Nvidia in talks to back $500B OpenAI data center days after CEO Jensen Huang voiced support for controversial open-source AI used by China

Nvidia is reportedly in talks to provide a $250 billion financing package for a giant OpenAI data center project in Ohio — days after CEO Jensen Huang voiced support for controversial “open source” AI models used increasingly by China.Nvidia’s guarantees would help the ChatGPT maker lease a 10-gigawatt project — the largest the industry has yet seen, costing as much as $500 billion in total — that Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank is developing in southern Ohio through its energy subsidiary, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday.The AI pioneer has been in advanced talks to lease the site for several weeks, per the Journal report and Anthropic, Microsoft and Google have also spoken to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the project.The potential deal has also reignited fears that Nvidia is singlehandedly propping up the AI boom.Financiers including Goldman Sachs traders and famed investor Michael Burry of “Big Short” have for months sounded the alarm that such agreements are “circular” in nature, where Nvidia finances and takes stakes in companies and projects that use its chips.Meanwhile, Huang — in his first post ever on X late Friday — issued a letter rallying for controversial open-source models that was also signed by other tech titans including Microsoft, Meta, IBM and Palantir Technologies. The group – calling itself the Open Secure AI Alliance – called on lawmakers to avoid “premature restrictions on open models that stifle competition ⁠or drive innovation overseas.”The missive by Huang was widely seen in tech circles as a landmark moment in the intensifying debate over open vs closed-source AI models that has roiled Silicon Valley and Washington.    On one side, Huang and other tech titans say models that aren’t solely controlled by one company speed the development of AI and prevent power from being overly concentrated. Opponents — most notably Anthropic and OpenAI — say releasin...