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OpenAI and NVIDIA announced a letter of intent in September 2025 for at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems, with NVIDIA saying it intended to invest up to $100 billion as those systems were deployed. The first gigawatt was targeted for the second half of 2026. These are announced plans, not proof that the full buildout or investment has happened. OpenAI’s data-center program also involves other cloud and infrastructure partners, and the company reported that its Abilene, Texas, site was operational by April 2026.

What did OpenAI and NVIDIA announce?

The September 22, 2025 announcement set out a planned, multi-year infrastructure partnership. The companies said OpenAI would use at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems. NVIDIA stated that it intended to invest up to $100 billion progressively as each gigawatt was deployed; the announcement did not describe that amount as an upfront payment. The first gigawatt was targeted for the second half of 2026, using NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform.

The agreement was a letter of intent. NVIDIA characterized the investment, schedule and expected benefits as forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties. The announced figures therefore describe the companies’ plans, not completed deployments or guaranteed spending.

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How does NVIDIA fit into Stargate?

NVIDIA is a major systems and investment partner within a broader infrastructure effort, not the sole builder or operator of every OpenAI data center. OpenAI describes Stargate as a platform built with data-center, cloud, construction, energy and finance partners. It has named Oracle, SoftBank and CoreWeave in connection with data-center work, and listed Microsoft, Oracle and SoftBank among the wider network working on infrastructure with NVIDIA.

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That distinction matters when reading capacity announcements: a project may involve NVIDIA hardware without being a standalone NVIDIA facility, and figures for separate announcements may overlap or describe different parts of the same buildout.

What capacity and investment figures have been announced?

The figures below come from company announcements and status updates. They use different scopes and dates, so they should not be added together as if they were separate, independently verified capacity.

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Announcement or update Company-reported figure Status and scope
OpenAI–NVIDIA partnership, September 2025 At least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems; up to $100 billion in intended NVIDIA investment Letter of intent; investment intended to be made progressively as systems were deployed. First gigawatt targeted for the second half of 2026 on Vera Rubin.
OpenAI U.S. infrastructure update, April 2026 More than 10 gigawatts of U.S. infrastructure goal reported surpassed; more than 3 gigawatts added in the preceding 90 days OpenAI-reported progress against its U.S. infrastructure goal, not a statement that the NVIDIA letter-of-intent program was fully deployed.
OpenAI Stargate announcement, 2025 Nearly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and over $400 billion of planned investment over three years Company-announced plans across five announced sites, Abilene and ongoing CoreWeave projects.
OpenAI–Oracle U.S. capacity announcement, 2025 Up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional U.S. Stargate capacity; with Abilene, more than 5 gigawatts and over 2 million chips Planned capacity under the Oracle agreement; the announcement also described the first GB200 rack deliveries to Abilene.
Stargate UAE announcement, 2025 1-gigawatt planned Abu Dhabi cluster; 200 megawatts expected to go live in 2026 Announced target for an international deployment, with G42, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco and SoftBank.

OpenAI’s April 2026 U.S. progress figure and its earlier site announcements do not establish that every site is operating, nor do they provide a like-for-like independent accounting of capacity. The announcements do not consistently specify whether each gigawatt refers to IT load, total facility power or another measure, so comparisons require caution.

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What is operating, and what is still planned?

Abilene, Texas

OpenAI said in April 2026 that its flagship Abilene site was operating on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with NVIDIA GB200 systems. Oracle had said it began delivering the first GB200 racks there in June 2025 and that early training and inference workloads had begun. These reports document progress at one site; they do not mean the full multi-gigawatt program is online.

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Other announced U.S. sites

OpenAI’s September 2025 announcement named planned or developing sites in Shackelford County, Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; Lordstown, Ohio; and Milam County, Texas, as well as a potential Abilene expansion. An October 2025 update identified the Midwest site as being in Wisconsin, developed by Oracle with Vantage. The company described capacity and job estimates for these projects as plans, not completed results.

Stargate UAE

OpenAI described the Abu Dhabi project as the first international Stargate deployment. Its announced 1-gigawatt cluster and 200-megawatt 2026 target are planned milestones, not confirmation that the full cluster—or the 2026 portion—has gone live.

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Why do data-center announcements depend on more than GPUs?

Compute hardware is only one part of a large data-center project. OpenAI identifies power availability, transmission, land, permitting, workforce, community support and partner readiness as important to selecting and developing sites. Construction schedules and capacity targets depend on those practical conditions as well as on equipment deployment.

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Cooling is another site-specific issue. OpenAI says Abilene uses closed-loop cooling: water is initially added and then recirculated through sealed pipes. The company estimates that cooling water use at full buildout will be comparable to that of a medium-sized office building or about four average households. That is OpenAI’s estimate, not an independent environmental assessment, and it addresses cooling water rather than the full environmental footprint of the facility.

How should readers judge a data-center claim?

When comparing announcements, separate operating capacity from planned capacity and check what the stated gigawatt measure covers. Then look at the hardware generation and schedule, power and transmission access, land and permitting status, cooling approach, named cloud and construction partners, and stated workforce or community commitments. A headline capacity number alone cannot show whether a project is built, what loads it supports, or how quickly it can scale.

The companies’ announcements are useful evidence of what they intend and what they report about progress. They do not independently verify all investment, capacity, schedule, employment, water-use or expected-benefit claims. In particular, NVIDIA’s stated up-to-$100-billion investment and the first-gigawatt timing remain forward-looking terms of the letter of intent.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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