A joint venture involving OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle is close to selecting new locations for data center campuses in Texas, with plans to expand into over a dozen other states as part of their effort to invest hundreds of billions in AI infrastructure.
A company spokesperson confirmed that OpenAI is making significant progress in selecting several locations in Texas for major data center projects to support AI services, according to Bloomberg.
This follows the groundbreaking of its first site in the small Texas city of Abilene.
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s Vice President of Global Affairs, stated that Texas will serve as “the flagship” for the company’s new infrastructure initiative.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is exploring potential sites in 13 additional states, with teams from OpenAI and SoftBank visiting locations in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Oregon this week. Each data center project is expected to have around 1 gigawatt of capacity, roughly the same as a nuclear reactor, although these details have not yet been finalized.
At an event last month, President Donald Trump unveiled the joint venture, Stargate.
The project plans to invest $100 billion upfront and $500 billion over the next four years in physical infrastructure to help OpenAI develop more advanced AI models.
Backers of Stargate have positioned the initiative as a major driver of job growth and a crucial step in preserving US leadership in AI, especially as Chinese developers like DeepSeek begin to catch up.
Apart from the initial announcement and plans for the Abilene site, details on financing and specific projects remain limited.
Last week, OpenAI began inviting proposals on behalf of Stargate to speed up the site selection process.
According to OpenAI’s request for proposals, key factors being considered include a site’s proximity to energy sources and water, its potential for future power expansion, and the logistical ease of large-scale construction efforts.
OpenAI has stated that these projects will collectively create hundreds of thousands of construction jobs.
Lehane stated that the new data centers will also help states develop “AI hubs,” fostering new opportunities for startups, developers, and other stakeholders.
“You become an AI hub, and that starts to bring in developers, that starts to bring in other companies, that starts to bring in folks who want to be part of that broader ecosystem,” Lehane said.
