OpenAI and SoftBank Invest $1 Billion in SB Energy for Stargate Expansion

OpenAI and SoftBank Group have jointly invested $1 billion in SB Energy to support the expansion of its data center and power infrastructure for the Stargate initiative. Both companies will invest $500 million each in SB Energy, a SoftBank-owned entity, to develop OpenAI's 1.2-gigawatt data center site in Milam County, Texas. This facility will play a critical role in training and inference for AI models.

Stargate, a $500 billion multi-year project, aims to establish advanced AI data centers globally, with backing from major investors such as Oracle. The partnership will also see SB Energy become a customer of OpenAI, using its APIs and deploying ChatGPT for its workforce.

SB Energy's co-CEO, Rich Hossfeld, highlighted that the collaboration accelerates the development of the AI data center campuses and associated energy infrastructure essential for advancing Stargate and securing America's AI future. The data center expansion comes as AI companies, like Meta and Google, increase their investments in power, cooling, and infrastructure to meet growing energy demands.