OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is reportedly scouting locations across the US to establish data centres for its Stargate project.
The initiative, which is seen as crucial for the US to maintain a competitive edge in the global AI race, particularly against China, is currently considering 16 states.
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OpenAI executives were cited by CNBC as saying that the company issued request for proposals less than a week ago to these states.
OpenAI global policy vice-president Chris Lehane was quoted by the publication as saying: “A project of this size represents an opportunity to both re-industrialise parts of the country, but also to help revitalise where the American Dream is going to go in this intelligence age.”
In January 2025, OpenAI and SoftBank unveiled plans for Stargate, a $500bn US AI infrastructure project.
The project will initial involve investment of $100bn, with plans to increase this to $500bn over the next four years.
Initial technology partners for the project include industry giants such as Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Oracle, along with semiconductor firm Arm.
The states under consideration for the data centre campuses include Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Texas is highlighted as the “flagship” data centre site, with the first facility already under construction in Abilene. This facility being developed by San Francisco-based startup Crusoe, reported Reuters.
Each campus is expected to support approximately 1GW of power or more, with the company aiming to build between five and ten campuses.
OpenAI plans to announce additional construction sites in the coming months “on a rolling basis.”
Lehane said: “Right now, there’s really only two countries in the world that can build this AI at scale.
“One is the CCP-led China, and the other is the US, and so that’s sort of the context that we’re operating in. Up until relatively recently, there was a real sense that the US had a material lead on the CCP.”
