OpenAI expands Oracle data center deal, says parts of Stargate 1 in Texas are operational
Stargate is a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank that aims to invest up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S. over the next four years. President Donald Trump announced Stargate shortly after his inauguration in January.
OpenAI said the additional data center capacity will create over 100,000 jobs across construction and operations roles in the U.S., and pushes the total Stargate AI data center capacity under development to over 5 gigawatts, according to a blog post.
The update from OpenAI comes one day after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Stargate project has struggled to get off the ground. The report said the companies have scaled back their near-term plans and were striving to open a small data center by the end of the year.
"Together, we're committed to delivering 10GW of new compute capacity through Stargate — one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in U.S. history," OpenAI and SoftBank said in a statement to CNBC. "We're moving with urgency on site assessments and reimagining how data centers are designed to power advanced AI and make its benefits widely accessible."
OpenAI said Tuesday that construction of the Stargate I in Abilene, Texas, is underway, and that parts of the facility are already up and running. Oracle started delivering the first Nvidia GB200 racks to the facility last month, the blog post said.
Stargate I has created "thousands" of jobs, including specialized positions for electricians, equipment operators, and technicians, OpenAI said.
"Easy to throw around numbers, but this is a _gigantic_ infrastructure project," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.
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