AI Data Centers in Texas: Every Facility Tracked (2026)

Texas is one of the largest hubs for AI data center construction in the United States, with seven major facilities tracked on Ban the Bots' data center map as of 2026 — a combined 4,500+ megawatts of capacity, roughly enough to power several million homes. The state's deregulated power grid, lack of corporate income tax, and available land have made it one of the two or three most active AI infrastructure buildouts anywhere, alongside Virginia.

• Which AI companies are building data centers in Texas?
• Why is Texas an AI data center hotspot?
• Water, power, and grid concerns
• Texas AI data center facilities, one by one
• FAQ: AI data centers in Texas
• Conclusion: tracking Texas's AI buildout

Which AI companies are building data centers in Texas?

At least four major AI infrastructure operators have active or completed projects in Texas: OpenAI (via its Stargate initiative, in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank), Meta, Microsoft, and Google. Together they account for the seven facilities tracked on this site's map, spanning West Texas (Abilene, Shackelford County), the El Paso area, and the corridor between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin.

Why is Texas an AI data center hotspot?

Three structural factors keep pulling AI infrastructure investment into Texas:

• A deregulated grid (ERCOT): Texas's independent grid operator lets large power buyers negotiate directly and site facilities near generation, without some of the interconnection queues that slow projects in regulated states.
• No corporate income tax: Texas is one of a handful of states with no corporate income tax, a meaningful cost factor for capital-intensive, multi-decade data center investments.
• Land and weather trade-offs: Large, relatively cheap tracts of land are available in West Texas and along the I-35 corridor, though extreme summer heat raises cooling costs and grid stress is a recurring concern during peak demand.

Water, power, and grid concerns

Not every Texas facility sources water the same way, and that matters for how much local impact each one has:

• Microsoft's San Antonio data centers draw from the Edwards Aquifer via the San Antonio Water System — an aquifer regional water officials already classify as over-stressed, which is why San Antonio-area data center water use draws particular local scrutiny.
• Meta's Fort Worth facility draws from the Trinity River via the Fort Worth Water Department, in a region where extreme heat stress and grid instability are recurring concerns during summer peak demand.
• OpenAI's Shackelford County campus and Meta's El Paso buildout — two of the newest, largest projects — rely more heavily on on-site natural gas generation (700 MW and 366 MW backup, respectively) and closed-loop liquid cooling, designed to reduce continuous water withdrawal, at the cost of new on-site gas-fired power generation and its own emissions. Meta's Temple campus, by contrast, draws its power from Texas wind and solar generation through ERCOT rather than on-site gas; its water sourcing is not publicly documented.

For the broader pattern of water and power trade-offs across every state, see Ban the Bots' AI data centers near you explainer and the AI water use calculator.

Texas AI data center facilities, one by one

• OpenAI Stargate Data Center – Abilene (Taylor County, operating): the flagship Stargate site, built by Crusoe Energy — eight buildings, four operational as of mid-2025, housing Nvidia Blackwell chips, capped at 1.2 GW and financed in part by a $2.3B JPMorgan loan, part of OpenAI's $500B Stargate initiative with Oracle and SoftBank.
• OpenAI Stargate – Shackelford County (Vantage Campus) (under construction): a 1,200-acre, 10-building campus roughly 125 miles west of Fort Worth near Abilene, powered by 210 natural gas generators (700 MW) managed by Voltagrid; the first building is due online in the second half of 2026 as part of Stargate's Phase 2 expansion.
• Meta AI Data Center – El Paso (under construction): a 1,000-acre site targeting 1 GW by 2028, with Meta's investment expanded to $10 billion as of March 2026; uses 813 modular gas generators (366 MW backup) and a liquid-cooled closed-loop system, and is expected to create around 300 operational jobs.
• Microsoft San Antonio Data Centers (operating since 2007): draws from the Edwards Aquifer via the San Antonio Water System.
• Meta Fort Worth Data Center (operating since 2015): 300 MW, drawing from the Trinity River via the Fort Worth Water Department.
• Google Midlothian Data Center (operating since 2019): 200 MW, part of the data center corridor south of Dallas-Fort Worth, sourcing from the Ennis Municipal Water Supply.
• Meta AI Data Center – Temple (operating since 2024): a 900,000 sq ft campus between Austin and Waco, an $800 million investment drawing on Texas wind and solar generation through ERCOT.

Facility details, coordinates, and sourcing are kept current on the interactive data center map.

FAQ: AI data centers in Texas

How many AI data centers are in Texas?

Ban the Bots tracks seven major AI data center facilities in Texas as of 2026, operated by OpenAI (with Oracle and SoftBank), Meta, Microsoft, and Google, with a combined tracked capacity of roughly 4,500 megawatts.

Where are the AI data centers in Texas located?

The largest cluster is in West Texas around Abilene and Shackelford County (OpenAI's Stargate sites), with additional major facilities in El Paso (Meta), San Antonio (Microsoft), Fort Worth and Midlothian (Meta and Google, in the Dallas-Fort Worth corridor), and Temple, between Austin and Waco (Meta).

Why do AI companies keep choosing Texas?

Texas's deregulated ERCOT grid, lack of corporate income tax, and available land are the three factors operators most often cite, though extreme summer heat and grid stress during peak demand are recurring trade-offs.

Do Texas AI data centers use a lot of water?

It varies by facility and water source. Microsoft's San Antonio data centers draw from the Edwards Aquifer, an already over-stressed source, while some of the newest, largest projects (OpenAI's Stargate sites, Meta's El Paso buildout) lean more on on-site natural gas generation and closed-loop cooling to reduce continuous water withdrawal.

Conclusion: tracking Texas's AI buildout

Texas hosts one of the country's largest concentrations of AI data center capacity, built on a specific mix of grid policy, tax structure, and land availability — with real, facility-specific trade-offs in water sourcing and grid stress. For the national picture, see the full AI data center map, and for the human and environmental impact this buildout can have on a community, see AI data centers near you: pros, cons and backlash and /ai-backlash/.