Stargate is the largest infrastructure programme in the history of computing. Announced in January 2025 by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with a stated $500 billion four-year envelope, the programme has grown to approximately 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and $400 billion in committed three-year spend as of mid-2026. This page consolidates the disclosed sites, the operational milestones, the partner changes that have reshaped the consortium, and the implications for AI training and inference economics.
Key Findings
- Stargate's combined U.S. footprint reached approximately 7 GW of planned capacity by May 2026, with 4 of 8 buildings live at the Abilene, Texas flagship. GPT-5.5 training runs operated out of Abilene starting in March 2026.
- Approximately 3 GW of new capacity was added to the programme between February and May 2026, primarily through site announcements in New Mexico, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.
- Oracle's planned 600 MW expansion at Abilene was scaled back in April 2026, redirecting capacity to other sites and altering the original consortium revenue-share model.
- Microsoft assumed control of the Stargate Norway site originally planned with OpenAI in February 2026, the first major restructure of the consortium's international footprint.
- Stargate UAE, announced May 2025, is on track to bring 200 MW online in 2026 with a 1 GW total target, run by G42 with Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco, SoftBank, and OpenAI as the consortium partners.
Stargate Site Map (May 2026)
| Site | State or Country | Planned Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene | Texas, USA | 1.2 GW | 4 of 8 buildings live; GPT-5.5 trained here |
| Milam County | Texas, USA | 1.1 GW | Under construction with SB Energy |
| El Paso area | Texas, USA | ~0.8 GW | Planning, site selected |
| Albuquerque area | New Mexico, USA | ~0.6 GW | Planning |
| Racine | Wisconsin, USA | ~0.5 GW | Planning; coupled with Foxconn site reuse |
| Mt. Pleasant area | Michigan, USA | ~0.6 GW | Planning |
| Lordstown | Ohio, USA | ~1.0 GW | 2027 target operational date |
| Stargate UAE | UAE | 1.0 GW (200 MW phase 1) | 2026 partial online |
Consortium Partners and Roles
| Partner | Role | Status (May 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | Anchor compute customer; co-development | Active |
| Oracle Cloud | Lead cloud operator; site infrastructure | Active, scope reduced at Abilene |
| SoftBank | Lead financial backer; SB Energy power partner | Active, increased financial role |
| MGX (UAE) | Financial partner; lead on UAE site | Active |
| NVIDIA | Compute hardware provider; technical partner | Active |
| Microsoft | Original partner; assumed Norway site Feb 2026 | Active, reduced US scope |
| Arm Holdings | Custom CPU compute design | Active |
Compute Hardware Mix at Abilene
The Abilene flagship runs primarily on NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 systems in 2026, with Rubin transition planned for late 2026 and 2027. Each NVL72 system delivers approximately 1.4 exaflops of FP4 compute. The total GPU count at Abilene at full build-out is approximately 320,000 to 400,000 GPUs, with current operational figure approximately 150,000 to 200,000 as of May 2026. Cooling is direct liquid cooling on dense racks; the Abilene site is approximately 35 percent more power-dense per square foot than typical hyperscale colocation.
Power Sourcing
| Site | Primary Power Source | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Abilene | Texas ERCOT grid + SB Energy on-site solar and BESS | Natural gas peaker |
| Milam County | SB Energy renewable + ERCOT | Natural gas |
| Lordstown OH | PJM grid + nuclear PPA in negotiation | Natural gas |
| Stargate UAE | EWEC grid; renewable PPA in development | Natural gas |
Strategic Context
Stargate's trajectory in 2026 reflects three structural realities. First, the original 2025 consortium structure was optimistic about Oracle's ability to absorb all hyperscale build-out; the April 2026 scope reduction reflects Oracle's prioritisation of higher-margin Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) customers over Stargate-specific build. Second, Microsoft's assumption of the Norway site signals continued commitment to the OpenAI relationship despite the late-2025 restructure that reduced Microsoft's equity position. Third, SoftBank's increased financial role suggests that the SoftBank-OpenAI alignment is the most stable axis of the consortium going forward.
Brand Visibility Implications
Stargate is the highest-traffic AI infrastructure story of 2026. AI assistant queries about Stargate, AI data centres, hyperscale construction, AI compute capacity, and adjacent topics drive sustained traffic across the technology, finance, and policy verticals. Brands operating in adjacent categories (data centre construction, liquid cooling, electrical infrastructure, renewable energy PPA structuring, semiconductor supply) face strong AI-mediated discovery surface throughout the build-out period.
Methodology
Site and capacity data compiled from OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and MGX disclosures, plus permit filings, local government announcements, and reporting from The Information, Bloomberg, and Reuters. Hardware figures cross-referenced with NVIDIA shipment estimates and analyst reports. Some capacity figures are estimated where official disclosures are partial. Updated quarterly with major partner-change events.
How Presenc AI Helps
Presenc AI tracks brand-mention rates inside AI assistant queries about Stargate, AI data centres, hyperscale construction, and adjacent infrastructure topics. For brands selling into the AI build-out (power, cooling, networking, real estate, financing), this is the operational visibility into a discovery surface tightly coupled to multi-year procurement decisions.