OpenAI and SoftBank Group invested $1 billion in SB Energy this week, securing infrastructure for next-generation AI data centers. Each company committed $500 million to the SoftBank-owned energy developer, according to announcements on January 9-10.
The partnership centers on a 1.2-gigawatt data center campus in Milam County, Texas that OpenAI selected SB Energy to build and operate. The facility can power approximately 750,000 U.S. homes at peak capacity, highlighting the massive electricity demands of modern AI systems.
This investment advances the Stargate initiative, a $500 billion commitment announced in January at the White House for AI infrastructure development. Stargate's first site is already under construction in Abilene, Texas, with the Milam County campus representing a significant expansion.
SB Energy will adopt OpenAI's services internally, deploying ChatGPT to employees and accessing GPT-5 through OpenAI's APIs. The company previously raised $800 million from Ares Infrastructure Opportunities funds last year to support its data center expansion.
SoftBank's involvement follows its position as OpenAI's largest investor. The Japanese tech giant led a $40 billion funding round for OpenAI in March and reportedly completed the final $22.5 billion tranche in late December.
SB Energy began as a renewable energy developer in 2011 but has pivoted toward data center campuses. The company operates a 900-megawatt solar park called Orion Solar Belt near Austin that supports Google's Texas data centers, plus two California energy storage facilities with 1.36 gigawatts combined capacity.
The partnership creates a non-exclusive preferred arrangement where SB Energy combines OpenAI's data center design expertise with its own energy infrastructure capabilities. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman said the collaboration provides "a fast, reliable way to scale compute through large, highly optimized AI data centers."
Power demand from data centers has become a critical bottleneck for AI development. Meta Platforms secured over 6 gigawatts of nuclear power for its data centers on Friday, while tech companies increasingly invest directly in energy assets to lock in supply.
SB Energy is developing multiple multi-gigawatt data center campuses across the U.S., including a second Texas facility expected to host over 1 gigawatt of computing infrastructure. The company didn't specify whether this additional campus will serve OpenAI.
The investment marks OpenAI's second stake in an affiliate of a funding partner. Last month, the ChatGPT developer bought into Thrive Holdings, a fund operated by Thrive Capital which invested over $1 billion in OpenAI last year.
Industry analysts note concentration risks if AI demand fails to meet the infrastructure buildout pace. The interconnected deals between OpenAI, SoftBank, and SB Energy represent one of the largest coordinated pushes into AI infrastructure development to date.
