Stargate, the US's $500 billion AI megaproject, begins construction of its first data center in Texas.
Stargate's first data center is taking shape in Texas, with completion expected by the end of the year, according to construction documents obtained by Business Insider. Construction has already begun on the first two buildings on the central campus.
“We’ve been working with OpenAI and SoftBank for some time,” said Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle. “The data centers are actually being built, with the first one in Abilene, Texas. Each building is 500,000 square feet. There are 10 under construction, and then we’ll have 20 and other locations outside of Abilene.”
In a website post, OpenAI said construction of Stargate is underway. The company is also evaluating potential locations across the country for additional facilities.
Little is known about Stargate. According to the San Antonio Express-News, the application filed with the Texas Department of Building Regulation and Permitting for a data center in Abilene is called “Project Ludicrous,” and the address is attached to the Lancium Clean Campus—a 1.5-square-mile plot of land in Abilene owned by energy technology company Lancium but also leased in part by Oracle.
The first building, once completed, will house “data halls” for servers and is expected to cost $292 million and be completed by May 30. Additional additions, estimated to cost about $140 million, will be completed by September 15.
Meanwhile, the second building is targeted at a “single-story data center,” with an estimated cost of $292 million and is due to be completed in September. Additional components will be completed in December, costing $384 million. In total, the two initial data center buildings will cost about $1.1 billion.
Oracle and OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment. Lancium said it was “happy to contribute to the development of AI infrastructure” but did not provide further comment.
Stargate is a project led by OpenAI, Oracle of the US and SoftBank of Japan, with an initial investment commitment of $100 billion. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said the current goal is to increase the investment to $500 billion within four years, or before his term ends. The company is responsible for the project's finances, while OpenAI oversees operations.
Source: vnexpress.net