Backed by a $30B-a-year deal, the 5 GW Stargate project in Abilene is bringing AI infrastructure to the Big Country and powering OpenAI’s next-gen ambitions.
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If you told someone a few years ago that a 5-gigawatt AI data center would be taking shape in a small Texas city known more for cattle than chips, they’d probably laugh. But that’s exactly what’s happening in Abilene, Texas — and it’s all part of OpenAI’s enormous plan to scale its AI infrastructure.
On Tuesday, OpenAI announced it’s partnering with Oracle to develop an additional 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity in the U.S., aimed at supporting Stargate, its next-generation AI infrastructure platform. That’s a big jump from the original goal and pushes their total capacity in development past 5 GW.
So, what does that mean in practical terms? For starters: a lot of electricity. Enough to power around 4.4 million homes. Also a lot of money — $30 billion per year, according to a TechCrunch report — for Oracle’s data center services alone.
Why Abilene, and Why Now?
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The centerpiece of this expansion is Abilene, a West Texas city of about 127,000 people, located 150 miles from Fort Worth. It’s the heart of a region known as the “Big Country,” with a growing tech presence thanks to institutions like Dyess Air Force Base and three local universities. Not long ago, this part of Texas was better known for agriculture and ranching. Now it’s helping build the backbone of artificial intelligence.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called the Oracle deal “gigantic infrastructure” and hinted that even bigger ambitions lie ahead. “We are planning to significantly expand the ambitions of Stargate past the $500 billion commitment we announced in January,” he said on X.
That initial $500 billion pledge, announced alongside President Trump at the White House earlier this year, envisioned 10 gigawatts of AI infrastructure over four years. With this latest move, they’re nearly halfway there.
From Idea to Reality in Just 6 Months
When OpenAI launched Stargate in January, it faced more than a few skeptics. Elon Musk mocked the idea, claiming OpenAI didn’t have the funds and that backers like SoftBank hadn’t secured enough capital. Critics like tech writer Ed Zitron pointed to OpenAI’s projected $5 billion in losses for 2024, questioning how the company could sustain such massive investments.
Yet here we are, just six months later, and the Abilene facility is already up and running—at least in part. Oracle has started delivering Nvidia GB200 racks to the site, and OpenAI says it’s begun running early training and inference workloads. These aren’t just test runs. They’re laying the groundwork for what the company calls “next-generation frontier research.”
Who’s Backing Stargate?
The path to Stargate began as a $100 billion supercomputer project with Microsoft back in March 2024. Since then, the project has evolved, adding key partners like Oracle, SoftBank, and CoreWeave. Now, it’s one of the most ambitious infrastructure efforts in tech history.
According to OpenAI, Stargate is about more than just processing power. It’s about economic growth, job creation, and national competitiveness. The new construction is expected to generate a mix of short- and long-term jobs — everything from data center operations to manufacturing and service roles.
In other words, it’s not just about advancing AI. It’s about laying the groundwork for what comes next — whatever that may be.
What’s Next?
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There’s still a long road ahead. Remember, 5 GW is only part of the original 10 GW commitment, and Altman is now talking about blowing past that. But as of now, OpenAI has momentum, hardware on the floor, and workloads in progress.
Whatever Stargate becomes — a powerhouse for AGI research, an economic engine in rural Texas, or a symbol of the AI arms race — one thing’s for sure: It’s no longer just an idea on paper.
It’s real, and it’s humming in the heart of West Texas.
Keywords: OpenAI, Oracle, AI Data Center, Texas, Stargate Project, AI Infrastructure, Electric Power, Abilene, Tech Expansion, NVIDIA, AI Research.
