# OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk came to town to celebrate the data center. *genai · news · 2026-06-01 · M Live Michigan * ## Key points - OpenAI and Oracle CEOs appeared onsite to celebrate the launch of The Barn data center. - The data center will use 1.4 gigawatts but claims ratepayer costs will not increase. - A new $10 million investment is going to renovate and expand the Saline Recreation Center. - Construction moved forward after the township settled a rezoning lawsuit with Related Digital. SALINE TWP., MI — High-profile leaders of Big Tech firms behind the massive and controversial 2.2-million-square-foot hyperscale data center under construction in Saline Township gathered at the site Monday, June 1. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk came to town to celebrate the data center. They were joined by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other top brass from firms involved in the $16 billion data center off W. Michigan Avenue. They heralded the data center, named The Barn, as a model for the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S. They also highlighted promised benefits, including tax revenue, environmental safeguards, contributions to local fire departments and the community and the creation of about 2,500 construction jobs for union skilled workers. The project team also announced a new $10 million investment into a local recreation center. “This is a huge bet, and this is something that is not an easy project,” Altman said. He has great expectations for what the data center could accomplish. “This could very well turn into the site where cancer is cured. This could turn into the site where hundreds of millions of students around the world learn and would get tutoring,” he said. Millions of small businesses could run businesses with AI in the cloud, he said. “A gigawatt of AI can do all those things,” he said. He also briefly touched on promises the data center’s 1.4 gigawatts of electricity usage will not increase costs of ratepayers and compared its water usage to less than what an office building might use. “My hope is to be an example for the world, where the world can benefit incredibly from AI,” he said. The groundbreaking event comes as the data center has faced pushback. Construction moved forward because the township settled a lawsuit brought by developer Related Digital and property owners after the township board voted to deny rezoning land. The data center has sparked protests and pushback against township officials, three of whom are being targeted by a recall effort. Township officials have also reported receiving threats, which led township Treasurer Jennifer Zink to resign. But data center officials celebrated the project and expressed high hopes for what the development of AI infrastructure will do for the local community and nation as a whole. Magouyrk said he is convinced AI is the “most transformational technology” in his lifetime. “I think it’s going to be incredible for us. Incredible for us as a species, incredible for us as Americans,” he said. He said Oracle invests heavily in healthcare, including in how AI can help figure out how to run hospitals and develop medicines. He also mentioned how the firm is partnering with Wild Biosciences, a tech startup working on removing carbon from the air. “We need places like this to enable that technology to be created and run so we can actually go out and save lives,” Magouyrk said. Oracle is focused on making Saline Township “a great place to be in the long term,” he said. “We’re going to have a significant number of employees here. This is not something (where) we’re here and then we’re leaving,” he said. The latest investment in the Saline area is $10 million going to the Saline Recreation Center, Jeff Blau, developer Related Digital’s chairman and CEO of Related Companies, announced. “I’m at a loss for words,” recreation director Sunshine Lambert told The Ann Arbor News/MLive. “It’s absolutely tremendous.” The center is in need of renovations, Lambert said. “We have a pool deck that is deteriorating. We have locker rooms that are outdated, that don’t have private changing spaces,” she said. She hopes the investment from the data center will help make the recreation center a destination and help them enhance and expand youth programs like summer camps. Whitmer championed the data center as an economic driver for the state. “AI will be a big part of America’s future. We are all fueling the need for projects like this one with the devices that we hold in our hand or in our purse, in our pockets,” she said. AI research is “driving big breakthroughs,” including in science, medicine and technology, she said. She said building AI infrastructure is also important for national security. “We saw during the pandemic what happens when foreign companies control Michigan’s supply chain. We cannot afford to let other countries dominate future industries like AI, and in our interconnected world, we certainly can’t afford to let foreign adversaries have access to Michiganders’ data.” “That’s why we need to bring a whole AI supply chain home,” the governor said. Other speakers included Sean McGarvey, the president of North America’s Building Trade Unions. “Together with our contractor partners, we’ve spent decades building a workforce system designed exactly for this moment,” McGarvey said. “What you see here is what success looks like when the workforce strategy is part of the conversation from the very beginning,” he said. John Rakolta, Jr., chairman of construction general contractor Walbridge spoke about how AI is creating a “next generation of opportunities,” like the automotive industry did in previous generations. “Around facilities like these grow entire ecosystems of innovation, software, cyber security, advanced manufacturing, engineering and entrepreneurship,” Rakolta said. “Today, the world needs something different. It needs the digital infrastructure that will power the next century of human progress,” he said. Mike Forman of Blackstone Real Estate expressed pride in financially supporting the data center project and stressed that it is being developed “responsibly.” Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page. **Companies:** OpenAI, Oracle, Related Digital **Countries:** United States [Read the full story on M Live Michigan ](https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/06/openai-oracle-leaders-praise-data-center-south-of-ann-arbor-pledge-10m-to-local-center.html) --- Canonical: https://newsio.io/n/8da42ee0-1c84-48d0-bd59-f245646fdb2d/openai-ceo-sam-altman-and-oracle-ceo-clay-magouyrk-came-to-town-to-celebrate-the Summarized by Newsio from M Live Michigan . https://newsio.io/how-it-works