March 24 (Reuters) – Microsoft has agreed to lease a data center project in Texas that was originally developed for Oracle and OpenAI, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Abilene site has a capacity of about 700 megawatts and is adjacent to Oracle and OpenAI’s flagship Stargate campus, the report said.
Microsoft reportedly struck a deal with developer Crusoe after Oracle and OpenAI walked out of negotiations and seized the site.
However, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters that there were no changes to OpenAI’s existing agreement with Oracle.
A Microsoft spokesman said it had nothing to share, while Oracle and Crusoe did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported that Oracle and OpenAI abandoned plans to expand an artificial intelligence data center in Texas after negotiations over financing and OpenAI’s changing needs dragged on.
Oracle later said it was inaccurate to suggest that planned capacity at the Abilene plant was being delayed.
Tech companies have poured billions into data centers to power generative AI services like ChatGPT and Copilot, which require massive amounts of computing power.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
