OpenAI and SoftBank Group will each invest $500 million in SB Energy to expand data center and power infrastructure for the Stargate initiative. As a result, SB Energy will build and operate a 1.2-gigawatt data center site in Milam County, Texas. In addition, SB Energy will adopt OpenAI technologies by using APIs and deploying ChatGPT internally. Consequently, the partnership aligns capital, infrastructure, and AI deployment under a single operational framework.
Stargate’s Infrastructure Push
Stargate represents a $500 billion, multi-year effort to scale AI training and inference through large data centers. Moreover, the initiative includes backing from major investors such as Oracle. As energy access becomes a binding constraint, technology firms increasingly invest directly in power assets. Therefore, SB Energy is developing multiple data-center campuses, with initial facilities expected to begin service this year.
Industry Context and Competitive Pressures
Meanwhile, rising electricity demand from larger and more numerous data centers is reshaping infrastructure strategies across the sector. For example, leading firms are allocating unprecedented sums to chips, power, cooling, and servers. At the same time, OpenAI faces higher operating and training costs amid intensifying competition from rival AI platforms. Consequently, infrastructure-led partnerships now play a central role in sustaining AI growth and deployment at scale.
