Securing the Infrastructure of Intelligence

In the current era of artificial intelligence, the "AI factory" has emerged as the foundational infrastructure of the global economy. These facilities serve as the crucibles where raw energy and vast datasets are refined into the intelligence that fuels modern industry, commerce, and national capability. In this new economic paradigm, compute is synonymous with revenue. To build these factories, companies require a comprehensive stack of critical resources: advanced semiconductors, sophisticated packaging, high-speed memory, and robust networking—all underpinned by the physical requirements of land, power, and shell (LPS).

Just as NVIDIA has historically leveraged its market scale, long-term supply chain visibility, and strategic partnerships to secure essential silicon, the company is now applying that same rigorous discipline to guarantee LPS capacity for its AI factory ecosystem. Today, NVIDIA announced a major partnership with SB Energy to secure LPS capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Portsmouth, Ohio. OpenAI has been designated as the primary tenant for this facility, marking a significant milestone in the scaling of frontier AI infrastructure.

LPS: The New Strategic Frontier

For the majority of NVIDIA’s client base, securing the physical infrastructure—land, power, and shell—has long been a standard component of their operational strategy. The world’s leading cloud service providers (CSPs) and major investment-grade enterprises possess the balance sheets, technical expertise, and long-term contractual capacity to manage these requirements independently. They build and operate their AI factories using NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platforms, networking, and software stacks. This remains the primary model for the vast majority of NVIDIA’s business.

However, the landscape for frontier AI labs is distinct. These organizations face an insatiable demand for training and inference compute, often scaling their operations faster than their current financial profiles or credit histories can support. While they may boast strong revenue growth and massive customer interest, they frequently lack the decades-long infrastructure track record required to secure the massive capital investments needed for AI factories. For these labs, growth is no longer limited by algorithmic breakthroughs or market demand, but by the physical availability of compute. NVIDIA is stepping in to provide the infrastructure that keeps this growth flywheel spinning.

PORTS-Pike: A Multi-Generational Asset

OpenAI will spearhead the construction and operation of a world-class AI factory at the PORTS-Pike site. This facility will utilize NVIDIA’s full-stack DSX AI factory platform, integrating high-performance GPUs, CPUs, networking hardware, and infrastructure software.

• Initial Capacity: The first phase is projected to deliver 4.25 gigawatts of AI factory capacity.
• Revenue Potential: Each generation of NVIDIA systems deployed at this site could represent approximately 1.5 million GPUs, translating to an estimated $150 billion to $200 billion in NVIDIA revenue.
• Long-term Scalability: Over a 20-year horizon, the site is designed to support multiple hardware upgrade cycles.

The economic logic is clear: the LPS commitment ensures a long-lived, stable site, while the NVIDIA compute housed within can be upgraded repeatedly. Each subsequent generation of hardware will drive higher production, deeper intelligence, and improved economic efficiency. Furthermore, NVIDIA retains the option to expand the PORTS-Pike arrangement to capture the remaining 3.75 gigawatts of site capacity.

Expanding the Compute Horizon with OpenAI

The collaboration between OpenAI and NVIDIA extends well beyond a single site. OpenAI has committed to substantial deployments of NVIDIA infrastructure through 2030. Current and planned commitments total approximately 12 gigawatts of compute, with the potential to reach 16 gigawatts should the PORTS-Pike expansion be fully realized. At these levels, the total opportunity represents roughly $600 billion in NVIDIA compute through the end of the decade.

"NVIDIA is investing in the long-lived foundations of AI factories so our customers can deploy the most productive compute platform in the world, generation after generation."

Addressing Key Strategic Questions

As this initiative moves forward, NVIDIA has clarified the nature of its involvement:

• The Guarantee: NVIDIA is supporting the LPS infrastructure at PORTS-Pike for approximately 4 gigawatts over a 20-year term. This support is limited to specific portions of lease and power payments and a residual-value commitment, rather than covering the total cost of the site.
• Phased Implementation: The guarantee becomes effective in phases as data centers come online between 2028 and 2030. As OpenAI fulfills its lease obligations, NVIDIA’s financial exposure will systematically decline.
• Strategic Rationale: NVIDIA is selectively securing exceptional sites that can host multiple generations of technology, ensuring that the productive life of the facility outlasts any single hardware iteration.
• Risk Mitigation: The NVIDIA platform—powered by CUDA—is versatile and fungible. Should the need arise, the capacity at PORTS-Pike could be redeployed to other qualified tenants within NVIDIA’s global ecosystem, including other CSPs, enterprises, or AI labs.

A Disciplined Path Forward

This move is not an exercise in circular financing, but a strategic application of supply-chain management. By securing critical inputs when demand visibility is high, NVIDIA ensures that the infrastructure required for the next generation of intelligence is ready when needed.

Most NVIDIA customers will continue to manage their own LPS requirements independently. NVIDIA’s involvement will remain selective, focused only on exceptional sites where durable demand supports long-term, multi-generational compute deployments. From its origins in accelerated chips to the development of the full-stack AI factory, NVIDIA continues to evolve. By securing the physical foundations of the AI era, the company is ensuring that the world’s most innovative organizations have the capacity to build the intelligence that will define the future.