OpenAI is scouring the U.S. for sites to construct a network of substantial information centers to power its expert system innovation, expanding beyond a flagship Texas area and looking across 16 states to accelerate the Stargate project promoted by President Donald Trump.
The maker of ChatGPT put out a demand akropolistravel.com for proposals for land, electrical energy, engineers and designers and began checking out places in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this week.
Trump touted Stargate, a recently formed joint venture in between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank, shortly after returning to the White House last month.
The partnership said it is investing $100 billion - and ultimately up to $500 billion - to build large-scale information centers and the energy generation needed to further AI advancement. Trump called the task a "resounding statement of confidence in America ´ s possible" under his new administration, though the first task in Abilene, Texas, has been under building and construction for months.
Elon Musk, a Trump adviser and strong rival of OpenAI who remains in a legal battle with the business and its CEO Sam Altman, has actually publicly questioned the worth of Stargate's investments.
After Trump's announcement, a number of states connected to OpenAI about inviting extra information centers, Chris Lehane, OpenAI's vice president of worldwide affairs, told reporters Thursday.
The company's ask for propositions requires sites with "proximity to essential infrastructure including power and water."
AI uses large amounts of energy, much of which comes from burning fossil fuels, which causes climate modification. Data centers likewise usually attract big amounts of water for cooling. Some tech giants have begun financing nuclear power to plug into their information centers.
OpenAI's proposition makes no mention of whether it intends to focus on sustainable energy sources such as wind or solar to power the data centers. But it says electricity suppliers need to have a plan to manage carbon emissions and water use.
"There ´ s some websites we ´ re taking a look at where we desire to help be part of the procedure that brings new power to that site, either from brand-new gas release or other means," said Keith Heyde, who directs OpenAI ´ s facilities strategy.
The first Texas project remains in a region Weldon Hurt has actually explained to The Associated Press as rich in multiple energy sources, including wind, solar and gas. Also explaining it that method is the business that started developing the AI information center campus there in June - the exact same 2 "big, beautiful buildings" that Altman revealed off in a current drone video posted on social media.
Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller said that wind power is main to the project his business is building, though it will also have a gas-fired generator for backup power.
"We attempt to construct information centers in places where we can access affordable, clean and abundant energy resources," Lochmiller said. "West Texas really fits that mold where it's one of the most regularly windy and bright locations in the United States."
Lochmiller said he expects the Trump administration, in spite of the president's opposition to wind farms, to be pragmatic in supporting wind-powered information centers when it is "really the most inexpensive way to gain access to energy."
Data centers taken in about 4.4% of all U.S. electrical power in 2023 and that ´ s anticipated to increase to 6.7% to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The other states where OpenAI is actively looking include Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New York City, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Heyde said the company just prepares to develop "someplace between five to 10" campuses in overall, depending upon how big each one is.
OpenAI formerly relied on service partner Microsoft for its computing needs. But the 2 companies just recently changed their partnership to allow OpenAI to pursue data center development by itself.
Associated Press author Jamey Keaten added to this report.
The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and innovation agreement that allows OpenAI access to part of AP ´ s text archives.
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OpenAI Looks across United States for Sites to Build Its Trump backed Stargate
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