Monopolist’s Credit: NVIDIA Grants OpenAI $105B for Gigawatt Data Center in Ohio

The computing power race has taken on an industrial-militarist scale. On August 18, 2026, it was revealed that OpenAI will build the world’s largest 8 GW AI data center on the site of a former uranium enrichment plant in Ohio. The most shocking aspect of the deal is its financial structure: a $105 billion credit facility is being provided by NVIDIA.

This is an unprecedented macroeconomic maneuver. The hardware manufacturer is lending money to its main client to ensure they purchase exclusively NVIDIA chips. An additional $4 billion for energy infrastructure expansion was provided by SoftBank. Wall Street is receiving a clear signal: hyperscalers are no longer capable of funding CAPEX from their own revenue. NVIDIA has de facto turned into an intra-industry investment bank, cementing its monopoly and tying the architecture of future AGI models exclusively to its silicon base. Technological competition has moved to the stage of a balance sheet war.

Source: The Hindu / AFP