Oracle and OpenAI target AI leadership with massive chip project
OpenAI ends exclusivity with Microsoft due to unmet demand, turning to Oracle for its next phase of AI development.
Oracle has reportedly acquired around 400,000 Nvidia GB200 AI chips valued at approximately $40 billion for deployment at a data centre in Abilene, Texas.
The location will be the first site of the Stargate project—a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative backed by OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund, which President Trump announced earlier this year.
Once completed, the Abilene facility is expected to provide up to 1.2 gigawatts of computing power, rivalling Elon Musk’s Colossus project in Memphis.
Although Oracle will operate from the site, the land is owned by AI infrastructure firm Cruso and US investment company Blue Owl Capital, which have collectively invested more than $15 billion through financing.
Oracle will lease the campus for 15 years, using the chips to offer computing power to OpenAI for training its next-generation AI models.
Previously dependent solely on Microsoft’s data centres, OpenAI faced bottlenecks due to limited capacity, prompting it to end the exclusivity agreement and look elsewhere.
While individual investors have committed funds, the Stargate project has not officially financed any facility yet. In parallel, OpenAI has announced Stargate UAE—a 5-gigawatt site in Abu Dhabi using over 2 million Nvidia chips, built in partnership with G42.
A surging demand for AI infrastructure has significantly boosted Nvidia’s market value, with the company reclaiming its top global ranking in late 2024.
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