OpenAI announced on Thursday that it is evaluating potential locations in the U.S. for data centers under its Stargate project. The company views this initiative as critical for maintaining the United States’ leadership in the global AI race. Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, mentioned in a conference call, “The news about DeepSeek demonstrates that this is a very real competition, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Whoever wins in this competition will truly shape what the future world looks like.”
Lehane stated that about 16 states have expressed interest in hosting data centers for Stargate, with Texas being the location of the project’s “flagship” data center. He emphasized that large-scale projects like Stargate represent an opportunity to spur industrial redevelopment in parts of the United States, potentially revitalizing and re-directing the American Dream in the AI era.
Last month, U.S. President Trump announced the Stargate AI infrastructure investment initiative at the White House. OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle will initially invest $100 billion in the project, with this amount expected to grow to $500 billion over the next four years. The first data center will be located in Abilene, Texas, and the project will expand from there.
However, a week after the announcement, a low-cost AI model called DeepSeek emerged, raising questions about whether Stargate was still necessary to advance. DeepSeek researchers claim that their AI model outperforms OpenAI’s while being developed at only a fraction of the cost, potentially challenging the assumption that massive amounts of computing resources are required for AI breakthroughs.
As a result, investors worldwide dumped tech stocks, particularly AI chip stocks. NVIDIA’s market value plummeted by $593 billion overnight, marking the largest single-day loss in U.S. stock market history. Despite these challenges, OpenAI is continuing its push to expand Stargate, with data centers under construction in Texas, and additional sites being considered in states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, and Nevada.
OpenAI plans to build five to 10 data center campuses, each designed to provide approximately 1 gigawatt of power. Executives noted that the number of campuses could fluctuate depending on power needs. The company expects these data centers to create thousands of jobs, both during the construction phase and through ongoing operations. However, reports indicate that the first data center in Abilene will create only 57 jobs.
