Oracle and OpenAI have abandoned plans to expand a flagship artificial intelligence data center in Texas, people familiar with the matter said, as negotiations between the two parties were stymied by financing and OpenAI's changing needs. The plan is part of the Stargate project, a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle to build data centers. The project was announced in January by U.S. President Trump, who said the companies would invest up to $500 billion to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Although construction of the base is underway and some facilities are already in use, Oracle and OpenAI have decided not to move forward with tentative plans to lease a large expansion facility.
The breakdown of negotiations provides an opportunity for Meta to step in and consider leasing a planned expansion site in Abilene, Texas, from developer Crusoe.
Oracle and OpenAI are using Nvidia's artificial intelligence semiconductors at Stargate, and the chip designer's involvement ensures that its products, rather than those from rival AMD, will be used to power the expanded data centers.
Nvidia paid Crusoe a $150 million deposit and began working to get Meta to become a tenant at the expansion facility.
In September this year, OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank announced Stargate’s five new artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. These include three sites with Oracle, two sites with SoftBank and the expansion of Oracle's Abilene site.