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AI BriefWire / Briefing
OpenAI has started construction on a 1GW data center in Michigan as part of its Stargate project. This facility aims to expand AI infrastructure, increase access, and create local jobs. The project supports community growth and the broader Intelligence Age development.
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OpenAI breaks ground on a 1GW data center project in Michigan as part of Stargate, building AI infrastructure to expand access, create jobs, and support communities.
Today, alongside Governor Gretchen Whitmer, local community and labor leaders, and our partners at Oracle, Related Digital, and Walbridge, we broke ground on The Barn(opens in a new window), a 1GW data center campus in Saline, Michigan.
This project is moving forward because we have worked to build it in partnership with the community and because Governor Whitmer has helped create the conditions for Michigan to lead on projects like this. From the beginning, our goal has been to build infrastructure in a way that does right by the people and communities helping make it possible.
First, local residents will not bear the cost of the infrastructure required to support this project. The infrastructure and energy needed for The Barn will be paid for by the project, and costs will not be passed on to local ratepayers. To be clear, consumers will be protected from paying more in electricity bills because of this project.
Second, we have to protect local water resources. The project is designed to use a closed-loop cooling system that uses about as much water as a typical office building.
Third, this project should create real work and real opportunity for Michigan workers. In Michigan, that means union construction jobs, skilled trades, and a project being built by the kinds of people and companies that know how to do this work well. The Barn is expected to create more than 2,500 union construction jobs in addition to 450 permanent onsite jobs, 1,500 county-wide jobs and an additional 1,000 indirect jobs.
Fourth, projects like this should invest in the places that host them. That is why OpenAI is teaming up with Related Digital, Oracle, Walbridge, and Blackstone to contribute $10 million dollars toward improvements to the Saline Recreation Center, alongside contributions from Oracle and Related. The City of Saline identified the rec center as a community priority, and this investment supports a project shaped by the community itself. The project also is projected to generate $1 billion in tax revenue over the lease term, including support for local, county, and state schools and services in the local community.