Pennsylvania officials, including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, are working with OpenAI to build data centers in the commonwealth, company representatives said.
The ChatGPT maker plans to build five to 10 data centers around the country as part of its $500 billion Stargate project, infrastructure strategist Keith Heyde told reporters Thursday. The exact number will depend on how much power they’re able to secure at each site.
The company is looking for at least 1 gigawatt of power at centers built in Texas and as many as 15 other states. Mr. Heyde, who spent Wednesday looking at sites in Pennsylvania said “there’s, quite honestly, a lot of great opportunities” here.
“I met with officials yesterday, and we had just fantastic interactions,” he said, without elaborating on which officials. “I certainly left the state House being very excited.”
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, said that “Senator Fetterman has been very engaged and involved” in the Stargate plans.
Mr. Lehane also gave a shoutout to Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“I think if you look at governors across the country, [Mr. Shapiro] has done as much as any governor in terms of the state of Pennsylvania really leaning into AI,” he said, adding that the commonwealth’s pilot with ChatGPT Enterprise for government workers has become a model for other states.
Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Fetterman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
OpenAI plans to link all of its data centers together to power agents and other AI projects. The company also envisions benefits for the surrounding communities.
“These aren’t just going to be campuses that have nothing else around them,” said OpenAI Chief Economist Ronnie Chatterji, a longtime Duke University business professor. “We’re going to build ecosystems here that are going to allow universities and hospitals and community colleges to connect in. That’s going to be a big part of the story.”
Mr. Heyde next went to Wisconsin and planned to visit Oregon later in the week. OpenAI plans to make its first site announcements later this spring.
The team is framing the overall investment in data centers as a centerpiece of the nation’s future.
“A project of this size represents an opportunity to both reindustrialize parts of the country, but also to help revitalize where the American Dream is going to go in this intelligence age,” Mr. Lehane said.
“This should ultimately be a win, win, win,” he said. “It should be a win for the United States in terms of how we’re positioned on infrastructure. It should be a win for these states in terms of how they can leverage these as catalysts for building out AI hubs. And it should be a win for the local communities in terms of the jobs, economic development and revenue.”
First Published: February 6, 2025, 8:29 p.m.
Updated: February 7, 2025, 2:59 p.m.
