Google acquires unfinished Wyoming AI data centre from Crusoe

What Happened

Google has taken over an unfinished AI‑focused data centre project in southeastern Wyoming that was being built by Denver‑based Crusoe Technologies. Crusoe said the sale follows concerns Google raised about the project’s cost and construction timeline under its own management.

Reaction

Google did not reveal the purchase price but announced a plan to spend $17 billion to finish and run the campus. The move highlights the difficulty independent developers face in delivering large‑scale AI facilities on schedule and within budget, especially when equipment supply and power access are tight.

Background

Crusoe first unveiled the Wyoming site last year together with Blackstone‑backed Tallgrass, aiming to eventually reach 10 gigawatts of power capacity. While the Wyoming deal fell through, Crusoe continues to work with Google on another data centre near Amarillo, Texas. The Wyoming sale was first reported by Bloomberg in June, and in September Crusoe raised a $3.9 billion funding round. Crusoe earns revenue by leasing space for customers’ GPUs, renting its own GPUs and selling AI inference compute. Its biggest projects include a phased campus in Abilene, Texas for Oracle and OpenAI, a 900‑megawatt campus for Microsoft slated for mid‑2027, and contracts with Meta and trading firm Jane Street, which signed a $13 billion five‑year cloud deal.

Context

Large AI data centres need massive power and equipment, making them hard for smaller developers to finish without big partners. Google’s takeover shows how big cloud players can step in to keep such projects alive when independent firms hit cost or timeline hurdles.