt data-center lease with SB Energy at a unique site in Ohio. (The site would be powered by a 9.2 GW natural-gas plant funded by Japan, which the U.S. government controls.) But to finance the project, SB Energy needed stronger credit behind OpenAI’s long-term data center lease obligations. Enter Nvidia.
Today is a big day for data center folks who want to explain what PUE is
SCOOP: We have the details behind one of the largest data center transactions in history. Our story includes the size and complex mechanics behind Nvidia’s financial guarantee—which has been a sensitive point in recent weeks. Spoiler: Nvidia will be the exclusive hardware seller on the site AND gets pretty favorable backstop terms.
Full story: wsj.com/articles/opena…
NEW: OpenAI has signed a 10-gigawatt data-center deal in Ohio with SB Energy that’s partly backed by Nvidia, a project expected to become one of the largest artificial-intelligence hubs to date. all the details here in @WSJ: wsj.com/articles/opena…
SCOOP: Nvidia and OpenAI are nearing a deal to finance a 10GW data-center campus in Ohio—but have reworked the deal so that Nvidia would initially guarantee half of the planned campus, rather than all of it. The revised plan would lower the size of Nvidia’s guarantee from $250B billion to <$120B t.co/7Ny3ASLTJW
new: Situational Awareness has invested $500M in a stealth startup called Source Foundry, including a fresh $400M infusion this week. Source Foundry wants to challenge ASML, which sells the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines necessary for making cutting edge AI chips. with @KateClarkTweets for @WSJ: t.co/jPdCNY4GuA
The first in-depth account of the last 48 hours inside Leopold’s Situational Awareness. W/ @rudegeair @berber_jin1 @GZuckerman wsj.com/finance/leopol… @WSJ
SCOOP: A data-center developer working with Anthropic is in advanced talks to borrow $15 billion to build a massive new campus and power plant in Texas—with Google providing financial guarantees and chips. A consortium of banks led by Morgan Stanley would lend the money Nexus Data Centers. More in @WSJ: t.co/tl0ODX33ca
Breaking from @GZuckerman and @rudegeair: Situational Awareness, the highflying AI focused hedge-fund, sold the bulk of its stock portfolio to Ken Griffin’s investment firm Citadel after suffering deep losses @WSJ wsj.com/finance/citade…
SCOOP: Nvidia is in talks to provide a roughly $250 billion backstop for OpenAI as part of a massive data center project in Ohio. The power for the 10-gigawatt project is controlled by the U.S. government. More in @WSJ here: wsj.com/tech/ai/nvidia…
more details on Howard Lutnick's involvement, who else is interested in the site, and how the financing would work in the full story w/ @AmrithRamkumar and @cdriebusch: wsj.com/tech/ai/nvidia…
NEW: IBM Lowers Its Growth Outlook as Sales of Data Center Mainframes Sink 42% When the company published its second-quarter earnings Wednesday, it confirmed the disappointing results that it previewed last week in a rare move that erased about $67 billion in stock market value. t.co/PvtBd4CuMs
In the second quarter, IBM failed to close “tens of deals,” which led to the disappointing results, CFO James Kavanaugh, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Since then, the company has closed roughly a third of those deals, he added.
@firstadopter Lots of nuance 😀wsj.com/tech/openais-p…
NEW: Lot's of scoop-y details in my latest story for @WSJ - OAI raised its projected spending on compute to ~ $750B through 2030 - OAI is planning a 3.2 GW data center in Georgia - Sam Altman hired Brent Mayo, one of the architects of Elon Musk’s data-center build-out 👀 More: t.co/NxI2bdJ37M
SCOOP: Anthropic will purchase up to 2 gigawatts of AMD’s latest-generation chips starting in the first half of 2027. AMD will also invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic—its first check into the AI firm. wsj.com/tech/ai/amd-an…
The deal mechanics:
☁️🚀Elon Musk's ambitions to build a cloud computing service that rivals CoreWeave and AWS are getting serious. (And yes, these data centers are on earth, not in orbit) tons of scoop-y details in this story for @WSJ with @AmrithRamkumar and Becky Peterson. t.co/SqXiUTedk3
SCOOP: SpaceX is in talks with the Defense Department about providing the agency with access to data-center capacity worth billions of dollars 🇺🇸🤝 🚀 wsj.com/tech/ai/spacex…
SpaceX has signed similar deals with Anthropic and Google in recent months and is now planning to greatly expand its cloud-computing efforts. In recent weeks, SpaceX employees have discussed plans to compete more directly with existing providers such as CoreWeave by offering capacity to AI customers at a lower price. w/ @AmrithRamkumar and Becky Peterson t.co/SqXiUTedk3
update: Anthropic and Meta in recent weeks have discussed a future deal in which Meta would rent extra computing capacity to the AI startup. The deal talks are early and the companies haven’t agreed on terms. x.com/anissagardizy8…
more here: wsj.com/tech/meta-plan…
SCOOP: Meta has poached Dave Brown, one of the most senior executives at Amazon Web Services, to join its data center and compute team. More for @WSJ: wsj.com/tech/meta-plan…
NEW: The Inside Story of IBM’s Shocking Profit Warning with @EmilyGlazer and @laurenthomas for @WSJ wsj.com/tech/the-insid…
SCOOP: Data center firms are working to sell majority equity stakes worth tens of billions of dollars this summer. - The largest deal could see DataBank sell for as much as $25B - The big question is whether there's enough capital for all of these transactions “There are not that many people who can write those checks,” Ravi Purohit of Paul Weiss told me. full story in @WSJ: t.co/fCm4mnP7vy
SCOOP: Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s No. 2 executive, plans to step down from her full-time role after an extended medical leave. w/ @berber_jin1 for @WSJ more: wsj.com/tech/openai-to…
Today is my first day at The Wall Street Journal! I'm covering all things related to AI infrastructure (cloud computing, data centers, energy, semis, etc). 📩send confidential tips here: 215-896-1307 [Signal], anissa.gardizy@wsj.com
🌶️codename confirmed! I wrote about OpenAI’s “Jalapeño” chip w/ Broadcom back in May…including the complicated $18 billion (!!) vendor financing talks. theinformation.com/articles/opena…
🗞️PERSONAL NEWS: I’m thrilled to share that I’m joining The Wall Street Journal next month as a reporter covering cloud computing and AI infrastructure. I’ve loved reporting on the wild world of data centers, compute, and energy over the past 3+ years, and I’m incredibly excited to continue doing so with the @WSJ team.
I start July 6th! In the meantime, juicy tips are welcome: 215-896-1307 (signal) 😀
NEW: OpenAI is in advanced negotiations to lease a proposed 10 gigawatt data center campus in Ohio, that could include a financial backstop from Nvidia theinformation.com/articles/opena…
The new project involves a campus on land in southern Ohio owned by the Department of Energy that is already under development by SB Energy,
Scoop: Data center developer Switch is in talks to raise billions at a >$50B valuation, months after SoftBank m&a talks broke down. More deets with @validapau: theinformation.com/articles/data-…
NEW: OpenAI is open to the idea of publicly sharing software it’s been developing to make its AI run on chips from different providers, a move that could weaken one of Nvidia’s biggest advantages. Read more of our interview w/ OpenAI's Sachin Katti in today's AI Infrastructure newsletter: t.co/R8AUMlTz2L
Watch the full panel here: theinformation.com/events/lvs-ins…
