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WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is opening a massive new data center in Michigan that state officials say will be one of the most advanced AI infrastructure facilities in the U.S.
The 2.2-million-square-foot data center will be built in early 2026 in Saline Township, a rural community in southeast Washtenaw County, the company announced Thursday, Oct. 30.
OpenAI said the facility will not need any additional power generation to operate, using a closed-loop cooling system that significantly reduces water consumption. DTE Energy will serve the data center, using existing excess transmission capacity so there won’t be any impact on local energy supply.
“Michigan has long been at the center of American engineering and manufacturing,” the company said in a news release. “We’re proud to build here and to continue expanding the infrastructure needed to ensure the benefits of AI reach everyone.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Michigan was selected for the multi-billion-dollar project because of the state’s strong construction and tech workforce, capable of both building and operating the facility.
“Today, we won the largest economic project in Michigan history,” Whitmer said in a statement announcing the project. “This transformational new Stargate OpenAI facility, built by Oracle and Related Digital, will create 2,500 good-paying union construction jobs, more than 450 permanent high-skill, high-paying jobs on site, and 1,500 more in the community while helping us lead the future of advanced manufacturing and technology.”
“I’m grateful to these cutting-edge companies for betting on Michigan, building on our work to compete for and win big projects in next-generation industries from cars and clean energy to semiconductors and batteries.”
The project, being developed by Related Digital, has been met with pushback from local officials in Saline Township. The fact that OpenAI was behind the project was previously undisclosed to the public.
Maintaining the area’s rural character has been a key issue among many of the dozens of residents who expressed concerns or outright opposed the data center proposal at township meetings. Worries also included electricity usage, the impact of construction, noise generation, and potential negative impacts on the environment and neighbors.
Whitmer said the project will preserve more than 700 acres of open space that will be retained and used as farmland, wetland, and forest. The Michigan Department of Transportation said the project will have minimal effects on local traffic.
Related Digital also agreed to invest $14 million toward local fire departments, a community investment fund and farmland preservation trust. The Saline Township Board of Trustees requested the investment as part of a deal allowing the data center to move forward.
DTE said the new power-hungry data center will increase the total demand on its system by 25%, adding 1.4 gigawatts in demand. DTE CEO Joi Harris said the utility planned to spend an additional $6 billion over the coming five years to serve the data center customer and continue modernizing its grid. Harris said the data center will not result in increased customer rates.
OpenAI has previously announced six other U.S. Stargate sites with Oracle and SoftBank, located in Texas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Combined with those projects, Michigan’s new facility will bring Stargate to over 8 gigawatts of planned capacity, representing more than $450 billion in investment over the next three years, OpenAI said.
Melissa Frick is a local government reporter in West Michigan, covering communities across the greater Grand Rapids area for MLive. She was born and raised in Grand Rapids and earned her degree in journalism…
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