OpenAI Expanding Stargate into Michigan (openai.com)

OpenAI announced a new Stargate campus in Saline Township, Michigan, developed with Related Digital as part of its 4.5 GW partnership with Oracle. Combined with earlier U.S. Stargate sites with Oracle and SoftBank, the expansion pushes planned capacity above 8 GW and more than $450 billion in investment over the next three years, accelerating progress toward OpenAI’s $500 billion, 10 GW commitment. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and will create more than 2,500 union construction jobs, underscoring the company’s push to rebuild domestic industrial capacity around AI infrastructure. Technically, the Michigan site will use a closed‑loop cooling system to significantly reduce water consumption, and DTE Energy will serve the campus using existing excess transmission capacity—any necessary grid upgrades will be paid for by the project rather than local ratepayers. The announcement signals broader implications for the AI ecosystem: large-scale data-center capacity growth drives demand for modernized energy and industrial systems, strengthens supply chains for semiconductors and hardware, and channels major local economic investment. For AI/ML practitioners and infrastructure planners, the move accelerates availability of large compute footprints in the U.S. while highlighting environmental and grid-integration strategies that will be central to sustainable AI scaling.