In early 2025, OpenAI, in partnership with SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX, officially broke ground on its first flagship Stargate campus near Abilene, Texas—a facility set to transform AI infrastructure across the U.S. Bloomberg.com+15OpenAI+15YouTube+15
Ambitious scale: A $500 billion, multi-year initiative to build AI-optimized data centers nationwide YouTube+3Insider+3Yahoo Finance+3
Leading partners: SoftBank manages financing, OpenAI handles operations, joined by Oracle, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Arm, and more Business Insider+3OpenAI+3Rack Solutions+3
Strategic purpose: Secure domestic AI leadership, support national security, and generate hundreds of thousands of jobs Baxtel+12OpenAI+12Houston Chronicle+12
Campus layout: Spanning about 1,000 acres at Lancium’s Clean Campus, the site was code-named “Project Ludicrous” Facebook+5Business Insider+5Baxtel+5
Phase 1 build: Two buildings (~480k sq ft each) kicked off construction June 2024, with ~200 MW capacity—targeting live activation in H1 2025 Business Insider+2Data Center Dynamics+2Data Center Dynamics+2
Phase 2 expansion: Six more buildings (+1 GW), bringing total to ~1.2 GW, expected by mid‑2026 Insider+3Data Center Dynamics+3Data Center Dynamics+3
Rock‑solid tech: Each building houses up to 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell/GB200 chips, with Oracle alone investing ~$40 billion in GPUs The Economic Times+6Yahoo Finance+6Tech Research Online+6
Economic boost: Construction has created 1,500+ jobs; long-term operations expect around 100 permanent tech positions Houston Chronicle+2The Wall Street Journal+2Business Insider+2
Infrastructure stimulus: State & local revenues could rise by billions; growers, suppliers, and service providers all benefit
Energy backbone: West Texas offers abundant wind, solar, and gas power—perfect for energy-intensive AI tasks Data Center Dynamics+2AP News+2Houston Chronicle+2
Power capacity — deep-grid energy from renewables.
Land availability — sprawling, inexpensive acreage.
Pro-growth policy — Texas leaders promote tech investment.
Strategic foresight — OpenAI sees Abilene as the linchpin for future invites Rack Solutions+14Insider+14AP News+14
Watch Emily Chang’s exclusive first look inside the massive facility, tracing the “big, beautiful buildings” CEO Sam Altman recently highlighted Tech Research Online+4The Economic Times+4YouTube+4.
More Stargates incoming: OpenAI is evaluating further megacampuses in 16+ states Data Center Dynamics+6AP News+6Data Center Dynamics+6
Global ambitions: “OpenAI for Countries” aims to replicate democratically-aligned AI infrastructure abroad Data Center Dynamics+2OpenAI+2The Economic Times+2
Tech independence: This marks OpenAI’s shift away from relying solely on Microsoft’s cloud Financial Times+2Tech Research Online+2AP News+2
OpenAI’s Abilene project is more than a data center—it’s the hallmark of a new era. With massive scale, renewable energy, and tech-driven economic infusion, this Texas site lays the foundation for America's AI future. And with several other Stargate campuses likely on the horizon, Abilene remains the launchpad for a nationwide transformation.