Crusoe Confirmed as Developer of Google's AI Data Center Campus in Armstrong County, Texas Crusoe, the AI infrastructure company, has announced it is the developer behind Google's data center campus currently under construction in Armstrong County, outside of Amarillo, Texas.

The project, designed to support advanced artificial intelligence workloads, represents a major expansion of Crusoe's presence in West Texas and reflects the company's broader strategy of building AI infrastructure directly adjacent to large-scale energy sources.

Energy-First Strategy Drives Site Selection

The Armstrong County campus is central to what Crusoe describes as an energy-first development approach. Rather than locating data centers near population centers and then sourcing power from the grid, Crusoe builds facilities directly at the point of energy generation.

The Armstrong County site has a direct connection to Serena's adjacent Goodnight 1 wind farm, which has a capacity of 265.5 megawatts and is already operational. A second facility, Goodnight 2, also rated at 265.5 megawatts, is currently under construction and was catalyzed by Crusoe's development at the site.

When wind generation at the site exceeds the campus's own power demand, surplus electricity is fed back into the grid, which Crusoe says benefits local ratepayers and reduces curtailment of West Texas wind energy.

The company characterized the arrangement as actively supporting the region's buildout of clean and affordable energy infrastructure. Chase Lochmiller, CEO and co-founder of Crusoe, said the project exemplifies the company's strategy.

"Building the future of AI requires a new kind of infrastructure, starting with energy. Crusoe's strategy is to build AI factories directly at the source of abundant, low-cost energy, to both improve utilization of existing assets as well as catalyze new energy generation," Lochmiller said.

"The Armstrong County campus is a prime example of this energy-first strategy. We're bringing new, affordable clean energy online. We broke ground in June 2025 and are building at the same swift pace we set in Abilene."

Construction Scale and Community Investment

Ground was broken on the campus in June 2025, and construction is actively underway.

The project currently has more than 5,500 skilled laborers on-site daily, representing a substantial employment footprint for Armstrong County and the surrounding region. Crusoe's announcement described the project as bringing significant investment and employment to the local community.

Beyond direct construction activity, Google's Energy Impact Fund has announced support for efficiency upgrades in public buildings and homes in Armstrong County, extending the project's economic and community footprint beyond the campus itself.

Water Efficiency Through Closed-Loop Cooling

In addition to its energy sourcing approach, the Armstrong County campus has been designed with water efficiency as a core engineering priority. The facility will use a closed-loop, non-evaporative liquid cooling system.

Crusoe stated that this system is designed to significantly limit the facility's water footprint, reducing it primarily to domestic uses such as kitchens.

This stands in contrast to many large-scale data centers that rely on evaporative cooling towers, which can consume substantial volumes of water. The approach is particularly relevant in West Texas, a region that faces ongoing water scarcity pressures. By deploying non-evaporative cooling, Crusoe positions the campus as a model for water-responsible AI infrastructure development in arid environments.

Part of a Growing West Texas Portfolio

The Armstrong County campus is not an isolated project for Crusoe.

The company currently has two additional campuses under development in Abilene, Texas, making West Texas a growing center of gravity for its AI infrastructure portfolio. Lochmiller's comments referenced the pace of construction in Abilene as a benchmark the company is aiming to match in Armstrong County.

Together, these projects establish West Texas as what Crusoe described as a critical region for the future of American digital infrastructure. The combination of abundant wind energy resources, available land, and Crusoe's co-location strategy has made the region a focus for the company's expansion.

Broader Context for Crusoe's Infrastructure Push

The Armstrong County announcement comes shortly after Crusoe disclosed a USD 3.9 billion Series F funding round for its vertically integrated AI infrastructure platform, announced on September 17, 2026.

The company describes itself as an AI factory company with a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence, providing what it characterizes as a reliable, scalable, cost-effective, and energy-first solution for AI infrastructure. Crusoe's platform spans large-scale energy sourcing, AI-optimized data center construction, and an AI cloud delivery layer, positioning the company as a vertically integrated provider in a sector where energy availability and cost have become defining competitive variables.

The Google campus in Armstrong County represents the public confirmation of a major customer relationship built around that integrated model. The campus is located in a community called Claude, Texas, within Armstrong County, a rural area where large-scale industrial development of this kind carries significant economic weight.

With construction ongoing and wind energy infrastructure already operational at the adjacent site, the project reflects the convergence of clean energy development and AI infrastructure demand that has accelerated across West Texas in recent years.