OpenAI commits $20B to first self-built data center near Savannah

OpenAI will build its first self-designed data center on the Georgia coast, committing $20 billion to a campus in Effingham County that it is calling Project Camellia, its clearest signal yet that the company intends to own the concrete, not just rent the cloud.

Why it matters

For developers chasing hyperscale work, the tell is sequence. OpenAI locked up as much as 3.2 gigawatts from Georgia Power before it broke ground, then sized the capital commitment to clear the county’s incentive threshold. Power procurement now leads site selection, not the other way around, and the winning sites are the ones with a utility willing to sign a multi-gigawatt supply deal on a multi-year delivery schedule. Effingham County, inside the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub about 45 minutes from downtown Savannah, had the land, the transmission path and a utility ready to phase deliveries. That combination, not proximity to a metro, is what a $20 billion tenant is shopping for.

The move also changes who OpenAI competes with. By designing and building the campus itself rather than leasing from a colocation operator, it steps into the developer’s chair directly, an owner-user at a scale that reshapes a rural power grid.

The numbers

The $20 billion figure is the floor, sized to qualify for the local incentive package. Bloomberg reporting puts likely total costs above $30 billion at full buildout. Georgia Power will deliver the 3.2 gigawatts in phases between 2028 and 2032, a runway that tells developers and contractors this is a decade-long buildout, not a single groundbreaking. The campus is part of OpenAI’s broader Stargate program, which spans sites across the US, Europe and the Middle East.

What’s next

Watch the substation and transmission filings in Effingham County, because that paperwork, not the press release, sets the real timeline. For developers, the lesson is to secure a power commitment before optioning dirt. Track the beat on the national hub.