Google takes over Crusoe Wyoming site for AI campus

Big tech is taking more of the AI build-out into its own hands. Crusoe said on November 6 that Google has acquired the Crusoe Wyoming site in the southeast of the state, ending the developer's role in a project it had pitched as a multi-gigawatt campus.

What happened

Crusoe described its work as pre-development: choosing the site, securing government approvals and designing a power strategy with Tallgrass Energy. The hybrid plan combined fuel cells, grid power and natural gas turbines, with a longer-term roadmap for carbon capture through Tallgrass's regional sequestration hub. Chief executive Chase Lochmiller said the company has more than 6 gigawatts contracted and over 40 gigawatts in its pipeline.

TechCrunch reported that Google, which Crusoe had tried and failed to sign as a tenant, is taking over development after raising concerns about cost and construction timing under Crusoe's management. The price was not disclosed, but Google announced plans to invest $17 billion in the campus. Crusoe and Tallgrass had originally aimed to scale the project to 10 gigawatts. Bloomberg first reported the planned sale in June.

Crusoe has crypto roots. Lochmiller and Cully Cavness started it as a bitcoin miner running on gas that oil producers would have burned off, before the pivot to AI. It now earns money by leasing data center space, renting out its own GPUs and selling inference compute, and Bloomberg reported that trading firm Jane Street signed a $13 billion, five-year cloud deal with it.

Why it matters

The deal shows how hard it is for independent developers to deliver giant projects on time when equipment, power and local permits are all scarce. It also arrives as markets question the financing of the AI build-out; the SpaceX GPU debt warning and Larry Fink's data center recession warning both flagged how much leverage sits behind new capacity.

Hyperscalers with strong balance sheets can absorb delays that would strain a startup. By taking the Crusoe Wyoming site in-house, Google keeps the power and approvals it wanted while shifting execution risk onto its own engineering teams.

Crusoe is far from retreating. TechCrunch said it was recently valued at $30.9 billion, raised $3.9 billion in September and is building in Abilene, Texas, for Oracle and OpenAI, plus a 900-megawatt campus for Microsoft due to bring its first building online in mid-2027. It is also developing a Google campus near Amarillo.

What's next

Watch how fast Google moves to construction, whether the hybrid power design with fuel cells and gas turbines survives, and how Tallgrass's role changes under the new owner. The handover of the Crusoe Wyoming site may also prompt other hyperscalers to buy stalled projects instead of leasing from developers.

Crusoe's own account of the transfer is in its newsroom update.