OpenAI has entered into an agreement to secure approximately 8 gigawatts of IT capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, as the artificial intelligence company expands the physical infrastructure available for training and running its models.
SB Energy will build, own, and operate the data center under a 20-year lease to OpenAI, delivering capacity in stages. OpenAI said Monday the site will exclusively host Nvidia AI compute infrastructure, with the companies collaborating on its design, testing, and commissioning. The first 800 megawatts are expected to become available in 2028, largely using existing infrastructure from American Electric Power (AEP), a major U.S. electric utility.
Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy and provide credit support for the land, power, and shell buildout associated with the initial 4.25 gigawatts of IT capacity. In a separate post, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said each generation of Nvidia AI factory systems deployed at PORTS-Pike could represent roughly 1.5 million Nvidia GPUs, or approximately $150 billion to $200 billion in Nvidia revenue. Nvidia may extend the arrangement to cover the site's remaining 3.75 gigawatts, Huang said.
The site will use closed-loop, air-cooled systems designed to recirculate water rather than cooling towers that continuously consume it. SB Energy will cover the full cost of grid upgrades and new transmission lines needed for the data center, according to OpenAI. Further expansion of the site will require new power plants connected to the grid, including natural gas generation, as well as additional transmission infrastructure.
35,000 construction jobs projected through 2032
The project is expected to create 35,000 construction jobs during a six-year buildout through 2032 and 2,500 long-term operating jobs, per OpenAI. The firm said it will invest $40 million in a community grant fund, matching an existing $40 million commitment from SB Energy, while the project is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenue over its lifetime, with local property taxes primarily supporting public schools.
OpenAI said it will also make up to $84 million in Codex credits available to approximately 844,000 eligible Ohio college, community college, and technical school students during the 2026-2027 academic year.
Development of the wider campus remains subject to infrastructure, permitting, environmental reviews, and financing, while OpenAI said it will begin making lease payments only as completed capacity becomes available.