OpenAI has started construction on a major new data center campus in Saline, Michigan, as part of its Stargate infrastructure push. The company said it broke ground on the 1-gigawatt project with Governor Gretchen Whitmer, local labor and community leaders, and partners including Oracle, Related Digital and Walbridge.
The campus, called The Barn, is being positioned as a large-scale buildout to support advanced AI systems. OpenAI said the project is moving ahead in part because of local and state support, and it framed the site as an example of how AI infrastructure can be developed alongside community commitments.
A central promise tied to the project is that local residents will not pay for the infrastructure needed to support the campus. OpenAI said the power and infrastructure costs will be covered by the project itself, rather than being passed on to ratepayers. The company also said the development is designed to avoid added costs to local electricity customers.
Water use has also been a point of emphasis. OpenAI said the campus will use a closed-loop cooling system that consumes about as much water as a typical office building. The company presented that design as a way to limit pressure on local water resources while still supporting a large computing facility.
OpenAI said the project is expected to create more than 2,500 union construction jobs, along with 450 permanent jobs on site, 1,500 countywide jobs and another 1,000 indirect jobs. The company described the buildout as an opportunity for skilled trades workers and said it is working with union labor as part of the effort.
The company also said it is partnering with Related Digital, Oracle, Walbridge and Blackstone to contribute $10 million toward improvements to the Saline Recreation Center. The city had identified the rec center as a community priority, according to OpenAI. In addition, the company said the project is projected to generate $1 billion in tax revenue over the lease term, with funding expected to support local, county and state schools and services.
OpenAI said it plans to make up to $45 million in Codex credits available to more than 400,000 eligible Michigan students during the 2026-2027 academic year. The program would cover college students, community college students and trade school students age 18 and older.
The company is also working with Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, as well as community colleges and other state and local partners, on AI literacy and workforce training programs. OpenAI said those efforts are meant to focus on practical skills that can be used in the labor market.
The company tied the education and training programs to broader concerns about how younger workers will adapt to an economy shaped by AI. It said students will need access to tools and training if they are to compete for future jobs.
OpenAI said the Michigan campus is part of its broader Stargate initiative, which it described as a long-term effort to build the infrastructure needed to make advanced AI more accessible and reliable. The company argued that compute capacity has become a strategic asset in the AI industry because it can help improve models and reduce the cost of delivering AI tools.
The company also said the project builds on an earlier partnership with North America’s Building Trades Unions, aimed at supporting union careers and apprenticeship programs through AI-related infrastructure work.
OpenAI cast Michigan as a natural place for the project because of its engineering base, industrial history and construction workforce. The company said the state has a role to play in what it sees as a new era of American industrial expansion tied to AI.