OpenAI has entered into an agreement to secure approximately 8 gigawatts-IT at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, working with SB Energy, NVIDIA, and the U.S. Department of Energy. SB Energy will build, own, and operate the data center under a 20-year lease to OpenAI, which will be the customer and will utilize capacity exclusively for NVIDIA AI compute infrastructure. The project is expected to create 35,000 construction jobs during its six-year buildout through 2032 and 2,500 long-term operating jobs. OpenAI will invest $40 million in a community grant fund supporting local priorities, building on SB Energy‘s previously announced $40 million commitment. Separately, OpenAI is providing $84 million in Codex credits through ChatGPT, giving every Ohio college student access to the tool. Codex helps users build software and complete technical projects; eligible students aged 18 and older will receive $100 in credits during the 2026–2027 academic year.

The data center will use closed-loop, air-cooled cooling systems that recirculate water, significantly reducing ongoing water demand compared to the former Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plant. SB Energy will pay the full cost of grid upgrades and new transmission lines, so costs are not shifted to ratepayers. The project is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax revenue over its lifetime, primarily supporting public schools. OpenAI and SB Energy will prioritize local workers, contractors, and suppliers. The PORTS-Pike Campus has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with North America’s Building Trades Unions. OpenAI will publish annual reports covering local hiring, community investment, water use, and project-related energy use. OpenAI will also continue to meet with residents and local stakeholders to shape an Ohio Community Compact that reflects local priorities.

The first 800 megawatts are expected to become available in 2028, largely using existing AEP infrastructure. Further development will require new power plants connected to the grid, including natural gas generation, and new transmission lines. 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 IT-GW. Development depends on necessary infrastructure, permits, environmental reviews, and financing being in place. NVIDIA and OpenAI will collaborate through design, testing, and commissioning at the data center. They will jointly publish a technical white paper sharing lessons on resilient infrastructure design, rigorous data center component qualification, and software-level workload management to support higher compute availability, greater reliability, and longer mean time between interruptions at cluster scale.

The project is located at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a DOE site that previously supported American industry and national security. OpenAI states that the capacity will be used for frontier training and growing demand for its products. The company will begin paying only as completed capacity becomes available for lease, funded through revenue and cash flow from business growth and capital raised from investors.