Aug 14 (Reuters) - Nvidia ( NVDA ) has revised its plans to

support a proposed OpenAI data center project in Ohio and is now

expected to initially guarantee less than $120 billion, down

from the $250 billion previously discussed, the Wall Street

Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the

matter.

* The Journal said Nvidia ( NVDA ) and OpenAI are nearing an

agreement, with the chipmaker expected to provide a financial

backstop only for the first phase of the project. A deal could

be signed as early as this weekend, according to the report.

* The change was made after investors raised concerns about

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) risk exposure tied to large financing commitments, the

newspaper said.

* This came after Nvidia ( NVDA ) on Monday partnered with ​six major

financial institutions to launch compute financing platforms

aimed ‌at raising over $500 billion in third-party capital for

AI infrastructure.

* OpenAI is still discussing a binding lease for the full

10-gigawatt project in Ohio, WSJ said. The site is being

developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, and

would be the largest data center project announced to date if

completed.

* Nvidia ( NVDA ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment outside regular business hours. OpenAI declined to

comment.

* The project would help OpenAI move toward owning AI

infrastructure, although its ability to fund large-scale

commitments remains under scrutiny because the company is

unprofitable despite a valuation of $852 billion.