OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new U.S. data center sites under the Stargate AI infrastructure program on April 8. The expansion brings total planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts and committed investment to over $400 billion across the next three years.

The five sites were chosen from more than 300 proposals across over 30 states. Three locations are confirmed: Shackelford County in Texas, Doña Ana County in New Mexico, and a Midwest site the consortium expects to name shortly. Two further sites are part of the expansion, with details to follow.

Five New Sites, One Clear Signal

The announcement puts Stargate on track to hit its original $500 billion, 10-gigawatt target ahead of schedule. OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank first made that commitment in January at the White House alongside President Trump. The goal was to spur investment in American AI infrastructure at a scale the private sector had not attempted before.

In July, OpenAI and Oracle signed an agreement to develop up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional Stargate capacity. That deal alone is valued at over $300 billion between the two companies over five years. The new sites join the flagship Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, now live on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle began delivering the first NVIDIA GB200 racks in June. Early training and inference workloads are already running.

Faster Than Expected

When Stargate launched in January, many observers doubted the $500 billion figure was achievable on the stated timeline. The April announcement puts those doubts to rest. Hyperscaler demand for compute at scale is driving the pace, and the consortium is responding faster than its own projections anticipated.

The new sites also push U.S. AI infrastructure beyond its traditional hubs. Both Shackelford County and Doña Ana County offer available land and improving power access. That fits the industry’s broader shift toward power-first site selection, where grid access now matters more than proximity to fiber or urban centers.

Oracle and SoftBank’s Strategic Stakes

Oracle’s presence across multiple Stargate sites marks a clear pivot. The company has moved from database software to AI infrastructure as its primary growth strategy. That repositioning has shaped every major capital allocation decision Oracle has made through 2026.

SoftBank ties the U.S. buildout to a wider global story. Japanese and Gulf sovereign capital have committed hundreds of billions to compute capacity across multiple regions. The Stargate expansion is the most visible domestic expression of that global infrastructure race, and its acceleration signals that the race is moving faster than most expected.