OpenAI and Oracle Unleash 4.5 Gigawatt Expansion of Stargate AI Supercomputer

The already astronomical scale of the "Stargate" AI supercomputer project has just received a monumental upgrade. OpenAI and its key partner, Oracle, have announced a binding agreement to develop an additional 4.5 gigawatts (GW) of data center capacity in the United States, a move that dramatically accelerates their ambition to build the world's most powerful AI infrastructure.

This new commitment, unveiled by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, pushes the total capacity for the Stargate project to over 5 gigawatts under development—a staggering amount of power dedicated entirely to running the next generation of artificial intelligence. To put that in perspective, 5 GW is enough energy to power a major city or several nuclear power plants, and OpenAI plans to use it to run more than 2 million advanced AI chips.

"Easy to throw around numbers, but this is a gigantic infrastructure project," Altman stated in a post on X, sharing photos of the initial Stargate construction already underway in Abilene, Texas.

This expansion is a massive acceleration of the plan first announced at the White House in January, which initially committed $500 billion towards building 10 GW of AI infrastructure over four years. With this new Oracle partnership, OpenAI now says it expects to "significantly exceed" that initial commitment, citing strong momentum.

While OpenAI is the visionary, Oracle is emerging as the primary builder and operator. In a multi-billion dollar leasing agreement, Oracle will own and operate the physical data centers, supplying and managing the hardware—including the first deliveries of Nvidia's powerful GB200 racks, which are already running early training models at the Abilene site.

Beyond the sheer technological scale, the project is being framed as a massive engine for American reindustrialization. OpenAI estimates that the construction and operation of this new 4.5 GW expansion alone will create over 100,000 jobs in the U.S. These roles will span from highly specialized electricians and technicians on-site to a vast network of indirect jobs in manufacturing and local services across more than 20 states.

The Stargate project is the most audacious bet yet on the future of AI, representing a belief that building an unprecedented concentration of computing power is the key to unlocking artificial general intelligence and securing U.S. leadership in the field. As construction crews work around the clock in Texas and new sites are scouted across the country, the digital and physical foundations of the AI-powered future are being laid on a scale never before seen.