OpenAI’s Stargate data center plans face delays and a canceled expansion

In short: OpenAI’s Stargate project is still active, but reports point to delays and a canceled expansion at its main Texas site.

What's going on

Stargate is a joint effort announced in January 2025 to build big facilities that power AI, similar to building new power plants and warehouses so AI systems can run. The plan involves OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX, with other partners like Microsoft and Nvidia. The original goal was to invest up to $500 billion in US AI infrastructure by 2029.

A core site is a 1,000-acre campus near Abilene, Texas, developed by Blue Owl Capital, Crusoe Energy Systems, and Primary Digital Infrastructure, and leased to Oracle. Parts of the campus are operating today, supporting the training and use of AI systems. But a planned power expansion from about 1.2 gigawatts to 2.0 gigawatts was canceled in recent months, according to reporting discussed on the New York Times “Hard Fork” podcast.

Reports have pointed to several reasons, including difficult financing talks, changing forecasts from OpenAI about how much capacity it needs, and reliability problems during winter weather that disrupted Crusoe’s liquid-cooling systems (water-based cooling that works like a car radiator). There have also been local concerns about upgrading power delivery.

What to watch

OpenAI says it is more than halfway to its broader target of 10 gigawatts in the US by 2029, with multiple sites planned across several states. Watch for whether Stargate adds staff and builds new OpenAI-run data centers soon, and whether outside customers take up any extra capacity at the Abilene site.

Source: NYTimes