Here Are Some of the Largest US Data-Center Projects Being Built


Some Americans have new next-door neighbors: data centers.

The US has been constructing these computing amenities for many years, however growth has ramped up dramatically lately as AI more and more drives demand for computing energy.

Enterprise Insider compiled an inventory of a few of these huge US data-center initiatives for example the dimensions of what is being constructed. These on the record have at the least 1 gigawatt of capability and have damaged floor.

Among the many largest is a city-sized campus in Texas pursuing as much as 17 gigawatts of energy capability. One other in Ohio is aiming to have as much as 10 gigawatts of data-center capability, most of which OpenAI has contracted to make use of. For reference, 1 gigawatt of electrical energy constantly equipped for a yr might power roughly 835,000 common American houses.

In whole, the Pew Research Heart says the US has greater than 3,000 working information facilities nationwide and over 1,500 extra beneath growth, largely in rural areas. In keeping with information from the Vitality Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy, US information facilities accounted for almost 40% of worldwide data-center electrical energy use in 2025, consuming about 313 terawatt-hours. That is extra electrical energy than all of Australia used that yr.

Deliberate capability is the closest public proxy for a way a lot computing these AI campuses can help, and that is vital as a result of the electrical energy and water wanted to run their servers and cooling programs can have main implications for local grids and sustainability.

Residents affected by developments in locations like Texas and Utah have pushed again over considerations about noise, property values, and the results on close by communities. New York has temporarily paused the development of latest large-scale AI information facilities.

Nonetheless, the 2025 US Data Center Energy Usage Report from Berkeley Lab initiatives that information facilities will devour 11.8% of US electrical energy by 2030, up from about 4.4% in 2023. Oracle, SB Vitality, SpaceX, Google, and Meta are among the many main builders and operators.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is so keen to construct its supercomputers that it is providing workers a pay bump to temporarily move to the data-center websites to assist with the buildout.

This is a more in-depth take a look at a few of the largest AI data-center campuses being constructed.

Meta Lebanon Campus — Indiana


The Meta logo.

The Lebanon Campus is one in every of Meta’s 21 information facilities beneath building.

Thibault Camus/AP

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta presently has 21 data centers under construction. Its Lebanon, Indiana, information heart is one in every of its greatest investments — and the corporate’s second within the state.

The $10 billion heart, which broke floor in early 2026, is deliberate to ship 1 gigawatt of capacity and span 1,500 acres.

It is anticipated to be accomplished by early 2028. Neighbors have complained about mild air pollution from the development, whereas residents throughout Indiana have urged state lawmakers to manage the rising data-center business.

Meta El Paso Knowledge Heart — Texas


An aerial view of a data center.

The Meta El Paso Knowledge Heart will occupy roughly 1,000 acres.

Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs

Meta’s data center in El Paso, Texas, is deliberate to be powered by 1 gigawatt of capability and span roughly 1,000 acres. It initially known as for $1.5 billion in funding, which later elevated to $10 billion.

The middle will help greater than 300 staff as soon as full, whereas round 4,000 building staff are anticipated to construct it out.

The location broke floor in October 2025 and is expected to be completed in 2028. The location has additionally sparked backlash from residents.

Challenge Freebird (Stargate) — Texas


Sam Altman speaks

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talking on the Stargate location in Abilene, Texas, about 220 miles from the Challenge Freebird location in Milam County.

Bloomberg/Getty Photographs

Challenge Freebird is a part of Stargate, the AI-infrastructure initiative co-led by OpenAI and SoftBank, which OpenAI stated in January 2025 would make investments as much as $500 billion in US infrastructure.

Freebird will likely be a 1.2-gigawatt information heart campus in Milam County, Texas, close to Austin. The primary part was anticipated to be accomplished by October, whereas further phases are deliberate by 2028. Development began in 2025.

Nonetheless, the corporate has not issued any replace on the info heart’s completion as of late October.

The location, being developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank-backed infrastructure firm, will span roughly 595 acres. Section 1 has an estimated building value of $470 million, whereas whole funding within the broader venture is anticipated to vary from $1.8 billion to $3 billion.

The primary part had a scheduled construction-completion date of October 15, whereas SB Vitality says operations are anticipated to start in 2027.

Fort Wayne Knowledge Heart — Indiana


Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivers a speech during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19, 2026

Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivers a speech in the course of the AI Impression Summit in New Delhi in February 2026.

Ludovic MARIN / AFP by way of Getty Photographs

In 2024, Google broke floor on a $2 billion information heart campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to help its AI and cloud operations.

The campus is anticipated to require as much as 1.2 gigawatts of energy at full build-out. Some Indiana politicians have expressed concern concerning the quantity of energy required to run the info heart and who will foot the vitality invoice.

“If firms need to construct a knowledge heart right here, and we’ve got to construct new energy era for them, then they should share in that danger,” Indiana Rep. Ed Soliday, a Republican, beforehand told Business Insider. “There are a few information heart people who’ve stated, ‘Oh no, that is not honest.’ Sure, it’s. Grandma down the road should not must pay in your desires.”

Stargate Abilene — Texas


An aerial view of a data center campus.

The Stargate AI information heart in Abilene, Texas.

Bloomberg/Getty Photographs

The Stargate AI information heart campus outdoors Abilene, Texas, is anticipated to ship 1.2 gigawatts of capability. Crusoe, the lead developer and builder behind the venture, broke floor on the campus in June 2024. The primary part is already operational.

The second part, which is beneath building, is backed by a $15 billion joint venture between Crusoe, Blue Owl Capital, and Major Digital Infrastructure. It’ll add six buildings to the campus, bringing the entire to eight and the deliberate capability to 1.2 gigawatts. The location will span 875 acres.

Nebius AI Manufacturing unit — Missouri


A man in a shirt speaks.

Danila Shtan, chief know-how officer at Nebius. The corporate is an AI cloud infrastructure supplier headquartered in Amsterdam.

Bloomberg/Getty Photographs

Nebius’ information heart in Independence, Missouri, will span roughly 400 acres and attain a capability of as much as 1.2 gigawatts. The corporate broke floor in Could and is anticipated to carry roughly 1,200 building jobs and 130 everlasting jobs.

Nebius has not introduced a complete funding quantity, although the town expects to start accumulating tax revenue from the campus in 2028.

The location hasn’t come with out controversy. A bunch of residents is suing the town of Independence and corporations concerned with the venture, alleging 16 counts, together with claims that the town violated Missouri’s Sunshine Legislation a number of occasions by failing to supply finalized information heart building plans. Nebius didn’t provide a remark.

CloudBurst San Marcos Knowledge Heart I — Texas


CloudBurst Data Centers and Evolve broke ground.

CloudBurst Knowledge Facilities and Evolve Holdings broke floor on the location in late 2025.

Evolve Holdings

CloudBurst’s San Marcos Knowledge Heart I is a deliberate 1.2-gigawatt capability campus on 706 acres in central Texas. Guadalupe County authorized a $500 million tax abatement for the venture.

The corporate and its growth accomplice, Evolve, broke floor in November 2025, with an preliminary 50-megawatt part anticipated to be full by late 2026. Development is anticipated to be full in 2029.

San Marcos residents have protested proposed information facilities over water and vitality considerations. Town has since develop into the primary in Texas to ban new information facilities, although the ban will not cease CloudBurst’s venture, which is outdoors metropolis limits.

The Barn Knowledge Heart — Michigan


a massive building under construction, surrounded by dirt

“The Barn” is being inbuilt Michigan.

Jim West/UCG/Common Photographs Group by way of Getty Photographs

The Barn, a part of the Stargate venture, is a multi-billion-dollar AI information heart campus in Saline Township, southwest of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Associated Digital, a data-center developer, is constructing the campus for Oracle as a part of its partnership with OpenAI. Development for The Barn began in June.

The campus will comprise three information heart buildings with a mixed capability of 1.4 gigawatts. The $16 billion venture is backed by Associated Digital and funding agency Blackstone. The primary amenities are anticipated to enter service by the top of 2027.

Native residents have protested against the data center, citing considerations about its impression on the grid and air pollution.

In October, state regulators opened public comment on a wastewater allow for the campus’s proposed on-site water-treatment system.

Stargate Frontier Campus — Texas


OpenAI's Sarah Friar and Sam Altman stand at a construction site.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar (left) and CEO Sam Altman (proper) throughout a media tour of the Stargate AI information heart in Abilene, Texas, in 2025.

Bloomberg/Getty Photographs

The Stargate Frontier Campus, developed by Vantage Data Centers, will likely be a 1.4 gigawatt, 1,200-acre information heart in Shackelford County, Texas, close to Albany in north-central Texas.

The campus is a part of the broader Stargate initiative led by OpenAI, Oracle, and different companions, and is being designed for ultra-high-density AI workloads. Vantage plans to speculate greater than $25 billion within the venture, which is anticipated to be absolutely constructed out by 2028.

Development of the middle started in late 2025.

xAI Colossus 2 — Tennessee


A swampy lake in the foreground, with construction in the background.

Work continues on a knowledge heart being constructed by xAI in August 2026.

Brandon Dill / AFP by way of Getty Photographs

Elon Musk’s xAI is constructing Colossus 2 to power Grok, the AI chatbot on X. Development started in 2025 in Memphis, Tennessee, and the corporate has stated it plans to develop the location to 1.5 gigawatts. The nonprofit analysis institute Epoch AI estimates its present capability at about 946 megawatts.

Environmental justice teams, led by the NAACP, sued xAI earlier this yr, alleging that the corporate put in and operated fuel generators that energy Colossus 2 in close by Southaven, Mississippi, with out the required air permits. In March, Mississippi regulators authorized a allow for xAI to construct and function a brand new fleet of generators on the web site.

Native residents have filed a class-action lawsuit towards xAI, MZX Tech, and SpaceX, alleging that noise and vibrations from the fuel generators have disrupted their lives and harmed their property values.

Nonetheless, in late October, Enterprise Insider reported that SpaceX was providing workers a 20% pay bump to briefly relocate to Memphis or Southaven, Mississippi, for six weeks to assist construct out Colossus 1 and a couple of.

Challenge Jupiter — New Mexico


An aerial view of a data center under construction.

Challenge Jupiter is positioned in Santa Teresa, New Mexico

Omar Ornelas/El Paso Instances/Reuters

Developed by infrastructure firms STACK Infrastructure and BorderPlex Digital Property, Project Jupiter will likely be an AI information heart campus in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, close to the Texas border. It’s a part of the Stargate initiative and is anticipated to help Oracle’s AI-computing operations for OpenAI.

Development for Challenge Jupiter started in September 2025. The campus’s deliberate on-site energy system might embrace as much as 2.45 gigawatts of Bloom Energy gas cells, changing an earlier proposal centered on fuel generators and diesel turbines.

In Could, Oracle ditched its plan to assemble a pure fuel plant to energy Challenge Jupiter, following local residents’ concerns over the potential unfavorable water utilization and air air pollution results it might trigger.

Oracle issued a power majeure discover in September as a result of potential delays within the venture’s energy infrastructure, although it says the campus stays on observe for 2028.

Meta Hyperion — Louisiana


Aerial view of Richland Parish Data Center

Aerial view of Richland Parish Knowledge Heart.

Meta

Meta’s Hyperion AI data center in rural northeast Louisiana, backed by greater than $50 billion in funding, will span greater than 3,600 acres and is deliberate to ship 5 gigawatts of capability as soon as absolutely developed. Hyperion broke floor in December 2024.

Meta says Hyperion is designed to coach and run its artificial-intelligence programs. Earlier this yr, Louisiana gave Meta $3.3 billion in tax breaks for Meta to construct Hyperion. The venture is anticipated to be accomplished within the 2030s.

For the reason that heart is positioned in a rural a part of the state, the inflow of seven,500 commerce and building staff has spurred a housing boom, with cell houses constructed for staff that hire for $3,000 a month.

Nonetheless, the venture has additionally confronted pushback from native residents and environmental teams involved about its impression on water, vitality use, and the encompassing group.

Louisiana regulators held hearings in October on the proposed energy build-out for the campus. The state’s Public Service Fee will difficulty a choice in December.

PORTS-Pike Know-how Campus — Ohio


PORTS Technology Campus

Breaking floor on the Portsmouth Website.

US Division of Vitality

The Division of Vitality stated SB Vitality broke floor in March in Ohio on the deliberate AI and cloud campus on the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, often called PORTS. The campus will span non-public land and remediated federal land leased from the DOE.

The Nvidia-backed project is anticipated to incorporate as much as 10 gigawatts of data-center capability, with OpenAI set to make use of as much as 8 gigawatts of it for its workloads.

Whereas the DOE says the historic PORTS web site is in lively remediation, the venture has raised considerations about potential well being and environmental dangers related to the location’s historical past as a uranium enrichment plant. SB Vitality instructed the Guardian in August that it’s “dedicated to paying for accelerated cleanup and remediation on the web site” and that the corporate “performs thorough web site critiques and due diligence for every of our infrastructure initiatives, together with soil sampling.”

SB Vitality said in October that it will start preliminary clearing and grading work for the campus’s first part.

Challenge Matador — Texas


Construction work at Project Matador's 17GW Private Power Campus

Development work at Challenge Matador’s 17- gigawatt Personal Energy Campus

Fermi America by way of PR Newswire

Fermi America’s Challenge Matador, additionally known as HyperGrid, is an AI information heart and private power campus being constructed close to Amarillo, Texas.

Fermi, which was co-founded in 2025 by former Texas Gov. and US Vitality Secretary Rick Perry, stated it’s pursuing roughly 17 gigawatts of personal energy for the campus, up from the initially deliberate 11 gigawatts. Which means the campus would generate a lot of its personal electrical energy on-site slightly than relying totally on the general public grid. The corporate says 6 gigawatts have been permitted thus far.

Fermi has a 99-year land lease with the Texas Tech College System for the core web site, and the venture might span roughly 8,400 acres at full build-out. Fermi says building is underway, with completion deliberate for the 2030s, and AI cloud firm TensorWave has signed a 15-year lease anticipated to generate about $6.5 billion in contracted income for the primary part. Fermi can also be growing a cooling system designed to considerably cut back water use.

The corporate was hit with a category motion lawsuit earlier this yr. The investor lawsuit alleges Fermi misled buyers concerning the standing and prospects of Challenge Matador; its shares fell after Amazon withdrew a $150 million building advance in December 2025.

Fermi America stated three gas turbines arrived on the web site in October.

SpaceX, Meta, Google, Oracle, Fermi America, CloudBurst, and xAI didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Enterprise Insider. SB Vitality didn’t provide a remark.





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