Earlier this month, executives from OpenAI, Oracle, and private equity giant Blackstone gathered for a celebratory photo op with Governor Gretchen Whitmer at the site of the controversial Stargate data center in Saline. While much attention has focused on OpenAI and Oracle’s involvement in the project, less attention has been paid to Blackstone, which is financing roughly 90% of the project.
For months, the proposed data center has drawn sharp criticism from local residents over the destruction of farmland, environmental impacts, and enormous water and electricity demands. Upon completion, the 1,000 acre data center in Saline would become the largest user of electricity in Michigan. If Michigan is to dedicate significant land, water, electricity, and tax breaks to this project, we should be examining what we know about the private equity giant that is helping fund it.
As a Michigander who works to uncover the impacts of private equity on our state and beyond, I believe Blackstone’s profits-first, people-last record should give us pause…