Open AI might have just unveiled that nearly trillion dollar plan to expand its infrastructure footprint.

But behind the scenes, the AI leader's been running a secretive competition to pick data center winners.

Our McKenzie Segalos has those details in today's tech check. Pay Mac.

Hey, Carl. So Open AI has been quietly searching since January for where to plant its next generation of supercomputing

sites, a competition that's drawn more than 800 bids so far. I spoke exclusively with Keith Hyde.

He is the person who was pouring over those applications for Sam Altman. He was the head of

AI-computed meta before OpenAI poached him, and he told me that utilities, landowners,

and developers across

North America are all pitching to host the next wave of Stargate data centers.

But this isn't a repeat of Amazon's HQ2 search. Open AI is not chasing tax breaks or

corporate incentives. The exact leading the process told me they're not swayed by a $25

million rebate over 10 years.

What they care about is power, fast, and a community that actually wants them there.

They've already narrowed it down to about 20 sites that are in advanced diligence.

A solar powered campus in central Texas is already live, where OpenAI is actually acting as its own developer there.

And then some of the proposals still under review involve gas and nuclear power, including

advanced reactors and even early stage fusion.

Now Hyde admitted the compute capacity numbers are unprecedented, but he argues that the mix

is doable.

Solar powered with batteries that can cover surges. Natural gas offers bridge power while

grid connections catch up. And nuclear, whether small modular reactors or longer term fusion

provides dense, reliable baseload. He said that those three anchors together create the industrial

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