Why it matters
The strategic read
Moves the Saline Township Stargate campus from financed mega-project to physical execution. OpenAI says it broke ground with Oracle, Related Digital and Walbridge on a 1 GW Michigan campus, while the already-disclosed Related/Blackstone/PIMCO financing and Related project materials tie the build to Oracle/OpenAI capacity, DTE power service, closed-loop cooling, union labor and a local execution-risk story that remains politically sensitive after township opposition, litigation and settlement.
Source-supported terms
What was disclosed
- 01
OpenAI said that on June 1, 2026 it broke ground on The Barn, a 1 GW data-center campus in Saline, Michigan, alongside Governor Gretchen Whitmer, local community and labor leaders, Oracle, Related Digital and Walbridge.
- 02
OpenAI framed the project as part of Stargate and said the infrastructure and energy required for The Barn will be paid for by the project, with costs not passed through to local ratepayers.
- 03
OpenAI said The Barn is designed to use a closed-loop cooling system that uses about as much water as a typical office building.
- 04
OpenAI said the campus is expected to create more than 2,500 union construction jobs, 450 permanent onsite jobs, 1,500 county-wide jobs and an additional 1,000 indirect jobs.
- 05
OpenAI, Related Digital, Oracle, Walbridge and Blackstone are contributing $10M toward improvements to the Saline Recreation Center, alongside contributions from Oracle and Related.
- 06
The project is projected to generate $1B in tax revenue over the lease term, including support for local, county and state schools and services.
- 07
OpenAI also announced up to $45M in Codex credits for more than 400,000 eligible Michigan college, community-college and trade-school students during the 2026-2027 academic year.
- 08
Related Digital's project site describes The Barn as a gigawatt-scale campus in Saline Township developed exclusively for Oracle and its customer OpenAI, with over 1 GW of gross capacity.
- 09
The October 30, 2025 OpenAI/Oracle/Related announcement said the Saline Township Stargate campus was part of OpenAI and Oracle's 4.5 GW partnership and would be developed by Related Digital.
- 10
The October 30, 2025 joint announcement said the campus is on 250 acres and consists of three 550,000-square-foot single-story buildings.
- 11
The April 24, 2026 Related Digital / Blackstone financing announcement said financing had been secured for Related Digital's $16B Saline Township campus, purpose-built for Oracle as part of its OpenAI partnership.
- 12
Public execution risk remains important: market and local reporting have described Saline Township rezoning rejection, litigation and settlement before construction advanced, while Related/OpenAI emphasize community benefits, closed-loop cooling, preserved land and project-funded energy infrastructure.
Disclosure boundary
What is known—and what is not
Primary OpenAI groundbreaking post, Related project site, October 2025 OpenAI/Oracle/Related announcement and April 2026 Related/Blackstone financing release; physical groundbreaking, 1 GW scale, Stargate/Oracle/OpenAI use, Related development role, $16B financing, three-building campus concept, community commitments and cooling framework are public, but full lease economics, Oracle/OpenAI service terms, financing documents, DTE special-contract details, battery-storage scope, construction packages, phased delivery milestones, equipment vendors and final permitting / litigation settlement documents are not fully public.