Federal, state and local leaders announced the new centers to be constructed in Armstrong and Haskell counties at a Nov. 14 event at the first Texas Google Data Center in Midlothian, near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The gist
One new data center will be constructed in Armstrong County near Amarillo, and two new data centers will be constructed in Haskell County near Abilene.
One center in Haskell County will also use a new solar and battery energy storage plant. The storage plant is the first to be developed through a partnership with energy and data infrastructure provider INtersect and climate sector investor TPG Rise Climate. Officials said the new technology is part of a strategy to reduce demands on the Texas electric grid.
“They say that everything is bigger in Texas—and that certainly applies to the golden opportunity with AI,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.
The new centers will use advanced air-cooling technology and limit water use to site operations such as kitchens, according to a news release from Google.
The company is also contributing $2 million to support agriculture in Texas, including a regenerative agriculture program with Indigo Ag in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and an irrigation efficiency project with N-Drip in the Texas high plains.
Pichai said the company’s strategy when building new data centers includes to “invest significantly” in new energy capacity, which is expected to increase energy supply to the grid.
The company also announced a $30 million Energy Impact Fund, which is expected to scale and accelerate energy initiatives throughout the state beginning in 2026. The program will offer funding opportunities to community partners and local organizations that focus on:
- Energy affordability
- Home and public school weatherization
- Energy efficiency
- Energy workforce development
The Midlothian center, first built in 2019, is now operational. The second data center in Red Oak was announced in 2023, and the newly announced facilities will bring Google to five data centers in Texas.
“Google has called Texas home for more than 15 years,” Pichai said. “We have thousands of employees across the state, with offices in three cities and two data center campuses right here in Ellis County. Data centers are what power the Google products people use every day: Search, YouTube, Maps, Gemini.”
The Texas centers are part of Google’s network of 42 cloud regions for AI-powered technology, according to the release.
Why it matters
Officials said the data centers will bring thousands of jobs to Texas. Texas District 6 Rep. Jake Ellzey, who represents Midlothian, spoke to the impact the first center has made to his community.
“It brings good jobs, new opportunities and steady growth for families across our district,” Ellzey said. “Texas keeps showing why it’s the place to build and invest: low taxes, a strong workforce and a can-do spirit you won’t find anywhere else.”
The investment will also create opportunities for energy workers, and Google.org’s AI Opportunity Fund will contribute to the Electrical Training Alliance to support training existing electrical workers as well as more than 1,700 apprentices in Texas by 2030, the release states.
Also of note
The driverless car company Waymo is expanding to North Texas in 2026, Pichai said. Waymo robotaxi services arrived in Austin in early 2025, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
“The world's first autonomous ride-hailing service is available in Austin, and we plan to expand to Dallas next year,” Pichai said.
Looking ahead
The Texas investments are expected to support the United States in leading the world in AI.
The facilities are expected to support American businesses, strengthen domestic cybersecurity and create new career opportunities, the release states.
“When this project is complete, Google is now going to have a larger AI data center footprint, more so than any other state in the United States, and as I understand, more so than any other country in the entire world,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. “Texas will be the centerpiece for AI data centers for Google.”
