Building the infrastructure for the Intelligence Age in Michigan

Today, alongside Governor Gretchen Whitmer, local community and labor leaders, and our partners at Oracle, Related Digital, and Walbridge, we broke ground on The Barn ⁠ (opens in a new window) , a 1GW data center campus in Saline, Michigan.

This project is moving forward because we have worked to build it in partnership with the community and because Governor Whitmer has helped create the conditions for Michigan to lead on projects like this. From the beginning, our goal has been to build infrastructure in a way that does right by the people and communities helping make it possible.

First, local residents will not bear the cost of the infrastructure required to support this project. The infrastructure and energy needed for The Barn will be paid for by the project, and costs will not be passed on to local ratepayers. To be clear, consumers will be protected from paying more in electricity bills because of this project.

Fourth, projects like this should invest in the places that host them. That is why OpenAI is teaming up with Related Digital, Oracle, Walbridge, and Blackstone to contribute $10 million dollars toward improvements to the Saline Recreation Center, alongside contributions from Oracle and Related. The City of Saline identified the rec center as a community priority, and this investment supports a project shaped by the community itself. The project also is projected to generate $1 billion in tax revenue over the lease term, including support for local, county, and state schools and services in the local community.

Together, these efforts are meant to support Governor Whitmer’s broader strategy of helping Michigan students get the education, training, and tools they need for good jobs after graduation.

When OpenAI launched Stargate in January 2025, we said this work should support American reindustrialization, create jobs, and generate broad economic benefit. Michigan is showing how that can be done.

Second, we have to protect local water resources. The project is designed to use a closed-loop cooling system that uses about as much water as a typical office building.

Third, this project should create real work and real opportunity for Michigan workers. In Michigan, that means union construction jobs, skilled trades, and a project being built by the kinds of people and companies that know how to do this work well. The Barn is expected to create more than 2,500 union construction jobs in addition to 450 permanent onsite jobs, 1,500 county-wide jobs and an additional 1,000 indirect jobs.

We believe access to AI tools and training should be part of the opportunity created by this investment. That’s why, as part of our broader commitment to Michigan, OpenAI will make up to $45 million in Codex credits available to more than 400,000 eligible Michigan college students, community college students, and trade school students aged 18 and older during the 2026–2027 academic year. Michigan students can access the program at https://chatgpt.com/features/codex-for-michigan-college-students/ ⁠ (opens in a new window) .