OpenAI Stargate: where the US sites stand

Stargate is a nationwide, $500 billion data‑center program led by OpenAI with Oracle and SoftBank that targets seven US sites totaling more than 9 GW of planned facility power — roughly the scale of New York City’s single‑hour peak demand — and an aggregate compute capacity the authors estimate at ~20 million H100‑equivalents. Abilene, TX is furthest along (~0.3 GW operational as of Apr 22, 2026; 250k H100‑eq; four of eight buildings live) and is expected to reach 1.2 GW by Q4 2026. The six other sites (Shackelford 2.0 GW, Doña Ana 2.2 GW, Milam 1.2 GW, Port Washington 1.3 GW, Saline Township 1.4 GW, Lordstown <0.3 GW) are mostly slated for Q4 2028 handovers. Developers are favoring on‑site natural‑gas microgrids and closed‑loop liquid cooling to shorten grid interconnection timelines and limit water evaporation, but those choices raise cost and regulatory scrutiny; procurement, financing, and local opposition remain key risks to the 2029 build‑out target.