OpenAI, Oracle, and Related Digital announced plans to build a more than 1-gigawatt data center campus in Saline Township, Michigan, marking a major expansion of their Stargate AI infrastructure initiative. The multi-billion-dollar project will begin construction in early 2026 and is part of OpenAI and Oracle’s broader plan to deploy 4.5 GW of additional Stargate capacity across the U.S.
The campus, developed on 250 acres, will feature three single-story, 550,000-square-foot buildings using LEED-certified design principles and a closed-loop cooling system that limits water use to levels comparable to an office building. DTE Energy will supply 100% of the project’s power, supplemented by a new battery storage facility financed by the developers. The project will generate more than 2,500 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent positions across Washtenaw County, with Detroit-based Walbridge named as general contractor.
Related Digital, the development arm of Related Companies, is leading the effort in collaboration with Oracle and OpenAI. The Michigan site—nicknamed “The Barn” after a historic red barn preserved at the entrance—represents a model for sustainable, high-capacity AI infrastructure designed to support advanced compute workloads for OpenAI’s next-generation models on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
• Capacity: Over 1 GW of compute power across three 550,000-sq-ft buildings
• Location: Saline Township, Michigan (250 acres)
• Construction: Start planned for early 2026, pending regulatory approval
• Energy: 100% powered by DTE Energy with project-funded battery storage
• Jobs: 2,500 construction; 2,000 ongoing regional roles
• Design: LEED-certified, closed-loop water cooling system
• Partners: OpenAI, Oracle, Related Digital, DTE Energy, Walbridge
“We are proud to be developing this critical project exclusively for Oracle and contributing to keeping our nation competitive in the global AI race,” said Jeff T. Blau, CEO of Related Companies and Chairman of Related Digital.
🌐 Analysis: The Michigan Stargate campus marks the latest phase in OpenAI and Oracle’s national AI infrastructure rollout, which already includes sites in Wyoming and Missouri. The project strengthens Oracle’s position as a key cloud partner for large-scale AI training and inference workloads while advancing Related Digital’s emergence as a major U.S. data center developer. The move reflects a growing push by hyperscalers to diversify energy sources and regionalize compute clusters amid power-grid constraints and AI demand surges.
Saline Township is located in Washtenaw County, in southeastern Michigan, about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Ann Arbor and roughly 45 miles (72 km) west of Detroit. It’s a largely rural area adjacent to the City of Saline, known for its farmland, small residential communities, and proximity to major transport routes such as U.S. Highway 12 (Michigan Avenue) and Interstate 94. The township is part of the Ann Arbor metropolitan region, which provides access to power, water, and labor infrastructure.
The Great Lakes region is quickly becoming a powerhouse for hyperscale data center development, driven by access to reliable power, abundant land, and proximity to major fiber routes. In Michigan, Switch operates its multi-megawatt data center campus in Grand Rapids, repurposing the iconic Steelcase Pyramid into one of the region’s largest enterprise and cloud facilities. To the south, Amazon Web Services has completed its Project Rainier data center complex in New Carlisle, Indiana, housing one of the world’s largest clusters of non-NVIDIA chips for AI workloads. Nearby Terre Haute, Indiana, is also seeing increased data infrastructure investment as hyperscalers seek new capacity along Midwest fiber corridors. Further north, Microsoft is advancing a $3.3 billion next-generation data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
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