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OpenAI Stargate: where the US sites stand
Brief
Stargate is a nationwide, $500 billion data‑center program led by OpenAI with Oracle and SoftBank that targets seven US sites totaling more than 9 GW of planned facility power — roughly the scale of New York City’s single‑hour peak demand — and an aggregate compute capacity the authors estimate at ~20 million H100‑equivalents. Abilene, TX is furthest along (~0.3 GW operational as of Apr 22, 2026; 250k H100‑eq; four of eight buildings live) and is expected to reach 1.2 GW by Q4 2026. The six other sites (Shackelford 2.0 GW, Doña Ana 2.2 GW, Milam 1.2 GW, Port Washington 1.3 GW, Saline Township 1.4 GW, Lordstown <0.3 GW) are mostly slated for Q4 2028 handovers. Developers are favoring on‑site natural‑gas microgrids and closed‑loop liquid cooling to shorten grid interconnection timelines and limit water evaporation, but those choices raise cost and regulatory scrutiny; procurement, financing, and local opposition remain key risks to the 2029 build‑out target.
Why it matters
Stargate is a $500 billion OpenAI–Oracle–SoftBank build‑out of seven US AI sites with over 9 GW of planned total facility power (comparable to New York City peak demand) and an estimated compute footprint equivalent to ~20 million H100 GPUs (end‑2025 H100‑equivalent basis).
Key details
- Abilene, TX is the most advanced site: ~0.3 GW operational as of Apr 22, 2026 (≈250,000 H100‑equivalents), four of eight buildings active, projected to reach 1.2 GW (~1.0M H100‑equivalents) by Q4 2026; an earlier planned 2.1 GW expansion was canceled and Microsoft is building an adjacent 900 MW campus with Crusoe.
- Other site projections and timelines: Shackelford County, TX 2.0 GW (4.2M H100‑eq) — Q4 2028; Doña Ana, NM 2.2 GW (4.6M) — Q4 2028; Milam County, TX 1.2 GW (2.5M) — Q4 2028; Port Washington, WI 1.3 GW (2.6M) — Q4 2028; Saline Township, MI 1.4 GW (2.9M) — Q4 2028; Lordstown, OH <0.3 GW (capacity/completion uncertain).
- Design and risk notes: builders are using on‑site natural‑gas microgrids at ≥3 sites and closed‑loop liquid cooling at ≥6 sites to avoid grid interconnection delays and reduce evaporative water use; SoftBank owns hardware at Milam and Lordstown while Oracle owns the other sites; financing, equipment procurement, and local political opposition (e.g., Lordstown ban, Michigan pushback) could delay completion (target window through 2029).