▲ NVIDIA
NVIDIA has signed a long-term lease agreement for a massive hyperscale data center in the United States valued at up to $50 billion, approximately 73 trillion won, according to the Financial Times.
Citing multiple sources, the newspaper reported on the 28th (local time) that NVIDIA has agreed to lease the entirety of a 1-gigawatt (1GW) data center being built in Texas by data center developer Hut 8.
NVIDIA's graphics processing units (GPUs) will be installed at the facility.
Once the data center is constructed, NVIDIA is reportedly planning to sublease the facility to companies such as neocloud providers.
According to Hut 8's regulatory filings, the scale of this lease agreement reaches $19.6 billion (28.7 trillion won) for a 15-year term, and is expected to grow up to a total of $50 billion if a 30-year extension option is exercised.
Industry observers widely interpret this move as NVIDIA's aggressive financial deployment to maintain its dominance in the AI semiconductor market, where competition is intensifying due to the entry of companies like Google.
Previously, NVIDIA invested billions of dollars in neocloud providers such as CoreWeave to encourage them to purchase and operate its GPUs. This latest move is seen as taking steps early to secure the actual physical space where its chips will be housed.
The data center leased by NVIDIA has already secured power supplies that are increasingly difficult to obtain amid fierce competition among developers.
A senior industry official explained, "NVIDIA has the balance sheet to secure power, effectively guaranteeing that its products will be deployed."
Bolstered by NVIDIA's lease agreement, Hut 8 was able to secure favorable debt financing terms required for data center development.
NVIDIA's competitor Google is also offering benefits, such as providing financial guarantees for data center projects utilizing its TPU chips and supporting low-interest bond issuances for data center developers.
However, the Financial Times pointed out that NVIDIA's lease could reignite concerns over "circular financing."
Circular financing refers to a practice where AI chip makers and their customers engage in additional transactions such as equity investments or financial support, intertwining debt relationships in a complex manner.
While this can accelerate the growth of the industrial ecosystem, it carries the risk of failures spreading uncontrollably during sudden changes such as economic downturns, making it a major vulnerability in the current AI industry.
Although Hut 8 did not disclose the identity of its counterpart for the contract, it stated that the data center will be built to meet NVIDIA's DSX architecture standards.
Regarding the contract, NVIDIA stated, "We are collaborating with ecosystem partners to accelerate the efficient deployment of AI infrastructure, and these actions are being carried out through the DSX architecture."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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