Crusoe and Lancium Partner to Develop 1.4 GW AI Data Center Campus in Childress, Texas

Data center and AI cloud firm Crusoe has announced plans to develop a gigawatt-scale data center campus in Childress, Texas, in partnership with energy infrastructure developer Lancium. The project underscores the accelerating demand for large-scale AI infrastructure in the United States, particularly in regions with access to renewable energy and grid capacity.

The grid-connected campus spans 270 acres owned by Lancium, which will also develop and manage the site’s energy infrastructure. Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2026. The site will include behind-the-meter solar and energy storage resources, and the data centers will use a closed-loop cooling system to reduce water consumption. While not officially confirmed, previous reports suggest that Meta is set to lease capacity at the Childress campus.

This marks the second collaboration between Crusoe and Lancium. The pair previously partnered to develop a multi-gigawatt campus in Abilene, Texas, for OpenAI via Oracle. Ground broke on that site in 2024, and the first buildings launched last year. Microsoft is also expected to lease some capacity at the Abilene facility.

“This campus represents a major milestone in Crusoe's deep commitment to the state of Texas,” said Chase Lochmiller, co-founder and CEO of Crusoe. “Working with Lancium again, in the same partnership model we built together in Abilene, made Childress an easy choice for our next site. This is more than a data center to us - it's our long-term commitment to this community, and we're proud to be building that future here in Childress.”

Michael McNamara, CEO of Lancium, added: “Childress is a natural next step in our partnership with Crusoe. Crusoe has been a great partner to build alongside in Abilene, and we're glad to bring that same model - and the jobs and investment that come with it - to the community of Childress. We are deeply committed to working with local stakeholders to advance a model of development that addresses the broader needs of the community we will share for a very long time.”

Lancium, originally founded in 2017 as a cryptomining firm, pivoted to developing large-scale sites it calls Clean Campuses, leaving others to build and operate data centers on its land. The company also announced this week that QTS will develop an 11-building campus at its third site near Turkey in Hall County, Texas.

Crusoe, launched in 2018 as a cryptomining business, has since pivoted to developing data centers and offering AI cloud services. The company divested its crypto operations in March 2025. Crusoe recently said it has contracted 4.9 GW of AI infrastructure spanning its data center projects and capacity for Crusoe Cloud, and its total development pipeline exceeds 40 GW, including contracted projects and sites under active tenant negotiation. The company is also planning a 1.8 GW campus in Wyoming, two sites in Missouri, and natural gas-powered data centers in Alberta, Canada. It recently backed off a project in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was named as a potential partner for a project in Nebraska. In February 2026, Crusoe announced it would deploy modular data centers at Energy Vault's technology center in Snyder, Texas, with an initial deployment expected to scale up to 25 MW.

The partnership between Crusoe and Lancium highlights a growing trend of crypto-turned-AI infrastructure firms repurposing their expertise in energy management and site development for hyperscale AI workloads. The Childress campus, once fully operational, will play a significant role in meeting the surging power demands of AI computing in the region.