[Digital Today intern reporter Seungah Yoo (유승아)] OpenAI has built a relationship with data centre developer SB Energy that goes beyond being a key customer, extending to an investor role and potential influence over its board.

Business Insider reported on Monday that preliminary IPO documents SB Energy submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) include a data centre lease with OpenAI as well as stock warrants, software purchases and intellectual property-related rights, detailing extensive cooperation between the two. SB Energy publicly filed an S-1 registration statement on Sept. 1 for a Nasdaq listing.

SB Energy is developing a data centre in Texas. In Pike County, Ohio, it is pursuing a large-scale data centre campus for OpenAI called the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus. Planned AI computing capacity is 8 gigawatts. Nvidia will supply computing infrastructure and OpenAI will use the facility as a tenant. SB Energy will build, own and operate the data centre and has a 20-year lease contract with OpenAI.

In the IPO documents, SB Energy defines OpenAI as a key data centre tenant and said the business could be materially and adversely affected if there are negative changes in OpenAI’s financial condition, competitiveness or willingness to fulfil contractual obligations. It cited its high business dependence on OpenAI as a major risk factor.

◆ Warrant value jumps to about 7 trillion won; board nomination right, too

OpenAI is both a customer and an investor in SB Energy. SB Energy granted OpenAI stock warrants in early 2026 as OpenAI entered into an investment and a data centre lease agreement. The warrants were valued at $3.6 billion, or about 4.93 trillion won, at issuance, but rose to $5.5 billion, or about 7.53 trillion won, as of June 30.

If OpenAI holds more than 5 percent of SB Energy, it also has the right to nominate 1 board candidate. SB Energy warned the relationship could create conflicts of interest. It said that if OpenAI, as a tenant, fails to meet contractual obligations, the board could find it difficult to enforce the terms strongly, and OpenAI’s interests as a tenant and a warrant holder could diverge.

The relationship has also expanded into software. SB Energy committed to spend at least $50 million, or about 68.46 billion won, on OpenAI services including ChatGPT Enterprise by 2028, and OpenAI secured some rights related to intellectual property.

◆ Bet on AI infrastructure despite net loss of about 4 trillion won

OpenAI is signing large infrastructure deals with Nvidia, Google, Amazon, Oracle and AMD to meet AI computing demand. As cases increase in which investment and customer relationships are intertwined, corporate relationships in the AI infrastructure market are becoming more complex.

SB Energy’s IPO push is also linked to surging demand for AI infrastructure investment. Reuters reported that SB Energy’s revenue in the first half of 2026 rose 66.4 percent from a year earlier to $138.7 million, or about 190 billion won, but it posted a net loss of $3.21 billion, or about 4.4 trillion won. It has virtually no revenue from its data centre business and is pursuing a strategy of building a growth foundation around large-scale data centre projects going forward.

In its disclosures, SB Energy warned that if its relationship with OpenAI runs into problems, its funding structure and development flexibility could be constrained, and liquidity and the value of its common stock could also face material adverse effects. OpenAI is both SB Energy’s growth engine and a key variable that increases concentration risk.

The IPO shows how complex corporate tie-ups in the AI industry have become around securing data centres. With OpenAI participating as a major customer and investor and Nvidia involved in supplying computing infrastructure and providing financial support, interests in the AI infrastructure market are becoming more tightly linked.