On January 30, 2025, OpenAI posted a request for proposals for large AI data center projects, made on behalf of Stargate. It invited "qualified parties" to propose sites. "Specifically, OpenAI is seeking Site (land and power) proposals," it said. The objective, in its words, was "to establish multi-gigawatt infrastructure fleet capacity that supports advanced AI workloads, contributes to economic development, and enables OpenAI’s mission."
Parts of the request follow, not the whole.
What a Proposal Should Show
Under the heading "Power and Utility Access," the request asks a proposer to detail the availability of utility services, including a "Clear power ramp and max power availability." It asks for "Evidence of utility partnerships for power enablement, both as a power supplier and as an interconnect partner," for "Evidence of power reliability and load management," and for "Clear proposals on power innovation."
An executive summary of one page at most, the request says, should include, among other things, the site's maximum power and the power available in the first quarter of 2027 and in the first quarter of 2028. It should also include "[If applicable] Examples of previous successful projects or sites."
Among the infrastructure dependencies a proposal had to address, the request lists for power "Coordination with utility providers, timelines for necessary upgrades, timeline for new generation facilities, timeline for power ramps." And it asks for "Examples of de-risking long lead-time equipment," and for "Design or site features that de-risk equipment availability challenges."
The request asks for evidence of a utility partnership and does not say what counts as evidence.
How It Said It Would Choose
The request lists four criteria. Technical Feasibility is "Capacity to meet the technical, and speed-to-market, requirements." Commercial Viability is "Sound financial model and use of incentives." Risk Mitigation is "Effective strategies for regulatory, build, environmental, supply chain, and workforce risks." The fourth is Community and Economic Benefits.
It also says that "Preference will be given to projects that" include a preliminary site design, a suggested vendor plan, and "draft deployment timelines including major data hall turnover moments." Ideally, it says, those timelines "would include milestones detailing permitting, civil, structural, equipment, commissioning, IT provisioning, and handover timelines for each data hall."
Its anticipated timeline put the selection on April 11, 2025, and the start of contract discussions on April 14. And it states its own limit: "This RFP does not constitute an offer to award a contract."
What paper would show a utility partnership "for power enablement," both as a supplier and as an interconnect partner?
Sources
- OpenAI, on behalf of Stargate. Request for Proposals (RFP) for Large AI Data Center Projects. 30 January 2025. company filing