Crusoe, Blue Owl Capital, and Primary Digital Infrastructure Enter Second Phase of $15 Billion Joint Venture to Fund AI Data Center in Abilene, Texas
SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK and AUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crusoe, a vertically-integrated AI infrastructure company, Blue Owl Capital Inc. ("Blue Owl"), a leading alternative asset manager, and Primary Digital Infrastructure, an advisory and data center investment platform, announced today the second phase of a $15 billion joint-venture to fund the 1.2 gigawatt AI data center in Abilene, Texas.
Under the terms of the joint venture, Crusoe in combination with funds managed by Blue Owl's Real Assets platform along with Primary Digital Infrastructure will jointly sponsor the construction of six new buildings, which will bring the center to eight buildings upon completion. Construction of the first phase, comprising two buildings and 200+ megawatts, began in June 2024 and is expected to be energized in the first half of 2025. Construction of the second phase, consisting of the six additional buildings and a total of 1.2 gigawatts, began in March 2025 and is expected to be energized in mid-2026, setting a new bar for the speed of delivery for green-field, hyperscale digital infrastructure projects.
The construction site has approximately 3,000 people working on the project daily and is expected to reach nearly 5,000 during the second phase. The Development Corporation of Abilene (DCOA) previously estimated that the direct and indirect economic impact of the first two buildings of the project is approximately $1 billion over 20 years. The second phase has the potential to considerably scale this impact.
The eight buildings are designed for industry-leading scale. They will each operate up to 50,000 NVIDIA GB200 NVL72s on a single integrated network fabric, advancing the frontier of data center design for AI training and inference workloads. The buildings will also feature direct-to-chip liquid cooling via zero-water evaporation cooling systems that continuously recirculate water through a closed loop system. The availability of abundant, low-cost wind energy in Abilene factored heavily into site selection, reflecting Crusoe's climate-aligned mission.
"The foundation of artificial intelligence starts with energy and data centers. Crusoe is bringing these AI factories to life at an unmatched speed and scale that enables our customers to usher in a new era of AI driven abundance. Abilene will host one of the largest clusters of GPUs in the world, bringing thousands of jobs to the local community while delivering tens of billions of dollars in value to the economy," said Chase Lochmiller, CEO and co-founder of Crusoe. "An endeavor of this size would simply not be possible without our strategic capital partnerships with Blue Owl and Primary Digital Infrastructure."
"Blue Owl's joint venture with Crusoe and Primary Digital represents our conviction to serve as a key capital provider for the world's leading hyperscalers," said Marc Zahr, Co-President and Global Head of Real Assets at Blue Owl. "The AI-driven demand for compute power highlights one of the most compelling investment opportunities our Real Assets platform has seen since our inception. We look forward to leveraging our capital and expertise to drive meaningful value in supporting AI innovation across the United States."
"We are thrilled to capitalize the next phase of this critical project alongside and on behalf of our partners at Crusoe," said Jared Sheiker, Chief of Staff of Real Assets at Blue Owl. "This is a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of a paradigm-shifting infrastructure investment and we are pleased to do so with such exemplary partners."
"The AI data center at the Lancium Clean Campus represents exactly the kind of strategic infrastructure investment our platform was built for — future-ready, operator-aligned, and mission critical to fulfilling AI-driven compute demand," said Bill Stein, executive managing director and chief investment officer at Primary Digital Infrastructure. "By partnering with forward-thinking operators like Crusoe and financial lenders like Blue Owl, we are collectively delivering vital capacity with the scale, speed, and sustainability required to fuel AI innovation. We are proud to be a part of such a groundbreaking initiative that will serve as a cornerstone for advancing AI in the United States."
About Crusoe:
Crusoe is on a mission to align the future of computing with the future of the climate. Crusoe provides a reliable, scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly solution for AI infrastructure by harnessing large-scale clean energy, building AI-optimized data centers, and empowering builders to reach their AI potential. Crusoe is empowering the AI revolution. To learn more, visit http://crusoe.ai.
About Blue Owl:
Blue Owl (NYSE:OWL) is a leading asset manager that is redefining alternatives®.
With $273 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025, we invest across three multi-strategy platforms: Credit, GP Strategic Capital, and Real Assets. Anchored by a strong permanent capital base, we provide businesses with private capital solutions to drive long-term growth and offer institutional investors, individual investors, and insurance companies differentiated alternative investment opportunities that aim to deliver strong performance, risk-adjusted returns, and capital preservation.
Together with over 1,200 experienced professionals globally, Blue Owl brings the vision and discipline to create the exceptional. To learn more, visit www.blueowl.com.
About Primary Digital Infrastructure
Primary Digital Infrastructure is an advisory and investment platform that accelerates the growth of hyperscaler and AI-driven data centers. Founded by industry pioneers Bill Stein, David Ferdman, Peter Hopper, and John Sheputis, Primary Digital Infrastructure provides flexible capital solutions to premier data center owners and operators—including recapitalizations, outright acquisitions, and forward takeouts. The firm empowers operators to unlock capital, fuel expansion, and meet the rising demand for next-generation digital infrastructure. To learn more, visit https://primaryinfra.com/.
Media Contacts:
Crusoe
Andrew Schmitt
Communications
[email protected]
Blue Owl
Nick Theccanat
Principal, Corporate Communications & Government Affairs
[email protected]
Primary Digital Infrastructure
Carol Hickins
Public Relations
[email protected]
