West Texas AI: 1.5 Million-Square-Foot Campus Takes Texas Investment to $12 Billion

West Texas AI expansion moved into a new phase on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Regional developers announced plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot data center campus in Jayton, Texas. The project would add major computing capacity to Kent County and bring Texas’s total regional AI investment to $12 billion. Developer announcements and regulatory filings support these details, although some specifications remain unconfirmed.

West Texas AI Begins With a Jayton Filing

The first major development came through filings for two proposed computing facilities near Country Road 233 and P2390 in Kent County. The documents describe roughly 1.5 million square feet of combined space. Together, the project reportedly represents an estimated investment of $4.8 billion.

According to Techradar, Crusoe is reportedly developing the facilities as part of its wider Project Hyper programme. The Jayton filings matter because they turn a broad AI infrastructure trend into a defined regional construction plan. They also show Texas’s data center growth moving beyond its largest urban markets toward smaller communities with available land and energy infrastructure.

2027: Construction Moves From Plan to Physical Build

Construction at the Jayton site is reportedly scheduled to begin in January 2027, pending the required approvals and project timetable. The first building is expected to become operational in May 2029, while the second is targeted for July 2029.

That schedule creates a long development runway. Projects this large need power connections, site preparation, cooling systems, networking equipment and high-performance computing infrastructure before they can support AI workloads. The Jayton campus is also reportedly classified as two “spur buildings” connected to Project Hyper, which Crusoe is building in Childress, Texas. That link places the new development within a broader Crusoe infrastructure strategy instead of treating it as an isolated data center.

2029: NVIDIA Hardware Defines the Computing Layer

The planned high-performance computing infrastructure is slated to use advanced enterprise processors manufactured by NVIDIA. Officials have not confirmed specific processor models, system configurations or deployment quantities. That hardware choice matters because AI data centers require much more than conventional server capacity.

NVIDIA enterprise processors support demanding workloads, including model training, inference, scientific computing and large-scale data processing. Power demand will create another major constraint. The campus is projected to draw an initial capacity exceeding 500 megawatts from local energy grids, putting it in the same infrastructure conversation as other large-scale AI facilities. Our earlier coverage of Google data center expansion shows why grid access now matters as much as processor supply for new AI campuses.

From Jayton to a $12 Billion Texas AI Buildout

The Jayton development follows the Childress Project Hyper site, where three planned facilities are each described as measuring about 806,360 square feet. Each building carries an estimated investment of roughly $2.4 billion, and two are reportedly already under construction.

Together, these developments show how Texas is building AI capacity through linked regional projects. The state’s total regional AI investment reached $12 billion as of October 2026, although that figure includes projects at different planning and construction stages. The opposing view is that announced capacity doesn’t automatically become usable AI capacity. That concern is valid because grid connections, permitting and equipment deliveries can change schedules. Still, the Jayton filings offer a clearer construction path than a general corporate pledge, with locations, building sizes and projected ope

What the Jayton Campus Predicts

The next stage will depend on permits, construction activity and confirmed power arrangements rather than headline investment totals. If work begins in January 2027, the 2029 ope

FAQs

How large is the planned Jayton data center campus?

The campus is expected to cover about 1.5 million square feet across two buildings.

When could the facilities begin ope

Construction is scheduled to start in January 2027. The first building is targeted for May 2029, followed by the second in July 2029.

How much power could the campus require?

The planned infrastructure is projected to draw an initial power capacity exceeding 500 megawatts from local energy grids. Texas isn’t only attracting AI companies anymore; it’s building the physical capacity that determines where the next generation of AI workloads can run. Source: Techradar