OpenAI, Oracle Add 4.5 GW to ‘Stargate’ AI Data‑Center Buildout

OpenAI and Oracle on Tuesday unveiled the next phase of their sprawling Stargate initiative: a 4.5‑gigawatt expansion that will deploy hyperscale data‑center campuses across at least four states and house two million AI accelerators. The announcement lifts Stargate’s total committed capacity to just over 5 GW—already the world’s largest single AI infrastructure program—and strengthens Oracle’s bid to catch Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud‑services race.

The companies said the buildout will cost “tens of billions” over the decade and rely on long‑term clean‑energy contracts, including hydropower and small‑modular nuclear, to hit OpenAI’s 24/7 carbon‑free target by 2030. Construction begins early next year on two 800‑megawatt campuses in Texas and Michigan, while sites in Wisconsin and Wyoming remain under negotiation. Oracle will supply up to two million of its co‑designed AI chips, pairing them with Nvidia and AMD GPUs in densely packed racks cooled by advanced liquid‑immersion systems.

Economic impact figures are eye‑catching: more than 70,000 construction jobs and 30,000 permanent roles in operations, security and grid management, plus a projected $85 billion contribution to local GDP over 15 years. Analysts at Evercore ISI estimate the additional capacity could eventually translate into $30 billion in annual AI‑related cloud revenue for Oracle, while giving OpenAI the compute headroom it needs to train future GPT models without running afoul of U.S. export restrictions.