TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- SB Energy issued warrants to OpenAI valued at about $5.5 billion as part of an effort to secure the AI company as a major data center tenant.
- SB Energy is preparing for a potential IPO that could raise between $5 billion and $7 billion.
- OpenAI has invested $500 million in SB Energy and signed 17 leases covering roughly eight gigawatts of planned computing capacity in Ohio.
SB Energy, the artificial intelligence (AI) data-center developer majority-owned by Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank, has issued stock warrants worth an estimated $5.5 billion to OpenAI to secure the AI giant as a flagship tenant, according to draft initial public offering (IPO) documents.
The massive sweetener, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as SB Energy prepares a public filing that could seek to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion in an IPO as soon as next month.
The arrangement underscores the hyper-interconnected financial web powering the generative AI boom, where the industry’s major hardware, software, and capital providers increasingly act as one another’s customers, investors, and guarantors.
Originally valued at $3.6 billion when granted in January, OpenAI’s warrant liabilities swelled to $5.5 billion by late June.
Stock warrants grant the holder the right to purchase equity at set terms in the future, tying OpenAI’s financial upside directly to SB Energy’s market performance. Following the expected listing, tranches of these warrants will vest as SB Energy hits specific valuation milestones.
The financial ties between the involved entities run deep. OpenAI invested $500 million into SB Energy earlier this year and is projected to hold a single-digit percentage stake following the IPO. In turn, SB Energy committed to purchasing at least $50 million in OpenAI software and services through 2028, including ChatGPT Enterprise.
Furthermore, SoftBank serves as a direct, major backer of OpenAI, with cumulative investments approaching an estimated $65 billion. SB Energy’s primary data center customer base currently consists entirely of its own investors.
Earlier this month, OpenAI signed 17 individual leases covering roughly eight gigawatts of computing capacity at SB Energy’s planned flagship campus in southern Ohio—a massive project supported by 10 gigawatts of power infrastructure and a proposed natural gas plant. Although SB Energy boasts an overall contracted backlog exceeding $400 billion across nearly nine gigawatts of capacity, it currently has zero operational data centers and just 800 megawatts under active construction.
This high level of concentration carries substantial risk. SB Energy explicitly warned potential investors in the draft filing that it is “substantially dependent” on OpenAI, noting that any deterioration in the startup’s financial condition could materially harm the developer.
Financing for the ambitious Ohio development also relies heavily on chipmaker NVIDIA Corp., which agreed to provide a residual value guarantee for the project. NVIDIA holds its own equity stake in SB Energy and pledged $3 billion across two private transactions tied to the IPO, including an agreement allowing the chipmaker to buy shares at a 10% discount to the public offering price.
Despite no existing revenue from its data center segment, SB Energy’s renewable energy business — which builds solar and battery systems — generated $140 million in the first half of 2026, up 66% year-over-year. However, net losses surged to $3.2 billion over the same period, up from $250 million a year prior, largely driven by fluctuating accounting values tied to its warrant liabilities.
