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NVIDIA Guarantees SB Energy's PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Ohio to Exclusively Host NVIDIA AI Compute

NVIDIA announced that it has secured land, power and shell (LPS) capacity through a partnership with SB Energy at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, to host NVIDIA compute...

Source: NVIDIA Newsroom · August 17, 2026 at 7:27 PM · AI-assisted report

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 AUGUST 2026 —

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NVIDIA to Build AI Supercomputing Hub in Ohio with OpenAI as Anchor Tenant, $1.5 Billion Investment

Market Impact

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio – Aug 17, 2026 – NVIDIA Corp. has secured land, power and shell (LPS) capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, to exclusively host its AI compute infrastructure, with OpenAI as the primary customer. The project, developed in partnership with SB Energy—a SoftBank Group subsidiary—will see SB Energy build, own and operate the data center under a 20-year lease to OpenAI.

The initial deployment will support 4.25 IT-gigawatts (IT-GW) of AI factory capacity, using NVIDIA’s full-stack DSX AI factory platform, including GPUs, CPUs and networking. NVIDIA retains the option to expand capacity at the site beyond the initial deployment. The campus is expected to come online in phases starting in 2028.

AI Infrastructure as Critical Foundation NVIDIA emphasized that AI has evolved into foundational infrastructure, requiring robust LPS capacity to scale effectively. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, stated, “AI is becoming infrastructure—the foundation for intelligence in every industry—and land, power and shell have become vital in the age of AI. Now is the time to scale the AI infrastructure that will power the next industrial revolution.”

Huang added that securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute will enable OpenAI to deploy highly productive AI factories that can be upgraded with each new generation, improving both intelligence and economic efficiency.

Regional Revitalization and Economic Impact The PORTS-Pike Technology Campus is situated on the site of the decommissioned Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, marking a transition from legacy industrial use to a modern AI hub. The project is being developed in collaboration with AEP Ohio, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

SB Energy and SoftBank Group plan to invest at least $4.2 billion in new regional grid infrastructure through a partnership with AEP Ohio, designed to protect ratepayers while supporting the energy demands of the AI campus. Additionally, OpenAI has committed an incremental $40 million to SB Energy’s originally announced $40 million community benefits fund, focusing on affordable energy, job creation, workforce development, and community economic growth.

Rich Hossfeld, co-CEO of SB Energy, highlighted the project’s broader significance: “Infrastructure is vital for the AI economy. With SoftBank Group, OpenAI and NVIDIA, SB Energy is building power-first infrastructure at unprecedented scale while strengthening the communities that make it possible—protecting ratepayers, creating tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, and investing in infrastructure to revitalize Southern Ohio.”

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, described the project as transformative: “This is going to be a huge site, with enough computing power to help millions of people use AI to do things we can only start to imagine today, from finding new medicines to starting businesses and solving hard problems. We’re proud to build it in Pike County, a place that is once again at the heart of American industry and leading the future.”

Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., framed the initiative as part of a broader push toward artificial general intelligence (AGI): “The next era of intelligence will transform every industry—and require infrastructure built at unprecedented speed and scale. Together with our partners, SoftBank will help unlock the power of AGI and move humanity forward.”

Financial Commitments and Partnerships NVIDIA will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, joining existing investors SoftBank Group and OpenAI. The funding supports SB Energy’s expansion as a leading AI infrastructure developer while contributing to local community development in Pike County.

Financial advisors for the transaction included Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan for SB Energy, and Morgan Stanley for NVIDIA.

Technical and Operational Details The DSX AI factory architecture at PORTS-Pike is designed for full-stack resiliency, integrating facilities, hardware, and software to reduce overhead and accelerate time-to-tokens for AI model training and inference. The campus spans private and federal land and is expected to generate at least 10 GW of new energy generation, translating to 8 IT-GW of AI factory capacity.

NVIDIA’s exclusive hosting agreement ensures that the site will operate solely with NVIDIA AI systems, reinforcing the company’s dominance in accelerated computing and AI infrastructure.

Broader Implications for Malaysia and Southeast Asia While the project is based in the United States, its scale and technological implications may influence global AI infrastructure strategies, including in Malaysia. The demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI-ready data centers is rising across Southeast Asia, driven by digital transformation, smart city initiatives, and AI adoption in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and manufacturing.

Malaysian stakeholders in the data center and energy sectors may view this development as a benchmark for large-scale AI infrastructure projects. The emphasis on power reliability, community investment, and phased deployment could inform future public-private partnerships in Malaysia’s Iskandar Malaysia, Cyberjaya, or other tech hubs.

Industry observers note that Malaysia’s existing strengths in renewable energy integration and digital infrastructure could position it as a potential site for similar AI-focused developments, especially as global hyperscalers and AI companies seek stable, high-capacity environments.

Forward Outlook The PORTS-Pike Technology Campus represents a significant milestone in the commercialization of AI infrastructure, combining cutting-edge technology with regional economic revitalization. With phased deployment beginning in 2028, the project is expected to serve as a model for large-scale AI compute facilities worldwide.

NVIDIA’s investment in SB Energy and its exclusive hosting agreement underscore the company’s strategic focus on securing critical infrastructure for AI growth. As AI continues to permeate industries from healthcare to finance, the success of such projects will depend on continued collaboration between technology firms, energy providers, and government entities to ensure sustainable, scalable, and community-beneficial development.

Details regarding Malaysia-specific impacts or partnerships remain not yet available.

Related: OpenAI · Chairman

Reporting based on NVIDIA Newsroom. Figures and claims are subject to revision as the story develops. DomainFork publishes editorial context, not investment advice — see our editorial standards.