Governor Gretchen Whitmer is celebrating what’s being called the largest economic project in Michigan history, with OpenAI, Oracle, and Related Digital announcing a new “Stargate” campus in Saline Township. The plan includes 2,500 union construction jobs, 450 permanent positions, and another 1,500 indirect jobs, with construction expected to start in 2026. DTE Energy says the project will use excess transmission capacity, and the site will feature a closed-loop cooling system to reduce water use.
It all sounds great on paper. But in Michigan, we’ve seen this movie before.
The Gotion battery plant was supposed to be a green manufacturing success story. Instead, it’s been canceled with the state begging to get just a sliver of the $23.6 million we’ve spent back.
The Ford-CATL battery project in Marshall started with huge promises too, until Ford slashed investment dollars and dramatically reduced job numbers. By the way, has it even opened yet?
Let us also not soon forget there was the SanDisk facility fiasco, where the state burned through more than $230 million trying to lure a semiconductor project that never materialized.
Each time, the same thing happens. Big press conferences, bold claims, and headlines about “transformational” projects. Then, months or years later, we’re left with reduced job numbers, half-finished facilities, or nothing at all.
Now, Whitmer’s office is saying this new AI project will be one of the most advanced infrastructure facilities in the U.S. and won’t draw new water from the Great Lakes. She also says it will preserve more than 700 acres of open space, which will be retained and used as farmland, wetland, and forest.
Construction isn’t even slated to begin until 2026. Given the state’s track record, people have every reason to be skeptical.
If OpenAI, Oracle, and Related Digital actually make this happen, great. Michigan could use the win. But until shovels hit the ground and people start collecting paychecks, this is just another press release filled with promises.
In Michigan, we’ve learned to wait and see. Press conferences don’t build factories. Follow-through does.
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