Shackelford data center named official Stargate AI Campus
The new data center site in the southwest corner of Shackelford County has been officially confirmed as a new campus for the Stargate project—a $500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure initiative spearheaded by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank.
The Shackelford County development, now referred to as the Frontier Campus, joins four other newly announced sites across the U.S., including one in Doña Ana County, New Mexico; one in Lordstown, Ohio; another in Milam County, Texas; and a site in the Midwest yet to be disclosed. The announcement confirms that the Shackelford County location will be used directly by OpenAI and Oracle to support large-scale AI workloads, including future iterations of models like ChatGPT.
Two campuses, one mission
While many in the region have become familiar with the high-profile Abilene campus, which is already operational and serves as Stargate’s flagship site, the Shackelford County location is a distinct, standalone facility with separate infrastructure, developers, and power systems.
•The Abilene campus spans 1,100 acres, features eight buildings, and is powered directly through the ERCOT grid with renewable energy. It is being developed by Crusoe and already houses active OpenAI workloads.
•The Shackelford County campus, meanwhile, will include ten buildings across 700 acres, totaling 3.7 million square feet. It will be powered by an onsite natural gas microgrid using Jenbacher engines and cooled using a water-saving closed-loop chiller system, expected to conserve billions of gallons of water annually.
Both sites fall under the Stargate umbrella and are designed to support the exponential demand for AI computing power. However, the two are being built by different partners, with different footprints and construction timelines.
Big impact, rural roots
The Frontier Campus in Shackelford County is expected to generate long-term economic and educational benefits. Construction is already underway, and the project is projected to create over 5,000 jobs during the buildout, with more than 1,600 full-time positions when fully operational. In addition, OpenAI and Oracle have committed to providing annual scholarships for local students as part of their community investment plan.
A national effort,
rooted in Texas
In remarks during the announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explained that Texas was selected for multiple sites due to its land availability, energy infrastructure, construction-friendly regulations, and workforce. “Texas has been an unusually good place for us to be doing these projects,” he said.
The combined Abilene and Shackelford County campuses will form a central Texas hub for the Stargate system—one focused on building the computer power needed for AI technologies of the future.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the Shackelford County community, and we’re grateful for Judge Viertel and many other Texas leaders for such a warm welcome. A critical part of our mission and ultimate success for this data center development is our strong commitment to job creation, partnerships with local businesses and the overall growth delivered to the county. Together, we look forward to advancing the local economy and American leadership in artificial intelligence.” – Mahesh Thiagarajan, executive vice president, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
