OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank have revealed an ambitious expansion of their Stargate AI infrastructure project, announcing five new data centers across the United States. The move is part of a $500 billion plan to build the compute backbone needed for the next generation of artificial intelligence.
The new facilities will bring Stargate’s total planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts, with over $400 billion invested in just the next three years. The long-term goal is 10 gigawatts of AI data center capacity by the end of 2025, ahead of earlier targets.
This expansion follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s January announcement of the Stargate initiative, which gathered top tech CEOs at the White House. The project is being framed as a milestone not only for AI, but also for U.S. infrastructure and energy policy.
Where the New Data Centers Will Be Built
OpenAI and Oracle will jointly develop three new sites in:
- Shackelford County, Texas
- Doña Ana County, New Mexico
- An undisclosed Midwest location
These sites, combined with an expansion near Abilene, Texas, are expected to deliver over 5.5 gigawatts of capacity and create more than 25,000 onsite jobs.
Two additional sites will be developed with SoftBank:
- Lordstown, Ohio
- Milam County, Texas (through SoftBank’s energy arm, SB Energy)
Together, these centers will scale to 1.5 gigawatts in 18 months.
In total, Stargate reviewed 300 proposals from more than 30 states before selecting these sites. More U.S. locations will be announced in the coming months.
A Gigawatt Every Week? Altman’s Bold Vision
In the whole history of technology, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, described the project in a blog post called “Abundant Intelligence” as one of the most ambitious infrastructure endeavors. His goal in the blog post was to construct a gigawatt of AI infrastructure every week.
To illustrate, one gigawatt has the capacity to supply power to 876,000 houses in a year. At that pace, the scale that would be achieved would mean building the energy footprint of a whole city every one week. Altman, although had to admit the implementation would be “extremely hard” and they would have to accept the possibility that difficulty would remain “the coolest and most important infrastructure project ever” of the future.
The Energy Challenge Ahead
The primary concern is energy. Just running Nvidia’s $100 billion, 10-gigawatt data center contract with OpenAI burns vast quantities of electricity. Analysts suggest the U.S. grid may be unprepared for the surge in demand. Those in the sector regard power supply as the ‘quiet choke point’ in the growth of AI.
Altman and partners show, though, that such problems can be framed as chances to reimagine energy infrastructure for the 21st century. With SoftBank’s and Oracle’s combined expertise in renewable energy and scalable cloud infrastructure, the project looks to decentralize AI advancements along with electricity.
Conclusion
The Stargate project is more than just a race to build data centers. It marks a shift where AI development, national policy, and energy planning intersect. The initiative could force governments and companies to accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen power grids, and rethink infrastructure at scale.
If successful, Stargate won’t just shape the future of AI. It could redefine how nations build and manage energy for the digital age.
Nitin Konde
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