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News · 2026-11-07

Crusoe hands Google troubled Wyoming data center project

Dataist Dataist

Crusoe sold Google an unfinished data center project in southeastern Wyoming. Google, which had previously declined to become the site’s customer, will now develop it itself. Reports said the company was concerned about the project’s cost and construction timeline under Crusoe’s management. Google did not disclose the sale price, but announced plans to invest $17 billion in the campus. Crusoe announced the project last year with Tallgrass, an infrastructure company backed by Blackstone. The site was expected to eventually reach 10 GW of capacity.

Cover: Crusoe hands Google troubled Wyoming data center project

Crusoe is a Denver-based data center developer founded eight years ago. The company was recently valued at $30.9 billion. The deal with Google shows how difficult it is for independent developers to stay within budget and on schedule when building large data centers: they need to secure equipment and power supplies, while local opposition can complicate projects.

Crusoe’s other projects

The transfer of the Wyoming site does not end the companies’ collaboration: Crusoe is building another data center for Google near Amarillo, Texas.

Bloomberg first reported the sale of the Wyoming project in June. But the setback did not stop Crusoe from raising $3.9 billion in a funding round in September.

Crusoe generates revenue in several ways:

leases data center space to customers, who install their own GPUs;
rents out its own GPUs;
sells computing capacity for inference, or running AI models.

Crusoe’s largest projects are intended for several major companies. The campus in Abilene, Texas, is being built in stages for Oracle and OpenAI. Nearby, the company is building a separate 900 MW campus for Microsoft. The first building there is expected to go online in mid-2027. Meta is also a Crusoe customer. According to Bloomberg, trading firm Jane Street signed a five-year, $13 billion cloud contract with Crusoe.

From crypto mining to data centers

Crusoe was founded by Chase Lochmiller, now the company’s CEO, and Cully Cavness. It started as a cryptocurrency mining business powered by natural gas that would otherwise have been flared.

In September, alongside its $3.9 billion raise, Crusoe added three members to its board. They include JB Straubel, founder of Redwood Materials and a Tesla board member. He invested in Crusoe in 2021. Crusoe later became the first customer of his energy storage systems company.

Dataist's take: The project’s transfer to Google shows that an ambitious construction plan does not guarantee a developer can deliver on the agreed terms. Crusoe still has other projects and customers, so the sale of the Wyoming site does not yet mean its growth is coming to an end.

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