OpenAI signs $300 billion data center pact with tech giant Oracle

From Left, President Donald Trump, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, and Larry Ellison of Oracle, during the announcement of their Project Stargate at the White House in Washington, Jan. 21, 2025. OpenAI has signed a deal with the tech giant Oracle to build $300 billion in computer infrastructure that will be used to develop artificial intelligence technologies and deliver them to businesses and consumers, two people familiar with the agreement said. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

By CADE METZ

OpenAI has signed a deal with tech giant Oracle to build $300 billion in computer infrastructure that will be used to develop artificial intelligence technologies and deliver them to businesses and consumers, two people familiar with the agreement said.

OpenAI previously said it had reached a deal with Oracle to build massive AI data centers in the United States as part of what it calls Project Stargate. But the AI startup had not revealed the particulars of the pact.

The two companies have agreed to spend $300 billion on the construction of data centers over roughly five years, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal. In July, Oracle laid out part of the agreement in a regulatory filing, but it did not reveal many details.

The deal was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Oracle’s stock price climbed more than 40% on Wednesday after the company revealed that it had added more than $317 billion in future contract revenue during its latest financial quarter.

Project Stargate is part of a wider effort to build AI data centers around the world. OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft plan to spend more than $300 billion combined on giant data centers by the end of this year.

In January, OpenAI, Oracle and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank joined President Donald Trump in announcing that they would create at least $100 billion in computing infrastructure in the United States as part of Project Stargate.

They also said they planned to expand the effort to $500 billion in the coming years. After signing its deal with Oracle, OpenAI has secured commitments for more than half of that goal.

Construction is already underway on data centers in Abilene, Texas, and the companies plan to build in other locations as well.

Separately, OpenAI plans to build a massive computing complex in the United Arab Emirates, following a deal between the Trump administration and the Persian Gulf nation. This facility is part of a venture with Oracle, SoftBank, UAE artificial intelligence firm G42 and others.

G42 will also contribute money to the construction of OpenAI data centers in the United States, OpenAI has said. For every dollar that G42 and its partners invest in the UAE, they will invest an equivalent amount in the U.S. facilities. The size of the planned data center in the Middle East suggests that G42 will invest tens of billions of dollars in each country.

(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. OpenAI and Microsoft have denied those claims.)