OpenAI, Oracle & SoftBank’s Five Site Stargate Expansion
In the rush of data centre investment to maintain global AI demand, OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank are now announcing five new US data centre locations under the Stargate AI infrastructure programme.
From Texas to Norway, Stargate is rolling out worldwide – pushing total investment beyond US$400bn and bringing planned capacity to nearly seven gigawatts.
The expansion puts the partnership ahead of schedule to complete its full US$500bn, 10-gigawatt commitment by the end of 2025.
Originally announced in January at the White House, Stargate is one of the technology sector’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.
These five sites mark the first wave of selections, with additional US locations planned as the partnership expands.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, says that “AI can only fulfil its promise if we build the compute to power it.
“That compute is the key to ensuring everyone can benefit from AI and to unlocking future breakthroughs.”
Oracle’s role: Delivering multi-state expansion
Oracle, the database and cloud computing provider, will develop three of the five sites under a July agreement that established up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional capacity.
- Shackelford County, Texas
- Doña Ana County, New Mexico
- An undisclosed site in the Midwest (to be announced)
- Lordstown, Ohio
- Milam County, Texas
This partnership alone represents more than US$300bn in investment between the companies over five years.
The Oracle sites span Shackelford County, Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico and an undisclosed Midwest location.
Combined with a potential 600-megawatt expansion near the flagship Abilene facility in Texas, these sites will deliver over 5.5 gigawatts of capacity.
The Abilene site is already operational on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, having received its first Nvidia GB200 server racks in June.
These advanced systems combine graphics processing units (GPUs) with processors optimised for machine learning (ML) workloads, providing the parallel computing power required for AI model training.
Clay Magouyrk, CEO of Oracle, says that “Oracle’s reliable, scalable and secure AI infrastructure is helping OpenAI rapidly scale its business.”
He adds that “to meet this enormous demand, we continue to expand OCI’s footprint at an unrivalled pace to deliver the most performant and cost-effective AI training and inferencing.”
The Oracle facilities are expected to create over 25,000 on-site jobs and tens of thousands of additional positions across the broader economy.
OpenAI has already begun using the Abilene capacity for early training and inference workloads, supporting development of next-generation AI research programmes.
SoftBank’s role: Brings innovative data centre design
The remaining two sites will be developed through SoftBank’s partnership with OpenAI, scaling to 1.5 gigawatts over 18 months.
The Japanese investment conglomerate brings expertise in telecommunications infrastructure and energy systems to the collaboration.
One facility in Lordstown, Ohio, is already under construction using SoftBank’s advanced data centre design and is scheduled for operation next year.
The second site in Milam County, Texas, will be developed with SB Energy, SoftBank’s renewable energy subsidiary, which will provide powered infrastructure for rapid deployment.
These sites aim to demonstrate faster deployment timelines and improved cost efficiency in data centre development – and require substantial electrical infrastructure, with each gigawatt of capacity consuming power equivalent to approximately 700,000 homes.
Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, says that “Stargate is harnessing SoftBank’s innovative data centre design and energy expertise to deliver the scalable compute that powers AI’s future.
“Together with OpenAI, Arm and our Stargate partners, we are paving the way for a new era where AI advances humanity.”
The partnership leverages SoftBank’s ownership of Arm, the semiconductor design company whose processors are increasingly used alongside traditional graphics processing units in AI applications.
“We’re already making historic progress toward that goal through Stargate and moving quickly not just to meet its initial commitment, but to lay the foundation for what comes next,” Sam says.
