Crusoe sells unfinished Wyoming data center project to Google

Crusoe, the Denver-based data center developer founded eight years ago and recently valued at $30.9 billion, confirmed Friday that it has sold an unfinished data center project in southeastern Wyoming to Google.

Google had been the project's hoped-for anchor customer, but Crusoe failed to land it. According to TechCrunch, Google is taking over development after reportedly raising concerns about the project's cost and construction timeline under Crusoe's management. Google did not disclose what it paid for the site, but said it plans to invest $17 billion to develop the campus.

The project was first announced last year by Crusoe together with Tallgrass, a Blackstone-backed infrastructure company, with plans to eventually scale to 10 gigawatts of power capacity. That is an enormous power footprint, and it explains why projects of this size hinge on long-lead equipment, secured electricity and disciplined construction management.

The sale is a reminder of how hard it is for independent developers to deliver massive AI campuses on time and on budget. Securing equipment and power is difficult on its own, and growing opposition from local communities can add further delay at the permitting stage.

Google has not walked away from Crusoe entirely. Crusoe is still developing another data center for Google near Amarillo, Texas, so a setback on one site has not become a rupture in the relationship.

Crusoe makes money in three ways: leasing data center space to customers that bring their own GPUs, renting out its own GPUs, and selling inference compute used to run AI models. Its largest projects serve some of the biggest names in AI. The Abilene, Texas campus is being built in phases for Oracle and OpenAI, and Crusoe is 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 trading firm Jane Street signed a $13 billion, five-year cloud deal with Crusoe.

The Wyoming sale was first reported by Bloomberg in June, and it 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. Crusoe was founded by Chase Lochmiller, now CEO, and Cully Cavness, starting life as a natural-gas-powered cryptocurrency mining business.

What to watch next is the pace at which Google's $17 billion commitment turns into buildings and power in Wyoming, and whether local permitting and community sentiment shift along the way. For Crusoe, the real test is whether it can prove on-time delivery across Abilene, Amarillo and the Microsoft campus.