Nvidia and OpenAI close in on data center deal, but cut the guarantee nearly in half

Instead of backing $250 billion as originally planned, Nvidia would initially guarantee just under $120 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors pushed back over concerns about Nvidia's risk exposure.

The guarantee covers the first construction phase, which would deliver about five gigawatts of capacity. OpenAI is separately negotiating a lease for the full 10-gigawatt project being developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary. Nvidia is also in talks over separate financing for OpenAI's chip purchases worth up to $350 billion.

The scaled-back deal is likely to give ammunition to critics who have warned about an AI bubble. Nvidia halving its risk under investor pressure could be read as a sign that even the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom are growing more cautious.

Anthropic's explosive growth muddies the bubble narrative

Anthropic's numbers push in the opposite direction. The company's revenue more than doubled in a single quarter, jumping from $4.73 billion in Q1 to over $11.5 billion in Q2, a 14x increase year over year, according to Reuters.

People familiar with the company's finances say Anthropic projects revenue of roughly $190 billion to $200 billion for 2028. That figure dwarfs the annual run rate of about $45 billion the company shared in May. Anthropic says it grew revenue by more than 10x in each of the three years leading up to early 2026.

If those numbers hold up, they would signal that demand for proprietary AI services continues to surge, even amid political headwinds and growing competition from China. Anthropic reportedly plans to go public at a valuation near $1 trillion in late September or early October. Financial services firm Ramp recently measured a slight flattening in demand for Anthropic tokens among its business customers.

WSJ

Reuters