OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank Accelerate AI Compute With Five Sites

I’ve always found it fascinating to see how technology evolves, particularly when infrastructure ambitions go well beyond what most of us would dare to imagine. The recent announcement from OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank has really caught my attention—and with good reason. By launching five new Stargate sites in the United States, these industry giants are not just talking about advancing artificial intelligence; they’re making it happen at an almost dizzying pace.

Building the Future: Five New Stargate AI Data Centres

There’s something undeniably monumental about the sheer scale of what OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank are doing right now. The creation of five brand-new Stargate data centres forms the backbone for a bold leap forward in AI compute capacity. I must say, the specifics are impressive, but it’s the speed of progress that has left many—myself included—rather gobsmacked.

Locations: More Than Dots on a Map

Let’s start by looking at where these Stargate sites are springing up. After sifting through over 300 proposals from more than 30 states, the consortium picked the following locations:

Shackelford County, Texas (in collaboration with Oracle): A site chosen for its strategic fit with Oracle’s sweeping cloud vision, and—let’s be honest—probably for access to serious energy resources.
Doña Ana County, New Mexico (Oracle as partner): A region poised for high-impact tech investment, with plenty of local excitement about the jobs and spillover effects.
A yet-undisclosed spot in the Midwest (Oracle, with local partners): The secrecy piques my curiosity; it hints at shrewd negotiations or perhaps a particularly innovative hosting agreement still under wraps.
Lordstown, Ohio (SoftBank at the helm): This one is set for rapid development, with construction scheduled to begin before the year’s out.
Milam County, Texas (with SB Energy, a SoftBank company): The pace here is relentless—SB Energy is already renowned for getting things off the ground in record time.

The selection process, in my view, showcases not just a practical approach to logistics and energy, but an understanding that the ripple effect of AI infrastructure will be deeply regional.

Pushing the Boundaries: Scale, Speed, and Budget

What’s equally noteworthy is just how ambitious this project has become in terms of scale, finances, and workforce. When OpenAI set a target for 10 gigawatts of compute provision back in January, many in the know considered it audacious. Yet, as of this writing, they’re already nudging close to 7 gigawatts—months ahead of schedule.

Financial Might: More Than Just Billions

Investment has soared past $400 billion in the last three years, with expectations to cross $500 billion by the end of 2025.
Over 25,000 construction jobs will be created directly, not including thousands more expected in supporting industries and local economies.
Estimates suggest that the size of the workforce and the depth of local supply chains could trigger a modern-day “Manhattan Project” for AI.

Frankly, witnessing these figures reminds me just how rapidly the technological landscape can shift—infrastructure projects on this scale simply don’t come along every year.

The 10-Gigawatt Benchmark: Real Numbers, Real Impact

When someone in my circle talks of ‘gigawatts’, it usually involves Hollywood time machines. Here, though, we’re firmly in the realm of real, physical compute. With five Stargate sites online, the roadmap to 10 gigawatts now appears, for the first time, entirely plausible.

The sites will provide the compute backbone needed for the next generation of AI models—something Sam Altman himself notes as non-negotiable for actual AI progress.
With the first racks of NVIDIA GB200 servers already delivered, much of this horsepower isn’t just theoretical; it’s literally being wheeled in as you read this.

Powering AI: Partnerships and Cutting-Edge Infrastructure

From what I’ve seen, few domains gobble up compute capacity at the rate of AI—and OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank are, without question, building with tomorrow’s needs in mind. Collaboration with the likes of NVIDIA and Broadcom means advanced hardware is available from day one, keeping the sites at the forefront of research and applied machine learning.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure: Levelling Up

OpenAI and Oracle are extending Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) across these new sites, ensuring ready access to scalable, secure, and state-of-the-art cloud services.
The partnership is set to turbocharge AI model training and deployment cycles—pushing what’s possible well beyond the previous generation’s limits.

NVIDIA, Broadcom, and Ongoing Procurement

NVIDIA GB200 racks were delivered as early as last summer—arguably the gold standard for AI processing these days.
Active procurement and custom deals with NVIDIA and Broadcom have already been secured, putting in place the kind of hardware pipeline most data centre executives can only dream of.

To me, this relentless focus on hardware and cloud innovation speaks volumes. They’re not just keeping up with demand—they’re paving the way for wave after wave of new AI breakthroughs.

Economic Footprint: Jobs, Local Growth, and the AI Boom

Let’s talk about economics for a minute. As someone who’s lived through the flux of tech booms and busts, it’s hard not to draw a parallel between this and the biggest infrastructure pushes in history. The Stargate project stands out not only for its raw investment but for its immediate, practical implications.

Job Creation: Construction to Community Impact

Direct job creation is set to exceed 25,000 roles, purely in construction.
Secondary economic growth—suppliers, local restaurants, housing—could easily see tens of thousands more benefitting indirectly.
Each selected location is expected to become a regional magnet for high-tech talent and entrepreneurial activity.

Personally, I’ve seen how major building projects can transform communities, and it’s fair to say these towns and counties won’t look the same in just a couple of years’ time.

Energy Investment: Powering More Than AI

For years, the conversation about AI infrastructure has orbited around the question: “Where will all the power come from?” Here, SoftBank’s SB Energy plays a pivotal role—especially in places like Milam County where the build-out is anything but slow-paced.

The sites are tightly integrated with advanced energy solutions, helping alleviate (rather than worsen) local grid pressures.
Collaborations are underway for cleaner, more resilient solutions, reflecting renewed federal support for US energy expansion in support of big tech projects.

Cultural, Political, and Social Dimensions

One detail that strikes me is how well the Stargate expansion meshes with larger US governmental goals. The Biden administration (and, as I recall, direct remarks from former president Donald Trump in January) has thrown its weight behind AI infrastructure as one of the defining priorities for American economic and strategic competitiveness.

Environmental permitting processes have been, if not streamlined, at least incentivised, smoothing the path for these builds.
Public–private partnerships are enjoying considerable support, blending government oversight with private sector urgency.

It’s a far cry from the slow, incremental upgrades of the past. To me, this has the markings of a true national mobilisation—not for wartime, but for the competitive edge in technology.

Learning from Big Science: A Manhattan Project for AI?

There’s been no shortage of headlines likening this moment to the Manhattan Project. I suppose in a sense, that’s about right—albeit with the hopeful, constructive ambition to “open computational gates” rather than anything remotely destructive.

The magnitude of investment and pace of execution evoke a genuine sense of scale not seen in decades.
Where physicists once gathered to build the atomic future, now technologists are building the computational present—and, by all appearances, the intellectual economy of tomorrow.

Technology Meets Education: Building AI Skills for Millions

Something that really resonates with me is OpenAI’s direct commitment to education. They’re not just rolling out hardware—they’re investing in the people who’ll use it, service it, and, hopefully, dream up the next world-changing ideas.

OpenAI-Certify: Aiming High

Ambitious plans are in place to certify 10 million Americans in AI competencies by 2030.
The approach weaves together traditional institutions with new upskilling programmes, aiming to lay brand-new career tracks in every state touched by a Stargate facility.

Educational partnerships, vocational links, on-the-job training—these aren’t just PR gestures. I’ve had friends benefit from similar schemes, and it’s stunning just how much good can come from targeting real, hands-on skills.

Research, AI Application, and Broader Industry Impact

Crucially, these Stargate facilities won’t be sitting idle. OpenAI is already running initial training and deployment workloads, pushing the next generation of models. My bet is that we’ll see research outcomes (and probably a few surprise breakthroughs) emerge sooner rather than later.

AI and Drug Discovery: Real-World Outcomes

There’s already talk of leveraging these computational behemoths for high-stakes projects, such as developing mRNA therapies for cancer and other previously intractable diseases.
Thanks to AI’s capability to efficiently analyse data and simulate outcomes, it’s reasonable to expect some genuine game-changers in biotech emerging directly from Stargate’s data streams.

For years, I’ve watched the pharmaceutical sector grapple with lengthy, expensive R&D cycles. If even a fraction of this AI-driven promise is delivered, the social and human benefits could be, well, immense.

The Next Wave: Ongoing Partnerships and Innovation Pipelines

Regular collaboration with NVIDIA, Broadcom, and other leaders in the semiconductor sector is locking in steady supply for the industry’s most sophisticated chipsets.
As computing needs scale, the Stargate project is designed to grow with them—no simple feat, considering the exponential curve of AI research demand.

I sometimes marvel at how these “pipelines” have become every bit as critical as oil pipelines must have seemed to infrastructure planners a century ago.

What Stargate Means for AI Businesses—and the Rest of Us

As someone deeply embedded in the digital marketing and sales automation space, I find the Stargate story is more than just industry news. It’s already shifting the conversation among my peers and clients—changing what we can offer and how we compete.

Access to compute at this scale doesn’t just raise the bar for cutting-edge AI research. It alters the economics and ambition of every business that relies on advanced analytics, automation, or generative models.
For those of us helping build business automations or scale up marketing with AI, this is nothing short of an open invitation to be bolder in our predictions—and faster in our delivery.

Something I’ve learned: when infrastructure bottlenecks fall away, the opportunity floodgates swing open. It makes the roles of agencies, consultants, and integrators like myself even more crucial—connecting the roaring engines of compute to the nimble hands of business users.

Societal and Environmental Considerations: More Than Just Progress

Not all progress is measured in petaflops. The Stargate story is also about integration—with local economies, educational structures, and even the planet’s energy footprint.

Community input and benefit-sharing are central tenets, with plans for inclusive hiring, skills development, and ongoing local investments.
Energy sourcing (as much renewable as possible) is front and centre—not just for PR, but because long-term viability depends on it.

Honestly, in the thick of all the noise about automation and jobs, it’s encouraging to see genuine efforts to pull local communities in as partners in progress.

Modernising America’s Digital Fabric

To my mind, what’s happening here is nothing less than a recalibration of what “infrastructure” means in the 21st century. Highways and bridges will always matter, but so will the AI “backbones” bridging research to result, and innovation to economic benefit.

Whether it’s a young coder in Ohio or a veteran construction worker in Texas, the Stargate sites are reshaping working lives for years to come.
The knowledge economy long ago stopped being an abstract buzzword—here, it’s brick, mortar, silicon, and sweat, joined at the hip.

Gazing Forward: What Could Come Next?

It’s notoriously tricky to predict the future of technology; I’ve seen enough pivots, surges, and stumbles to know that. But there’s a sense of inevitability about some milestones. With compute capacity shooting upwards and new AI models in the pipeline for 2026 and beyond, the next few years are set to be—let’s say—anything but dull.

Sceptics may focus on potential risks (and there’s a laundry list, from environmental impacts to tech monopolies).
But those of us who build businesses on top of these new layers can’t afford to sit on the fence. There’s a sense that you either catch this wave or risk spending a very long time paddling in circles.

No doubt, it’ll be a bumpy ride in places. Yet there’s a British saying that feels apt: “Fortune favours the bold.” From what I can see, Stargate is a bold move—perhaps the boldest yet in the AI compute space.

Key Takeaways for AI, Business, and Society

Scale: Five new Stargate sites catapult the project toward the goal of 10 gigawatts of AI compute, reaching milestones ahead of plan.
Investment: With $400 billion already invested and more in the wings, the sheer commitment is stamping a new pace onto the sector.
Jobs & Education: Tens of thousands of jobs, backed by aims to upskill millions of Americans, are turning theory into tangible outcomes for families and communities.
Innovation: Partnerships with NVIDIA, Oracle, Broadcom, and others set the stage for genuinely new breed of AI models and applications.
Society: The benefits (and challenges) of this new infrastructure will be felt in medicine, education, business, and far beyond.

I’ve watched plenty of tech cycles come and go—this one’s different, if only because it reaches so directly into so many lives. Tectonic shifts in AI infrastructure don’t just rewrite the rules for business and science; they rewrite the underlying instructions for the society we’re building, bit by bit, byte by byte.

In the end, whether you’re an AI developer, a business owner, or just someone curious about what’s next, the Stargate expansion is shaping up to be one of those rare projects that truly moves the needle—and keeps it moving. I, for one, can’t wait to see where it all leads.

For those wanting to dive deeper into the story and documentation, you can find the official announcement from OpenAI at openai.com/index/five-new-stargate-sites/ or catch some of the spirited debate and news on Twitter via OpenAI’s update.

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