OpenAI Plans 3.2-Gigawatt Data Center Campus in Georgia

Effingham County's announcement describes the project as a $20 billion private investment expected to create 400 long-term jobs. OpenAI has not presented the entire campus as an immediately operational facility: its public timeline is phased, with power delivery beginning in 2028.

The scale matters because access to electricity has become a central constraint on AI infrastructure. Axios independently reported the 3.2-gigawatt plan and framed the announcement against growing community resistance to large data centers.

OpenAI says the site will use closed-loop cooling intended to keep ongoing water demand low. It also says project-specific power infrastructure and service costs will not be passed to existing residential customers, and that the campus will reduce power use during periods of high demand before homes are affected. These are company commitments, not independently verified operating results.

The company also pledged $80 million in community benefits over the project's life for priorities including schools, health care, utilities, workforce training and housing. Effingham County says the campus would expand the local tax base and support education and infrastructure programs.

The announcement establishes the project's intended scale, location and phased schedule, but construction and operations still lie ahead. The important evidence will come from permits, utility proceedings, construction milestones and independent checks of electricity, water and community-benefit commitments.

For data and AI teams, Project Camellia illustrates how frontier-model expansion is increasingly tied to grid capacity and local infrastructure agreements. The relevant question is not only how much compute is planned, but whether the promised safeguards remain measurable as the campus moves from announcement to operation.