OpenAI Secures $11.6B For Texas Data Center Expansion, Reducing Microsoft Dependence

Zinger Points:

• Crusoe secures $11.6 billion to build OpenAI's massive 1.2 gigawatt Abilene, Texas data center, part of the $500 billion Project Stargate.
• Oracle has signed a 15-year lease to anchor the Abilene data center.
• Crusoe's evolution from gas-powered crypto rigs to liquid-cooled AI supercenters captures the arc of next-gen computing.

AI infrastructure startup Crusoe Energy Systems has secured $11.6 billion in funding commitments to build a massive data center in Abilene, Texas, designed to support OpenAI's expanding computing needs. The new funding round, backed by Blue Owl Capital's Real Assets platform and Primary Digital Infrastructure, brings total capital raised for the project to $15 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Abilene: The Heart of OpenAI’s Infrastructure Expansion

According to Crusoe, the facility marks a critical step in OpenAI's infrastructure strategy. Initially planned as a two-building campus, the project now spans eight buildings. It is expected to deliver 1.2 gigawatts of power capacity, making it one of the largest AI training hubs globally.

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According to the company, construction began last June, with the first two buildings—totaling 200 megawatts—expected to be energized in the first half of this year. A second phase, launched in March, will add six more buildings and is expected to be completed by mid-2026.

Oracle Steps In as Microsoft's Footprint Shrinks

The expansion comes amid growing demand for compute capacity as OpenAI develops increasingly advanced artificial intelligence models. Oracle Corp. ORCL has signed a 15-year lease to occupy a significant portion of the Abilene campus, according to the Journal. 

While Microsoft Corp. MSFT remains OpenAI's largest investor and retains exclusive application programming interface licensing rights, its role in the Abilene project is limited to that of a technology partner, without direct equity involvement. OpenAI has increasingly sought to diversify its infrastructure partnerships, citing concerns over Microsoft's ability to scale fast enough to meet its compute needs, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM has committed over $7 billion to the data center project, building on a previous $2.3 billion investment, according to The Information.

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Project Stargate: A $500B Vision For AI Infrastructure

The Abilene project is part of “Project Stargate,” a $500 billion global AI infrastructure initiative launched in January by OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and United Arab Emirates-based MGX, Forbes reported. The project aims to build a vast network of AI data centers over the next four years to support rapid model development and increase U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.

According to Crusoe, the buildings planned in Abilene are designed for industry-scale performance, with each capable of running up to 50,000 GB200 NVL72 chips from Nvidia Corp. NVDA on a unified network fabric.

Economic and Environmental Considerations

Beyond scale, the Abilene campus is also a model for energy-conscious AI infrastructure. It incorporates direct-to-chip liquid cooling to manage thermal loads and partners with Lancium's Clean Campus program to integrate renewable energy sources, Crusoe said. Crusoe expects the project to create over 5,000 jobs and generate more than $1 billion in local economic impact over the next two decades.

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Crusoe's Strategic Shift

Founded in 2018, Denver-based Crusoe began as a company converting stranded natural gas into energy for crypto mining. In recent years, it has repositioned itself as a vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider, with a sharp focus on sustainable, high-density compute environments, according to Crunchbase.

The company raised $600 million in Series D funding led by Founders Fund, with participation from Fidelity and Nvidia, bringing its valuation to $2.8 billion. The Abilene project represents Crusoe's most ambitious venture to date and positions it at the center of the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure race.

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