Plans to expand a major artificial intelligence data center in Texas have stalled after talks between Oracle and OpenAI broke down. The companies had discussed a large expansion near their flagship AI campus in Abilene, but the negotiations dragged on, and both sides struggled to align financing and future capacity needs.
The project forms part of the wider Stargate AI infrastructure initiative, a massive effort to build new AI data centers across the United States.
The initiative carries a projected investment of up to $500 billion and aims to create about 10 gigawatts of computing capacity. The plan also involves SoftBank Group and was announced in January 2025 by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The companies had outlined plans in September to add a potential 600-megawatt expansion near the main Stargate campus in Abilene. That expansion would have increased the site’s computing capacity and supported the rapid growth of generative AI services.
Those plans have now changed. According to a source familiar with the matter, the capacity that the Abilene expansion would have provided will shift to another data center campus. Developers continue to build several sites linked to the Stargate program, which allows partners to adjust capacity across locations.
Oracle, OpenAI, and the Multi-Gigawatt Race for AI Power
The Abilene campus remains a major piece of the Stargate network. The site contains eight data center buildings that will run on the infrastructure of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Two of those buildings already operate and handle computing workloads. The remaining structures are still under construction and will add large amounts of processing power once complete.
Despite the setback over the 600-megawatt expansion, the broader partnership between Oracle and OpenAI continues. The companies still plan to develop about 4.5 gigawatts of total data centre capacity in the coming years. That level of power reflects the huge demand for computing required to train and run modern AI models.
Technology companies across the industry have spent billions of dollars on data centres in the past few years. Services such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot rely on large clusters of graphics processing units and specialised AI chips. These systems process vast amounts of data and generate responses in real time. The computing load requires enormous power supplies, advanced cooling systems, and large physical facilities.
The stalled negotiations in Abilene have also created an opening for another major technology firm. According to the report, Meta Platforms has explored the option of leasing the expansion site from developer Crusoe. The discussions would allow Meta to use the location for its own AI infrastructure.
Nvidia’s Strategic Role in the Stargate AI Infrastructure Race
Chip giant Nvidia has also played a role in the talks. The company produces the high-performance AI processors used by many large data centers. Both Oracle and OpenAI use Nvidia chips at the Stargate facility.
The report said Nvidia helped facilitate discussions around the Abilene expansion. The chip designer had a clear interest in the outcome because the new facility would run large numbers of its processors. The company also wanted to ensure that the site continued to use its technology rather than chips from competitor Advanced Micro Devices.
Meta has not commented on the potential lease of the site. OpenAI and Nvidia have also not issued public statements about the change in expansion plans.
Even with this shift, the Stargate initiative remains one of the largest infrastructure efforts in the AI sector. Companies continue to race to secure power, land, and computing hardware. Each new data center strengthens the ability of AI developers to train larger models and deliver more complex services.
The outcome in Abilene shows how fluid these projects can be. AI companies adjust their plans as technology evolves, costs shift, and demand grows. Large data centers take years to plan and build, and partners often revise projects during that process.
For now, the Abilene campus will continue to expand under its existing plan while the broader Stargate network moves forward across multiple locations.
