OpenAI announced an agreement to secure roughly 8 gigawatts‑IT of capacity at the PORTS‑Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, in partnership with SB Energy, NVIDIA, and the U.S. Department of Energy. The company said it will be the customer for capacity that SB Energy will build and operate under a 20‑year lease.
Scale, timeline and infrastructure
OpenAI stated the PORTS‑Pike Technology Data Center is expected to create 35,000 construction jobs during a six‑year buildout through 2032 and 2,500 long‑term operating roles. The first 800 megawatts are expected to become available in 2028, largely using existing AEP infrastructure. Further phases, OpenAI said, will require new power plants, including natural gas generation, plus new transmission lines and related permits and financing.
NVIDIA will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy and provide credit support tied to the initial 4.25 IT‑GW. OpenAI and NVIDIA will collaborate on design, testing and commissioning, and plan to publish a joint technical white paper sharing lessons on infrastructure resilience, component qualification and workload management.
Community commitments and workforce
OpenAI said it will pay project‑specific energy and infrastructure costs and will invest $40 million in a local community grant fund, matching a prior $40 million commitment from SB Energy. The companies project the investment will generate hundreds of millions in state and local tax revenue and said property tax revenues will primarily support public schools.
The PORTS‑Pike Campus signed a Memorandum of Understanding with North America’s Building Trades Unions. OpenAI said it will work with the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council, apprenticeship programs, veterans’ groups and workforce organizations to prioritize local hiring, contractors and suppliers.
For the 2026–2027 academic year, OpenAI said it will provide up to $84 million in Codex credits to about 844,000 eligible Ohio college, community college and technical school students aged 18 and older, issuing $100 in ChatGPT Codex credits per eligible student.
Water, operations and reporting
OpenAI described the data center’s cooling as closed‑loop, air‑cooled systems that recirculate water, and said ongoing water use should be comparable to an office building once the system is filled. The project will leverage the Department of Energy’s onsite water system and fund additional local water infrastructure, OpenAI said.
OpenAI committed to annual public reports covering local hiring, community investment, water use and project energy use and noted the full data center will be developed in phases as infrastructure, permits, environmental reviews and financing are secured.
Original source: OpenAI News