OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank to open five new AI data centres in US

The new sites, along with the main campus in Abilene in the US state of Texas, and ongoing projects with CoreWeave, will bring Stargate's planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts and total investment to over $400 billion within three years.

According to a statement, this puts the companies ahead of schedule to reach their $500 billion, 10-gigawatt goal by the end of 2025.

In July, OpenAI and Oracle agreed to build up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional Stargate capacity. This partnership is expected to exceed $300 billion in investment over five years.

Three of the new sites are located in Shackelford County in Texas, Doña Ana County in New Mexico, and a Midwest location that will be announced soon. An additional 600 megawatts may be added near the Abilene site.

These projects could reportedly generate over 25,000 onsite jobs and tens of thousands more across the country. More locations are still being evaluated.

The other two sites, developed by SoftBank and OpenAI, are expected to scale up to 1.5 gigawatts within 18 months. One is in Lordstown in Ohio, where construction has begun on an advanced data centre expected to be operational next year. The second is in Milam County in Texas, and will be built with SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, which is providing the infrastructure for a fast-deployment facility.

These sites aim to speed up development, improve scalability, and reduce costs. This marks the first round of selections, with more US sites expected as the $500 billion investment target is surpassed.

The new Oracle-developed Stargate sites will join the Abilene campus, which is already active on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.