OpenAI, Oracle and Vantage to build Stargate data center site in Wisconsin

(Reuters) -OpenAI, along with Oracle and Vantage Data Centers, will develop a data center campus in Wisconsin, as part of the Stargate project, to keep the U.S. ahead in the global artificial intelligence race, the companies said on Wednesday. The new Port Washington campus is part of OpenAI and Oracle's partnership announced in July to develop another 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity. The Stargate initiative, a project of up to $500 billion and 10 gigawatts, also includes Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group and is setting up its first AI data center in Abilene, Texas. OpenAI, as well as its backer Microsoft, are among the technology companies pouring billions of dollars on data centers to power generative AI services such as ChatGPT and Copilot, which require huge amounts of computing power. The growing use of AI in sensitive sectors such as defense, as well as China's push to catch up, has made the nascent technology a top priority for U.S. President Donald Trump, who unveiled Stargate at the White House in January. The construction of the Wisconsin campus, named Lighthouse, is scheduled to be completed in 2028. It is expected to create more than 4,000 skilled construction jobs, most of which will be union jobs. The campus, combined with other Stargate campuses in collaboration with Oracle, would deliver over 4.5 gigawatts of IT capacity. Vantage, backed by private equity firm Silver Lake and asset manager DigitalBridge, will invest over $15 billion in Port Washington. Once complete, Vantage and Oracle are expected to create more than 1,000 long-term jobs and thousands more indirect jobs. OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank last month announced plans for five new AI data centers in the United States to build out the Stargate project. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)

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