Nvidia’s $250 Billion Ohio Pledge and $1 Billion Naver Stake Signal a New Era of AI Infrastructure Financing
Published on 07/27/2026 at 08:31 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Nvidia is quietly rewriting the rules of how artificial intelligence gets built. The chipmaker is no longer content to simply sell the silicon that powers the AI revolution — it is now stepping into the role of financier, guarantor, and strategic partner in a series of deals that collectively reshape the global landscape for AI infrastructure.
The most audacious of these moves is a reported $250 billion financing guarantee for a massive OpenAI data center in Pike County, Ohio. According to the Wall Street Journal, Nvidia is in advanced discussions to backstop the leasing and construction financing for a 10-gigawatt campus being developed by SB Energy, the power-focused subsidiary of SoftBank. The total project cost is expected to exceed $500 billion, with an initial 800-megawatt phase slated to come online in 2028. Crucially, the guarantee covers only the real estate and build-out — not the chips themselves, which would require a separate financing package of up to $350 billion.
The arrangement has drawn skepticism from some corners. Investor Michael Burry publicly questioned the circular logic of Nvidia effectively guaranteeing that OpenAI can pay for Nvidia’s own hardware. OpenAI lacks an investment-grade credit rating, which is why observers view Nvidia’s guarantee as a substitute for traditional bank financing. A previous commitment of $100 billion in direct equity capital was reportedly withdrawn. No final contract has been signed, and terms remain fluid.
The Ohio project also highlights the growing scarcity of energy for AI workloads. The U.S. government controls the site’s power allocation, with Commerce Secretary Lutnick set to decide on capacity distribution. Japan is financing a $33 billion natural gas plant to support the campus. Beyond OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google have all expressed interest in accessing the site’s electricity — a telling sign of how energy has become the new bottleneck in AI expansion.
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A Billion-Dollar Bet on South Korean Sovereignty
While the Ohio talks remain in flux, another deal has already closed. Nvidia has acquired 7,241,564 newly issued shares of South Korean internet giant Naver for $1 billion, or 204,500 won per share. The transaction gives Nvidia a 4.5 percent stake, making it the third-largest shareholder behind the National Pension Service and BlackRock. Payment is scheduled for October 30, with the new shares listing on November 20. To offset dilution, Naver will cancel roughly 1 trillion won worth of its own shares on August 3.
The capital will fuel the expansion of Naver’s GAK Sejong data center, which currently runs at 55 megawatts. The plan calls for a ramp to 200 megawatts by 2028, with a long-term target of one gigawatt. Brookfield, the global investment giant, is contributing up to $9 billion in project financing. The stated goal: give South Korea a sovereign AI infrastructure independent of foreign cloud providers, powered by Nvidia’s Vera Rubin and Blackwell architectures.
Naver’s stock jumped more than 10 percent on the news, and analysts rushed to raise their price targets. Meritz Securities estimates the AI factory business could generate 14 trillion won in revenue and 3.4 trillion won in operating profit by 2032.
Software Moves and Memory Megadeals
Separately, Nvidia unveiled updated PhysicsNeMo and CUDA-X software libraries at a recent AI summit in San Francisco. The tools equip AI agents with specialized physics capabilities — accelerated solvers, quantum chemistry functions — designed to automate simulation, design, and verification cycles for next-generation semiconductors. Cadence, Siemens, and Synopsys are integrating the tools into their electronic design automation platforms. Early benchmarks show logic simulation and formal verification running up to 1.5 times faster on Nvidia’s Vera CPUs.
The summit also produced a flurry of other agreements. Nvidia signed a five-year cooperation deal with SK Hynix for memory chips valued at $750 billion, and a separate pact with Samsung and Broadcom worth $200 billion. A partnership with Hyundai on autonomous driving was also announced.
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Stock Stays Calm Amid the Storm
Despite the torrent of news, Nvidia’s stock has remained remarkably steady. Shares closed Friday at €182.00, down 0.80 percent on the day. Over the past 30 days, the stock is up 7.73 percent, though it still sits 10.12 percent below its 52-week high. The relative strength index of 52.6 signals neither overbought nor oversold conditions. On a year-to-date basis, Nvidia has gained 13.55 percent and trades 9.56 percent above its 200-day moving average of €166.11 — suggesting the long-term uptrend remains intact.
This week could bring more volatility. Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Amazon are all reporting quarterly results, and the Federal Reserve is set to decide on interest rates. How much the biggest Nvidia customers plan to spend on AI infrastructure in the coming quarters will be the key variable — and could determine whether the market sees Nvidia’s new role as banker to the AI boom as genius or folly.
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