OpenAI and SoftBank Group Corp. have jointly invested $1 billion in SB Energy, deepening their push to secure power and infrastructure for the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence in the United States.
Under the deal, OpenAI and SoftBank Group Corp. will each commit $500 million to SB Energy, supporting the company’s growth as a data center developer and operator. The firms did not disclose a valuation for the investment.
As part of the agreement, OpenAI has selected SB Energy to build and operate a 1.2-gigawatt data center campus in Milam County, Texas—a facility large enough to power roughly 750,000 U.S. homes at any given time. The project highlights how access to reliable, large-scale electricity has become a critical bottleneck for AI development.
Power demand from data centers is rising sharply as tech companies race to deploy larger and more energy-intensive AI models. To lock in supply, major players are increasingly investing directly in energy assets or long-term power arrangements. On Friday, Meta Platforms Inc. said it has agreed to deals that could ultimately secure more than 6 gigawatts of nuclear power for its own data center needs.
SB Energy, long backed by SoftBank, began as a renewable energy and storage developer but has recently pivoted toward owning and operating large data center campuses. The latest funding follows $800 million raised last year from Ares Infrastructure Opportunities funds and comes as SB Energy advances several multi-gigawatt data center developments across the U.S.
The investment also ties into OpenAI’s broader Stargate initiative, a joint effort with partners including SoftBank and Oracle Corp. to spend up to $500 billion on AI data centers and infrastructure over four years. Stargate’s first site is already underway in Abilene, Texas.
While these interconnected deals are accelerating AI infrastructure buildouts, they are also raising questions about concentration risk if AI demand fails to meet the industry’s lofty expectations.
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