By Thorsten Meyer | ThorstenMeyerAI.com
The American Midwest is about to host one of the world’s largest AI data-center campuses. The Stargate project, a collaboration among OpenAI, Oracle, and Vantage Data Centers, is underway in Port Washington, Wisconsin, targeting completion by 2028.
Scale and Vision
Planned capacity approaches one gigawatt — the equivalent of a small power plant — enabling tens of thousands of GPUs to serve OpenAI’s next-generation large models. Stargate will anchor OpenAI’s multi-cloud strategy alongside Microsoft Azure and AWS, forming a distributed compute network for model training and inference.
Local and Environmental Considerations
Wisconsin’s location offers cool climate, access to renewable energy, and logistical proximity to major fiber routes — but also raises environmental scrutiny over energy and water usage. The project has already triggered regional debates on AI’s resource footprint.
Strategic Implications
Stargate reflects a broader re-industrialization of digital infrastructure in America’s heartland. It positions the Midwest as a compute corridor — balancing coastal hyperscale dominance with inland resilience.
In macro terms, this is the physical foundation for the agentic AI economy — where training capacity, latency, and sovereignty become strategic differentiators.
