The construction of AI infrastructure has witnessed a historic breakthrough! Project Stargate, a $500 billion AI data center project jointly promoted by OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and the Abu Dhabi MGX Fund, is rapidly expanding its territory. From the 1.2 gigawatt AI park in Abilene, Texas, USA, to the 5 gigawatt super data center in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Project Stargate is reshaping the global AI computing landscape at an astonishing speed. AIbase provides you with an in-depth analysis of this globally recognized technological feat.
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StarGate USA: The 1.2 Gigawatt AI Park Rises in Abilene
The flagship project of the StarGate Plan is located in Abilene, Texas, USA, covering 875 acres and consisting of 8 buildings, expected to provide 1.2 gigawatts of ultra-large-scale computing power, making it one of the most powerful AI data centers in the world. The project broke ground in June 2024 and plans to be built in phases:
Construction Progress and Timeline: The first phase of the project is expected to be powered on in the first half of 2025, with the first deployment of 16,000 Nvidia GB200 GPUs scheduled for the summer of 2025. The entire park is expected to be completed by mid-2026, installing 64,000 GB200 GPUs, with space reserved to support up to 400,000 Blackwell-class accelerators to meet future demand growth.
Partnerships and Roles: The project is jointly owned and developed by Crusoe Energy Systems and Blue Owl Capital, with a financing scale of $15 billion, including $9.6 billion in loans provided by JPMorgan Chase. Oracle is responsible for purchasing approximately $40 billion worth of Nvidia GB200 super chips and providing computing power to OpenAI through a 15-year lease agreement. SoftBank and the Abu Dhabi MGX Fund serve as major investors, providing strategic and financial support for the project.
This data center is not only a key step for OpenAI to reduce its reliance on Microsoft's cloud computing power but also marks the leading position of the United States in the global AI infrastructure competition.
StarGate UAE: Abu Dhabi Builds the Largest Global AI Super Hub
The international landscape of the StarGate Plan is equally impressive. On May 22, 2025, as part of the U.S.-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, the StarGate Plan announced the construction of the world's largest AI data center campus in Abu Dhabi, covering 10 square miles, with a total computing power of 5 gigawatts. The first phase of the 1 gigawatt cluster is expected to go online in 2026.
Construction and Timeline: The first phase of the 200 megawatt AI cluster will begin operations in 2026, with subsequent phases gradually expanding to the full 5 gigawatt scale. This project is led and operated by G42, an Abu Dhabi technology company, showcasing the UAE's ambitions in the AI field.
GPUs and Technical Support: Although the exact number of GPUs has not been disclosed, industry estimates suggest that the 1 gigawatt cluster may deploy around 500,000 GB200-class GPUs, with the fully built facility supporting over 2 million Nvidia Grace-Blackwell GB300 systems. Nvidia provides the latest Blackwell architecture chips, Cisco offers zero-trust security and AI-optimized networks, and Oracle operates the computing power clusters and leases them to OpenAI. SoftBank, as an investor, strengthens the project's financial security.
Global Significance: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the StarGate Abu Dhabi project is the first milestone of the "OpenAI for Countries" initiative, aiming to build global AI infrastructure through collaboration with allies. This project not only enhances the UAE's AI capabilities but also provides reciprocal investment for US data center construction.
Double-Wheeled Drive of Technology and Capital
The success of the StarGate Plan is due to strong technical and financial support. Nvidia's GB200 and GB300 chips provide top-tier computing power for the data centers, Cisco's network solutions ensure low latency and high security, and Oracle's operational capabilities provide stable computing power leasing services for OpenAI. In terms of financing, SoftBank and MGX have invested $18 billion and $7 billion respectively, while institutions such as JPMorgan Chase provide substantial loan support, highlighting the strong capital strength behind the project.
In addition, the global expansion plan of the StarGate Plan is accelerating. OpenAI is exploring new sites in 16 states in the United States and in Japan, South Korea, and Australia in the Asia-Pacific region, and may further expand into Europe (such as the UK, Germany, and France), demonstrating its ambition to build a global AI infrastructure network.
The Global Race for AI Infrastructure
The rapid advancement of the StarGate Plan marks the white-hot stage of global AI infrastructure construction. The super data centers in Abilene and Abu Dhabi not only provide strong support for OpenAI's AI model training and inference but also offer unprecedented computing resources to developers, enterprises, and governments worldwide. AIbase believes that the StarGate Plan, through transnational cooperation and massive investment, is reshaping the global landscape of the AI industry, laying the foundation for breakthroughs in fields such as drug development, personalized education, and energy modernization.
However, such large-scale computing power deployment also brings challenges in energy consumption and sustainability. The Abu Dhabi campus plans to use a mix of nuclear, solar, and natural gas power. How to balance computing power demand with environmental goals in the future will be crucial.