TLDR: OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank have announced the development of five new artificial intelligence data centers as part of the Stargate Project. This expansion brings the initiative closer to its $500 billion, 10-gigawatt capacity goal, aiming to significantly boost U.S. AI infrastructure and create thousands of jobs.
The ambitious Stargate Project, a collaborative effort by AI powerhouse OpenAI, cloud giant Oracle, and Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, is accelerating its expansion with the confirmation of five new artificial intelligence data centers across the United States. This significant development, announced on September 24-25, 2025, underscores a massive commitment to bolstering the nation’s AI infrastructure.
The new facilities are strategically located to enhance the computing power essential for training and operating advanced AI models. OpenAI and Oracle are partnering on three sites: one in Shackelford County, Texas; another in Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and a third undisclosed location in the Midwest. Concurrently, OpenAI and SoftBank are collaborating on two additional centers: one in Lordstown, Ohio, which is already under construction and slated for operation next year, and another in Milam County, Texas, designed for rapid deployment with SoftBank’s renewables arm, SB Energy.
This expansion pushes the Stargate initiative’s total planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts (GW) and its committed investment to over $400 billion over the next three years. This trajectory places the project firmly on track to achieve its initial goal of $500 billion in investment and 10 GW of capacity by the end of 2025, notably ahead of schedule. The Stargate program was initially unveiled at the White House in January, with key figures like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son present.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasized the critical need for such infrastructure, stating, ‘AI can only fulfill 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.’ The new data centers, alongside the existing flagship site in Abilene, Texas, and ongoing projects with CoreWeave, are projected to generate more than 25,000 direct onsite jobs and tens of thousands more across various supply chains, signaling a substantial economic impact.
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The rapid growth of AI infrastructure, however, also brings considerable energy demands. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, AI build-out could account for approximately 12 percent of U.S. electricity consumption by 2028, highlighting the need for sustainable energy solutions within these massive data center complexes.
