OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank are expanding their $500 billion Project Stargate initiative with five new data centre sites across the United States. The move takes the programme’s planned computing capacity to nearly seven gigawatts, edging closer to its target of ten.
The partners said more than $400 billion in investment is now committed to the first phase of the infrastructure project. The new facilities are expected to generate 25,000 on-site jobs and tens of thousands more indirectly.
Three of the additional sites are being developed with Oracle — in Shackelford County, Texas, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and a yet-to-be-named location in the Midwest. The remaining two are joint projects with SoftBank’s energy arm, in Lordstown, Ohio, and Milam County, Texas.
At the Abilene, Texas site, which opened earlier this year, operations have already begun. That facility is serving as the prototype for Stargate’s design, including closed-loop water cooling systems intended to reduce local consumption.
The scale of the buildout is drawing in other technology leaders. Nvidia has pledged up to $100 billion in investment and chip supply, underscoring the scale of hardware requirements.
The project was first announced in January by President Donald Trump as part of a national push to strengthen U.S. AI infrastructure. Its expansion reflects both rising demand for artificial intelligence compute power and a competitive race with other global technology providers.
OpenAI said the five sites would put Stargate ahead of schedule to meet its $500 billion, ten-gigawatt target by the end of 2025.
