SB Energy, an AI power infrastructure company backed by Softbank, OpenAI, and Nvidia, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), disclosing a “substantial dependence” on OpenAI as a key tenant and equity investor. The filing revealed the company incurred $3.2 billion in net losses in the first half of 2026 from its data center strategy and has yet to generate revenue or make any data centers operational. Despite this, it plans to raise $5 billion to $7 billion, bolstered by a $105 billion financing deal from Nvidia for an OpenAI data center in Ohio.
SB Energy, the artificial intelligence power infrastructure company backed by tech giants Softbank, OpenAI, and Nvidia, has officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This significant move for the AI sector highlights the growing financial maneuvers around the burgeoning demand for AI infrastructure.
In its Tuesday filing, SB Energy candidly disclosed its "substantial dependence" on OpenAI, not only as a crucial tenant for its future data centers but also as an equity investor. Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also an early personal investor in SB Energy, further intertwining their fates. The company's prospectus explicitly states, "This concentration means that our near-term revenues, project-level financing arrangements, and development plans are significantly linked to OpenAI's continued performance under our lease and related agreements."
Despite its ambitious plans to build out critical AI infrastructure, SB Energy's financial disclosures paint a challenging picture in the short term. The company relies heavily on external financing from partners for its data center campuses and, as of the filing date, has not generated any revenue from this segment of its business. Crucially, none of its data centers are currently operational.
For the first half of 2026, SB Energy reported substantial net losses amounting to approximately $3.2 billion, primarily attributed to "substantial investments" in its data center strategy. Over the same period, its legacy energy business contributed about $139 million in revenue, underscoring the shift in its strategic focus.
A key development supporting SB Energy's strategy came in August when Nvidia announced a massive $105 billion financing commitment for an OpenAI data center slated for construction in Ohio, with SB Energy as the builder. CEO Rich Hossfeld highlighted the strategic importance of this partnership, telling CNBC's "Squawk Box" that Nvidia's involvement "helps us to unlock things like investment-grade financing. It helps to ensure the project is a success."
The company plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas exchanges under the ticker symbol SBE, with Softbank retaining its position as the controlling shareholder. While specific pricing and a firm debut timeline remain undisclosed, reports from The Wall Street Journal suggest SB Energy aims to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion from the offering, potentially beginning trading as early as this month.
The IPO prospectus also identified several significant risk factors beyond its dependency on OpenAI. A notable concern is the escalating public backlash against data centers, with the filing cautioning, "We may face community opposition, local moratoria and hyper-local dissent, including growing public resistance to AI and AI-related infrastructure, that may adversely affect our data center and power generation businesses and operations." Other risks include rapid technological advancements that could render facilities obsolete, the potential for businesses to delay or fail in adopting AI, regulatory shifts, and a slowdown in capital expenditures from hyperscalers. The profound connection to its key partners is evident in the S-1 filing, where OpenAI is mentioned 306 times, Softbank 325 times, and Nvidia 135 times.
