Crusoe sells unfinished Wyoming data center project to Google
Crusoe, an eight-year-old, Denver-based data center developer recently valued at $30.9 billion, confirmed on Friday that it has sold an unfinished data center project in southeastern Wyoming to Google.
Google is taking over the development after reportedly raising concerns about its cost and construction timeline under Crusoe's management. The article names no source for those concerns. Google is also the company Crusoe had tried and failed to land as a customer for the project. Crusoe announced the project last year with Tallgrass, a Blackstone-backed infrastructure company, and the plan was to eventually scale it to 10 gigawatts of power capacity.
Google did not disclose how much it paid Crusoe for the unfinished project, but it has announced plans to invest $17 billion to develop the data center campus. The $17 billion is Google's planned investment in the campus, not the price paid to Crusoe.
The article frames the deal as a sign of how hard it can be for independent data center developers to deliver massive projects on time and within budget, given the challenges of securing equipment and power. It adds that growing opposition from local communities can further complicate development.
The relationship between the two companies continues elsewhere: Crusoe is developing another data center for Google near Amarillo, Texas. Bloomberg first reported the deal to sell the Wyoming site to Google in June. The setback did not stop Crusoe from raising a $3.9 billion round in September, when it also added three board members, including JB Straubel, the Redwood Materials founder and Tesla board member who invested in Crusoe in 2021. Crusoe later became the first customer of Straubel's energy-storage business.
The article also sketches Crusoe's business. It makes money in three ways: leasing data center space to customers that bring their own GPUs, renting out its own GPUs, and selling compute used to run AI models, known as inference. Its biggest projects serve large AI names. Its campus in Abilene, Texas, is being built in phases for Oracle and OpenAI, and it is also constructing a separate 900-megawatt campus next door for Microsoft, with the first building expected online in mid-2027. Meta is also a customer, and Bloomberg reported that the trading firm Jane Street signed a $13 billion, five-year cloud deal with Crusoe. Crusoe was founded by Chase Lochmiller, now its CEO, and Cully Cavness, who started it as a cryptocurrency-mining business powered by natural gas that would otherwise have been burned off.
Key facts
- Crusoe, valued recently at $30.9 billion, confirmed on Friday that it sold an unfinished southeastern Wyoming data center project to Google.
- Google reportedly raised concerns about the project's cost and construction timeline under Crusoe; it has announced plans to invest $17 billion in the campus, and the price paid to Crusoe was not disclosed.
- Crusoe and Tallgrass announced the project last year, planning to eventually scale it to 10 gigawatts of power capacity.
- Google remains a Crusoe customer: Crusoe is developing another data center for Google near Amarillo, Texas.
- Crusoe raised a $3.9 billion round in September despite the Wyoming setback, which Bloomberg first reported in June.
Why it matters
A project announced last year with a 10-gigawatt ambition has ended up in the hands of the company Crusoe had hoped to sign as a tenant. The article reads the sale as a sign of how hard it is for independent developers to deliver massive projects on time and within budget, with equipment, power and local opposition all in the way. Google's announced $17 billion plan shows the site is still going ahead, just under a different owner.
Who it affects
Crusoe loses a flagship project but keeps a broad customer base: Oracle and OpenAI at Abilene, Microsoft at the neighbouring 900-megawatt campus, Meta, and Google at Amarillo. Google takes over development of the Wyoming campus. Tallgrass, the Blackstone-backed partner in the original announcement, is named only as the co-announcer; the article does not say what role it has now. Local communities are mentioned as a growing source of opposition to such projects.
How to use it
This is a deal report, not a product or service, so there is nothing to adopt. For readers tracking AI infrastructure, the useful takeaways are who now owns the Wyoming site, how Crusoe earns money (leasing space, renting its own GPUs, selling inference compute), and which large customers its other campuses serve.
How solid is it
The core fact is firm: Crusoe itself confirmed the sale on Friday, and Bloomberg had reported the deal in June. The $17 billion is Google's announced investment plan. Google did not disclose what it paid Crusoe. The reason for the handover, concerns about cost and timeline, is only reported as 'reportedly', with no source named. The article carries no quotes from Crusoe, Google or anyone else. The Jane Street cloud deal is Bloomberg's report, not something confirmed in the article.
Risks and caveats
Details are thin: no closing date, no completion date for Google's data center, no figure for how much of the Wyoming project was built, and no word on Tallgrass's role after the sale. The framing about developer difficulty and community opposition is the article's own reading, not a finding from the parties. The sale also sits alongside Crusoe's large commitments elsewhere, including the Abilene phases and the Microsoft campus whose first building is expected in mid-2027.