Crusoe sells troubled Wyoming data center project to Google

Crusoe, a 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. The deal shows how hard it can be for independent developers to deliver very large projects on time and on budget.

Why Google took over

Crusoe announced the project last year together with Tallgrass, an infrastructure company backed by investment firm Blackstone, with a plan to gradually scale it to 10 gigawatts of power capacity. Crusoe had tried to land Google as a customer for the site but failed. Google reportedly raised concerns about the cost and construction timeline under Crusoe's management and is now taking over development itself.

Google has not said how much it paid, but it has announced plans to invest $17 billion in the data center campus. Obstacles for such projects include securing equipment and power, while growing opposition from local communities can add further complications.

Collaboration continues

Google has not cut ties with Crusoe: the company is building another data center for Google near Amarillo, Texas. Bloomberg first reported the sale in June, and the setback did not stop Crusoe from raising $3.9 billion in September.

Crusoe earns money by leasing data center space to customers who bring their own GPUs (graphics processors), by renting out its own GPUs, and by selling compute used to run AI models, known as inference. Its campus in Abilene, Texas, is being built in phases for Oracle and OpenAI, and a separate 900-megawatt campus next door is under construction for Microsoft, with the first building expected online in mid-2027. Meta is also a customer, and Bloomberg reported that trading firm Jane Street signed a five-year, $13 billion cloud deal with Crusoe.

Crusoe was founded by Chase Lochmiller, now CEO, and Cully Cavness as a cryptocurrency-mining business powered by natural gas that would otherwise have been burned off. In September the company added three board members, including JB Straubel, founder of Redwood Materials and a Tesla board member.