OpenAI is scouring the U.S. for websites to develop a network of huge data centers to power its expert system innovation, broadening beyond a flagship Texas location and looking across 16 states to accelerate the Stargate project promoted by President Donald Trump.

The maker of ChatGPT put out a request for proposals for akropolistravel.com land, electrical energy, engineers and architects and started visiting areas in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this week.

Trump touted Stargate, a freshly formed joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank, quickly after returning to the White House last month.

The collaboration said it is investing $100 billion - and ultimately up to $500 billion - to develop large-scale information centers and the energy generation needed to additional AI development. Trump called the task a "definite statement of self-confidence in America ´ s prospective" under his brand-new administration, though the first job in Abilene, Texas, has actually been under building for months.

Elon Musk, a Trump adviser and fierce competitor of OpenAI who remains in a legal battle with the company and its CEO Sam Altman, has publicly questioned the value of Stargate's financial investments.

After Trump's announcement, a variety of states reached out to OpenAI about welcoming extra information centers, Chris Lehane, OpenAI's vice president of international affairs, informed press reporters Thursday.

The company's request for propositions calls for sites with "distance to required facilities including power and water."

AI uses vast amounts of energy, much of which originates from burning nonrenewable fuel sources, which causes environment modification. Data centers likewise usually attract big quantities of water for cooling. Some tech giants have actually started financing nuclear power to plug into their information centers.

OpenAI's proposal makes no mention of whether it plans to prioritize sustainable energy sources such as wind or solar to power the data centers. But it says electricity service providers should have a plan to handle carbon emissions and water usage.

"There ´ s some websites we ´ re taking a look at where we wish to help be part of the procedure that brings new power to that site, either from brand-new gas implementation or other means," said Keith Heyde, who directs OpenAI ´ s facilities technique.

The first Texas task remains in a region Abilene Mayor Weldon Hurt has actually explained to The Associated Press as rich in numerous energy sources, consisting of wind, solar and gas. Also explaining it that method is the business that began constructing the AI information center school there in June - the same two "big, stunning structures" that Altman showed off in a recent posted on social media.

Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller said that wind power is main to the task his company is developing, though it will also have a gas-fired generator for backup power.

"We attempt to build data centers in locations where we can access low-priced, tidy and plentiful energy resources," Lochmiller said. "West Texas truly fits that mold where it is among the most consistently windy and sunny locations in the United States."

Lochmiller said he anticipates the Trump administration, regardless of the president's opposition to wind farms, to be pragmatic in supporting wind-powered data centers when it is "really the least expensive way to gain access to energy."

Data centers taken in about 4.4% of all U.S. electrical energy in 2023 which ´ s expected to increase to 6.7% to 12% of total U.S. electrical power by 2028, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The other states where OpenAI is actively looking include Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Heyde said the company only plans to develop "someplace between 5 to 10" schools in total, depending on how large every one is.

OpenAI formerly relied on organization partner Microsoft for its computing requires. But the 2 companies just recently modified their partnership to make it possible for OpenAI to pursue data center development on its own.

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.

The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology contract that permits OpenAI access to part of AP ´ s text archives.