By Rob D’Amico

MARFA — Local officials are still meeting with developers of a proposed AI data center to be located on 80,000 acres southeast of Marfa. The company proposing the center—Open Origins—originally met with city and county officials in the spring with a presentation of how the project might work, including thousands of solar panels to power the center and millions of gallons of water to cool it.

The potential location for the site includes the historic MacGuire and Antelope Springs ranches, currently owned by Texas Mountain Cattle Company, Brad Kelley’s LLC. The land sale has yet to be finalized. 

Open Origin is one of many companies responding to a Request for Proposals (RFP) put out by The Stargate Project, a private joint venture led by OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle that plans to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years. The ambitious initiative to build 20 new data centers in the U.S. was announced by President Trump on his second day in office.

A county official who met with Open Origin last spring said it intends to pump 800 acre feet of groundwater annually for their operation, which equates to about 714,000 gallons of water a day. By comparison, the City of Marfa pumps 550 acre feet a year, and Village Farms tomato growers—the largest operating permit holder in Presidio County—pumps 400 acre feet a year.  Open Origin representatives also told officials the new AI data center could create 900 to 1,100 new jobs in the Marfa area, with possibly more if the center becomes a campus for the company’s employees managing the system.

The company developing data centers in Abilene, Open AI, said it is exploring using a closed-loop cooling system that recycles water back for cooling instead of allowing it to be lost to evaporation. The system would have to be filled initially with 8 million gallons of water, which is minimal compared to Abilene’s overall use of 22 million gallons a day, according to reporting from The Texas Tribune. However, more water would be needed on occasion for drain-and-refill maintenance and other needs.

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler said that since the initial presentations Open Origin has met sporadically with her, Precinct 4 County Commissioner David Beebe and Trey Gerfers, Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District general manager. Hisler said Open Origin’s next planned update with her is October 8.

AI ‘gold rush’ sweeps Texas

As Gov. Greg Abbott helped unveil the new Stargate facility in Abilene, he praised the state’s increasing role in the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence center. The Dallas Morning News reported the governor hinted that upcoming data center buildouts will be “far larger” than the nearly $1.1 billion center opening in Abilene.

Financial and technology companies are staking claims in the state, Abbott said. Stargate’s facility in Abilene is part of a joint venture of OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank and the federal government. It plans to increase capacity at the flagship sites and add two other facilities in Shackelford and Milam counties.

Abbott hinted the sites unveiled are just the beginning for the economic growth spurred by AI.

“When you see the demand for them for artificial intelligence, you will see the power that it will inject into the future of the Texas economy,” he said.

While there are concerns about high energy demand by the data centers, Abbott said the state’s capacity is more than sufficient.

“We have wind, solar, nuclear, which we’re adding even more to, and, of course, natural gas. And so we have low-cost power, abundant power, that is attracting the AI data centers,” he said.

Gary Borders with the Texas Press Association contributed to this report.