- Stargate is OpenAI's bid to build the data center infrastructure it needs for AI
- Its initial project was focused on building facilities in the U.S.
- Multiple international projects - including in the UAE, U.K. and Norway - have been announced
People of a certain age will know "Stargate" as the name of a killer sci-fi flick and TV show that ran until 2007. But the Stargate making headlines these days has less to do with a mysterious portal to other planets and more to do with the AI overlords that are about to take over.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Stargate Project and who is involved.
Announced in January 2025, the Stargate Project is a company to build AI infrastructure — data centers — for ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Initially focused on the U.S., Stargate has since announced several international ventures, including in the UAE, U.K. and Norway.
In the very first project announcement, OpenAI said Stargate would spend $500 billion over four years rolling out new facilities in the U.S., with an upfront investment wave totaling $100 billion. SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX joined OpenAI as investment partners, while Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle and OpenAI were listed as technology partners.
Work on the first U.S. facility is already underway in Abilene, Texas. There, Crusoe is building an eight-building, 1.2 gigawatt campus that will eventually house up to 400,000 Nvidia chips.
Two buildings, which will each house 50,000 chips, have already been completed and will be lit up in the first half of 2025. With funding secured for Phase 2 of the build and construction of the remaining six buildings underway, Crusoe said it is aiming to connect the remaining facilities by mid-2026.
In September, OpenAI announced additional U.S. Stargate sites in Shackelford and Milam Counties in Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; Lordstown, Ohio, and a unnamed location in the Midwest.
All told, the U.S. Stargate sites announced thus far will be capable of delivering 7 GW of compute capacity.
More U.S. campus announcements are likely on the way. Following its initial Stargate announcement in January, OpenAI said the initiative received more than 300 site proposals covering 30 states. It noted the expansions announced in September were "the first set of selections" from that roster.
Stargate's partners have said they intend to announce 10 GW worth of projects in the U.S. by the end of 2025.
International expansion
But OpenAI’s infrastructure ambitions extend beyond the U.S. In response to demand from global governments, the company launched “OpenAI for Countries” in early May 2025, aiming to strike 10 deals to bring its compute power to key countries and regions.
The first such deal was announced later the same month: Stargate UAE.
The 1 GW Stargate UAE facility is currently under construction in Abu Dhabi, with 200 MW of capacity expected to come online in 2026. It will be part of a larger 5 GW AI data center campus the U.S. is building with the United Arab Emirates to provide compute capacity in the region for hyperscalers.
As in the U.S., SoftBank, Nvidia, and Oracle are all involved in the UAE project, as are Cisco and Emirati development company and technology investment vehicle G42. Cisco is specifically on board to supply networking, security and observability hardware and software.
The announcement of a Stargate Norway project followed in July, while Stargate UK made its debut in September. U.K.-based AI infrastructure builder Nscale is involved in both projects.
More announcements about international Stargate projects are likely on the way and we'll update this story accordingly.
9/17/2025: This story was updated to include information about Stargate's growing number of international projects.
9/25/2025: This story was updated to include information about Stargate's additional U.S. facilities.