In Texas, New Mexico, and the Midwest
The OpenAI-led Stargate initiative, which aims to build datacenters all around the world, has revealed plans to build five more bit barns in the United States.…
With the goal of constructing hyperscale datacenters to accommodate AI workloads, OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, AI investor MGX, and a few more technological partners are involved in the $500 billion initiative. According to the group’s January 2025 launch statement, Softbank is allegedly accepting “financial responsibility” for the initiative, while Oracle has stated that it would supply the backend support.
Lordstown, Ohio; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; Shackelford and Milam County, Texas; and an unidentified location in the Midwest of the United States comprise the five new datacenter locations. Over the next three years, they will increase Stargate’s total compute capacity to seven gigawatts, in addition to the company’s current location in Abilene, Texas, according to OpenAI. According to the AI giant, it is on course to acquire 10GW of commitments by the end of this year.
AI will only be able to achieve its potential if we develop the computing capacity to support it. According to a news statement released on Tuesday by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, “that compute is the key to ensuring everyone can benefit from AI and to unlocking future breakthroughs.”
Through Stargate, we’re already making significant progress toward that objective and are acting swiftly to fulfill its original pledge as well as to provide the groundwork for future initiatives, he continued.
During US President Trump’s recent state visit, the consortium also announced a 230 megawatt datacenter for Norway and another datacenter complex in the UK’s struggling Northeast area this month.
The coalition behind the project has bragged about its brisk start, claiming that it has already committed to spending over $400 billion over the next three years and may even surpass its initial $500 billion budget. A $300 billion payment to Oracle, which is in charge of the Abilene site and three of the new ones, is one of Stargate’s spending pledge commitments. One of its revenue streams is a $100 billion investment from Nvidia as OpenAI deploys “millions” of its crucial GPUs, which supply the computing power for the entire AI datacenter mega-buildout.
Despite OpenAI’s promises that the new locations will generate 25,000 employment on-site, the company is notably silent on the expenses and effects of the water and electrical infrastructure required to operate these datacenters.
