Eseandre Mordi
● According to a recent analysis shared by Jukan from Barclays Research, the U.S. is experiencing a historic wave of data center construction driven by AI demand. We're looking at over 45 gigawatts of planned capacity and more than $2.5 trillion in committed investments.
● The centerpiece is OpenAI's "Stargate" program—a network of massive facilities designed to power the next generation of AI models. Barclays estimates about 7 GW (roughly $400 billion) has already been locked in, with plans to hit 10 GW and $500 billion by the end of 2025. Key partners include Oracle, SoftBank, Crusoe, STACK Infrastructure, Vantage Data Centers, and Blue Owl Capital.
● Projects like Stargate 1 in Abilene, Texas (1.2–1.6 GW) and Project Jupiter in New Mexico (1.5 GW) are already moving forward. The funding mix includes equity and credit deals, notably a $15 billion joint venture between Blue Owl Capital and Crusoe. These sites will run massive NVIDIA GB200 GPU clusters and feature on-site natural gas generation plus battery storage to tackle America's stressed power grid.
● The report points to serious energy challenges ahead. Limited grid capacity and slow connection approvals are pushing companies toward a "Bring-Your-Own-Power" approach—essentially building their own power plants. Stargate 1, for example, is adding 350 MW of on-site gas generation just to speed things up.
● Other tech giants aren't sitting still. Meta's "Prometheus" and "Hyperion" projects could top 5 GW, Amazon's targeting 13 GW in the U.S. by 2027, Microsoft's building a 900 MW AI campus in Wisconsin, and xAI is developing a 1.4 GW facility in Tennessee for Grok.
This isn't just a compute arms race. It's a national infrastructure and power challenge. As the Barclays report puts it
● Costs are climbing fast too. Standard data center construction now runs about $17 million per megawatt, but full AI projects like Stargate hit $57 million per MW once you factor in computing hardware. Supply chain issues—turbine and transformer shortages especially—are driving costs up another 50% in some cases.
Eseandre Mordi
