Shackelford County selected for new Stargate AI data center, possible expansion for Abilene

BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Stargate is expanding, with a new data center planned for Shackelford County and a possible expansion in Abilene.

OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new AI data center sites across the U.S. under the Stargate project. Combined with the flagship Abilene site and ongoing projects, these facilities will provide nearly 7 gigawatts of capacity and represent more than $400 billion in investment through the next three years.

“This puts us on a clear path to securing the full $500 billion, 10-gigawatt commitment we announced in January by the end of 2025—ahead of schedule,” the press release stated.

One of the new sites will be located in Shackelford County, right here in the Big Country. The others will be built in Doña Ana County, New Mexico; the Midwest; Lordstown, Ohio; and Milam County, Texas.

The Abilene site could also have a potential expansion of 600 megawatts.

Together, the new sites are expected to create more than 25,000 onsite jobs and tens of thousands of additional positions nationwide.

OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank said they reviewed more than 300 proposals from more than 30 states before selecting the sites through a rigorous process launched in January. Additional U.S. locations are expected to be announced, likely surpassing the initial $500 billion investment goal in AI infrastructure.

“AI can only fulfill its promise if we build the compute to power it. That compute is the key to ensuring everyone can benefit from AI and to unlocking future breakthroughs. We’re already making historic progress toward that goal through Stargate and moving quickly not just to meet its initial commitment, but to lay the foundation for what comes next,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.

The new facilities will join the flagship campus in Abilene, which is already running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and rapidly progressing, with the delivery of NVIDIA GB200 racks in June.