Saline Supercomputing Megasite: $16B OpenAI Frontier Campus
Status: Under Construction / Active Site Preparation (Documented May 2026) | Location: Saline
Project Overview
Documented during active civil infrastructure works in May 2026, the Saline Supercomputing Campus is a monumental $16 billion master-planned AI factory developed by Related Digital on behalf of Oracle and OpenAI. Specifically engineered to host OpenAI's next-generation frontier training clusters, the multi-facility campus features an unprecedented initial 800MW power envelope. Because of its massive scale and location in a predominantly rural Michigan community, the project has drawn heavy opposition from local residents and regional preservation groups who are highly concerned about the massive consumption of local farmland, agricultural water runoff, and long-term electricity rate hikes. To mitigate regional grid strain and exploit recent EPA structural relaxations, the development is fast-tracking non-polluting piping, specialized cement support pads, and private high-voltage substation connections. Architecturally, the facility departs from classic multi-tenant data storage footprints by deploying ultra-dense rack configurations built exclusively for liquid-to-chip secondary loops to cool hundreds of thousands of specialized AI accelerators.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | Saline Supercomputing Megasite: $16B OpenAI Frontier Campus |
| Location | Saline |
| Status | Under Construction / Active Site Preparation (Documented May 2026) |
| Commissioning | Phase 1 Initial Power Energization: Late 2027; Continuous Expansion: 2029 |
| Total IT Load | 800 MW (Phase 1 Baseline Allocation) |
| Total Capacity | 1,200 MW+ (Ultimate Site Power Infrastructure Target) |
| Tier Level | Tier III+ (Custom Liquid-Cooled Architecture for Next-Gen Transformers) |
| Project Type | Dedicated AI Frontier Supercomputing Factory / Sovereign LLM Cluster |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
|---|
| City Name | Saline |
| Population | About 8,900 |
| Urban Agglomeration | Approximately 18,000 (Saline and nearby urban area) |
| City GDP | USD 500 million |
| Per Capita Income | USD 48,000 annually |
| City Tier | Tier 3 City |
| Key Strengths | Education, healthcare, suburban residential community, small business development, proximity to Ann Arbor, high quality of life |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Developer / Operator | Related Digital |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | OpenAI |
| Construction Contractor | Principal Tier-1 Heavy Civil & Mission-Critical Contractors |
| MEP Engineering | Jacobs Engineering / AECOM |
| Network Connectivity | Dedicated Dark Fiber Rings (Direct Low-Latency Backhaul to Chicago/Toronto Hubs) |
| Power Infrastructure | DTE Energy / On-Site Dedicated Transmission Substations |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Power Capacity | 1,200 MW Maximum Dedicated Footprint |
| UPS Redundancy | N+2 High-Density Liquid-Battery Storage and Flywheel Backup Systems |
| Cooling System | Closed-Loop Fluid Chillers paired with Direct-to-Chip Secondary Liquid Infrastructure |
| Connectivity | Hyper-isolated Carrier Neutral Core; Multi-Terabit Private Optical Grid |
| PUE Target | 1.14 |
| Energy Mix | Dedicated Regional Power Infrastructure paired with Nuclear & Renewable Energy Credits |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | Late 2025 |
| Construction Start | May 6, 2026 |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | Q4 2027 |
| Full Buildout | 2029 |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | $16 Billion USD Cumulative Campus Capital Expenditure Portfolio |
| Funding | Oracle Corporate CapEx, Private Infrastructure Funds, & OpenAI Capital Pools |