OpenAI and Japan’s SoftBank Group are investing $1 billion in SB Energy for continued data center development and construction efforts.
Each will pump $500 million into infrastructure companies that are partly owned by Japanese conglomerates. This transaction is stargate The initiative is a public-private partnership announced by President Donald Trump about a year ago and aims to provide the United States with a world-leading AI infrastructure.
of stargate launch SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined Trump to announce a $500 billion project hailed as the largest in U.S. history.
SB Energy was founded in 2019 as an energy company and is now focused on building the frenetic data centers needed to provide the necessary infrastructure as the AI revolution gains momentum.
The latest round of funding follows an $800 million investment in 2025 from Los Angeles-based Ares Management Infrastructure Opportunities. SB Energy’s current valuation is unclear.
As part of the agreement, SB Energy will build and operate OpenAI’s new 1.2 GW data center site in Milam County, Texas. revealed in September.
Separate from the Milam facility, SB Energy is developing other multi-gigawatt data center campuses, some already under construction and expected to enter service later this year.
Additionally, OpenAI, SoftBank, and SB Energy have entered into a “non-exclusive preferred partnership” to develop a new model for building data centers, according to the press release. The release claims it combines the ChatGPT maker’s first-party center design with SB Energy’s “speed, cost discipline, and expertise in integrated energy delivery.”
SB Energy cited its efforts in Milam County, where a data center was designed to minimize water usage, as an example of its efforts to efficiently develop new facilities without disrupting local residents.
“Our partnership with SB Energy brings together SB Energy’s strengths in data center infrastructure and energy development with OpenAI’s deep expertise in data center engineering,” OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman said in a release. “The result is a fast and reliable way to scale computing through large, highly optimized AI data centers.”
As SB Energy’s efforts continue to expand, it has confirmed the acquisition of California-based Studio 151, which is already involved in the development of 20 data center campuses.
