(Bloomberg) — Oracle Corp. and OpenAI have scrapped plans to expand a flagship artificial intelligence data center in Texas after negotiations dragged over financing and OpenAI’s changing needs.
The collapsed talks created an opening for Meta Platforms Inc. to step in and consider leasing the planned expansion site in Abilene, Texas, from developer Crusoe, according to people familiar with the matter. Nvidia Corp., the leading AI chipmaker, helped facilitate Meta’s discussions with the developer, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
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The shifting plans underscore the complexity of building out AI data centers, which are expected to cost in the tens of billions of dollars and require cooperation from a wide swath of partners.
The campus being developed by Crusoe in Abilene is part of the highly publicized Stargate project, which was announced last year at the White House with President Donald Trump. While the 1,000-acre site continues to be built, and several parts are up and running, Oracle and OpenAI elected not to go forward with tentative plans to lease a large expansion, the people said.
Oracle and OpenAI are using Nvidia’s AI semiconductors at the Stargate site. With Crusoe seeking a tenant, Nvidia became involved to ensure its products would still fill the expanded data center rather than that of rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., said the people. Nvidia paid a $150 million deposit to Crusoe and began helping court Meta as a tenant for the expansion, the people said.
Oracle agreed last July to develop 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity for OpenAI. That deal remains on track, and the companies have announced a number of projects in other locations, such as one near Detroit owned by Related Digital.
Shares of Oracle gave up earlier gains and slipped 1.2% to $152.96 at the close Friday in New York. Other companies tied to the AI infrastructure build-out, such as CoreWeave Inc., AMD and Nvidia, also declined on the news.
Intense computing power needed to train and deploy AI models has led to a boom in data center projects of unprecedented scale. Oracle has transformed its business to focus on filling these demands for clients such as OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI. Social networking giant Meta has been spending lavishly on AI infrastructure for its products, and has projected capital expenditures of as much as $135 billion in 2026 alone. Nvidia is the leading maker of chips for AI workloads.