OpenAI’s response to the Department of Energy on AI infrastructure

OpenAI today submitted proposals⁠(opens in a new window) to the US Department of Energy in response to the Department’s call for ideas as it weighs how to leverage its land assets to build infrastructure that will help secure America’s edge on AI well into the future. 

Not only is AI too powerful a technology to be led and shaped by autocrats, but the economic opportunity it presents is too compelling to forfeit. Like electricity, AI is a foundational technology that can revitalize the American Dream and catalyze a reindustrialization of the United States—but this will require the federal government to:

• Act and invest with urgency. Investment to extend America’s current lead in AI will yield tens of thousands of skilled-trade and other jobs; growth in productivity and GDP; a modernized grid including power generated by nuclear energy; and a state-of-the art network of semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Today, hundreds of billions of dollars in global funds are waiting to be invested in AI infrastructure. If the US does not move fast to channel these resources into projects that support American and other democratic AI ecosystems around the world, the funds will flow to projects backed and shaped by countries that don’t share our democratic values. 
• Help make AI available to all. Here is where we can apply lessons learned from the advent of electricity, where the federal government’s top-down approach via the Rural Electrification Administration, created in 1935 to ensure that electricity benefited every American community, ultimately came up short in ways that still affect rural areas today. Ensuring that AI access and literacy are truly nationwide and community-based—as the Trump Administration has called for⁠(opens in a new window)—will help prepare an AI-ready workforce, the most vital AI infrastructure of all. 

Earlier this year, we launched Stargate, an unprecedented investment in AI infrastructure that will boost local economies and strengthen America’s global competitiveness and national security. The first Stargate supercomputing campus is underway in Abilene, Texas, and we’re in the process of identifying additional sites in Texas and other states. Each site will house cutting-edge AI supercomputers, spreading AI’s benefits and infrastructure across the country.

After launching Stargate, we announced a new kind of partnership—OpenAI for Countries—to help other countries build up their data center capacity and ecosystems of AI start-ups and developers. In exchange, these countries would invest in the Stargate Project—and thus are investing in America and in AI led by American companies  and built on democratic rails.

America knows how to think big, build big, and act big. Our ability to envision and raise incredible infrastructure has been central to our country’s success. From the transcontinental railroad to the interstate highway system, to the internet and the information superhighway, American builders have paved the way to scale commerce, mobility, and economic opportunity and growth. With AI infrastructure, we can scale human ingenuity itself.

Development of a Public Solicitation of Private-Sector Proposals for AI Infrastructure Construction, Operation, Maintenance, and Decommissioning on Federal Land

OpenAI maintains deep, mission‑driven collaborations with the US National Laboratories. In January  2025, we launched a multi‑year partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to supercharge national science⁠.

LANL Director Thom Mason has called this partnership “a watershed moment for mission science.”

These collaborations demonstrate how pairing national scientific talent and supercomputing infrastructure with OpenAI’s world-leading AI models can unleash national science and unlock new avenues of inquiry. In responding to this RFI, we recognize the same—that associating industry supercomputer infrastructure with the talent and unparalleled scientific resources of our national labs has potential to expand our synergies, thereby catalyzing American innovation, strengthening national security, and delivering durable economic growth in American communities.  

Streamlined Permitting Processes

Streamlined permitting processes are also essential to enable substantial, timely capital investments in and ultimate construction of AI supercomputer hubs. Whether on or off public lands, accelerated permitting and interconnection through categorical exclusions and programmatic reviews for repeatable deployments; emergency exemptions where warranted and appropriate; shot clocks for assessments and other required processes; and surge staff and prioritization of AI-powered permitting tools across key workflows are essential.

Financial and Contractual Considerations

We advocate for predictable, easy-to-execute lease agreements, as well as innovative approaches to derisk private investment and accelerate completion of AI supercomputer hubs both on and off federal lands.

Strategic federal investments and financial mechanisms—ranging from competitive electricity tariffs to targeted tax incentives—would not only significantly mitigate risk for private investors, but would also accelerate the deployment of critical AI infrastructure, magnifying overall economic impact for the nation.

Further review of any ultimate public solicitation will be required for an ultimate determination as to whether co-locating our infrastructure on public lands will indeed expedite and facilitate our continued leadership in AI research and development. But we are hopeful that the above considerations will be front of mind as the federal government seeks to expedite progress on construction and completion of the supercomputer hubs and energy generation infrastructure we need for continued American AI leadership.

You can read our full submission to the Department of Energy here⁠(opens in a new window).