Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just having a moment. It’s celebrating a birthday that officially began in the summer of 1956. This week, Google announced plans to build a $9-billion data center campus in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which will double the capacity of its current facility Pryor.
Additionally, the tech giant is investing $1 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) education across 100 universities, with the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University part of the first cohort of the Google AI for Education Accelerator that launched last week.
According to the National Governors Association, this illustrates how governors are working to reignite the American Dream through new investments by Google to expand data centers in Oklahoma, develop electrical apprenticeships, and increase access to AI education programs.
The Google AI for Education Accelerator aims to empower students with AI skills through free access to industry-recognized career certificates, AI training, and Google’s most advanced AI tools.
Observers also note that Oklahoma boasts some of the lowest electricity rates in the United States, a crucial factor for energy-intensive AI operations.
Google is also providing funding to support apprenticeships run by an electrical training alliance to increase the electrical workforce pipeline in Oklahoma by 135%, helping develop the labor force needed to build new energy infrastructure.
On LinkedIn, Stanley (Chege) Thuita, founder of Altradits, a social media agency in Kenya, asked whether we are witnessing the emergence of America’s AI Belt.
Analysts highlight that Oklahoma’s central location provides a geographic advantage, ensuring optimal latency for serving both the East and West Coasts.
Furthermore, the partnership with universities fosters a sustainable model for workforce development, and AI infrastructure is becoming as essential as highways and airports were in the 20th century.
With an increasing number of opportunities in emerging AI hubs, talent analysts are encouraging new graduates to explore prospects in these regions.
Business owners should also consider the implications of AI infrastructure on their operations, as companies and areas that control AI resources will play a significant role in driving economic growth in the coming decade.
In related news, Oracle has announced that it has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to offer Google’s most advanced AI models, starting with Gemini 2.5.
Customers can now utilize the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s Generative AI service to harness the latest Gemini models for building AI agents.
These agents can assist with advanced coding and software development tasks, automate productivity and workflows, and improve research and knowledge retrieval, as well as multimodal understanding.
According to the press release, Oracle plans to integrate new features with Vertex AI, including models for video, image, speech, and specialized industry applications like MedLM in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, stated that leading enterprises are using Gemini to power AI agents across various use cases and industries.
Now, Oracle customers can access these top models within their environments, simplifying the deployment of powerful AI agents that support developers, streamline data integration tasks, and more.
Oracle’s approach brings AI technology closer to enterprise data, helping customers across various industries apply the most appropriate AI technologies—both generative and agentic—to relevant business scenarios.
Google’s Gemini models excel in enterprise use cases, thanks to their ability to provide accurate responses grounded in up-to-date Google Search data, large context windows, data encryption, privacy policies, and reasoning capabilities.
Technology analysts suggest that Oracle’s partnership with Google’s Gemini models signifies a strategic platform shift, offering enterprises more AI options.
However, success will rely on effective integration and support.
Furthermore, experts believe that with Google’s $9 billion investment in a new data center and the launch of education and workforce programs to train the next generation of tech talent, this substantial investment goes beyond expanding AI and cloud capabilities; it aims to create jobs, strengthen educational institutions, and position key hubs for technology.
Google is investing $9 billion over 2 years for Cloud and AI infrastructure in Oklahoma. This includes the development of a new data center campus in Stillwater, expansion of our existing facility in Pryor and expanded education and workforce development programs.
— News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) August 13, 2025
Yesterday @GovStitt announced new investments by Google to expand data centers in Oklahoma, grow electrical apprenticeships and provide access to AI education programs. Learn more about how Governors are working to reignite the American Dream. https://t.co/aulcR5MBFI pic.twitter.com/soSkaSPK4n
— NGA (@NatlGovsAssoc) August 14, 2025
New: The Google AI for Education Accelerator will provide free AI training & Google Career Certificates to college students in the U.S.
We're also committing $1 billion to AI literacy, research and more over the next 3 years → https://t.co/MDoQQO1zCn #GrowwithGoogle pic.twitter.com/PnS5N7X4Og
— Google (@Google) August 6, 2025
Building the future requires skilled hands. We’re supporting the electrical training ALLIANCE to equip 100,000 electrical workers and 30,000 new apprentices with future-ready skills to meet the demands of tomorrow. Learn how ↓ https://t.co/bZls0BoltL
— Google (@Google) April 30, 2025
Google Cloud’s new partnership with Oracle provides a path for the world’s largest enterprises to use next generation cloud and AI by combining Oracle Cloud database and Google Cloud services. https://t.co/30FK2zZnXJ
— Thomas Kurian (@ThomasOrTK) June 11, 2024
We’ve expanded our partnership with @GoogleCloud to offer our customers access to Google’s powerful Gemini models through OCI and will be making them available within our Fusion Cloud Applications in the future: https://t.co/JJMjBmuGw1 pic.twitter.com/RiA6WvTPLr
— Oracle (@Oracle) August 14, 2025
Oracle 🤝 Gemini
We're bringing our advanced Gemini models to @Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI service via Vertex AI.
And! You'll also be able to use Gemini as an option within Oracle Fusion Cloud Apps in the future.
Learn more → https://t.co/81mgRsm6w0 pic.twitter.com/jWKbvMf5fd
— Google Cloud (@googlecloud) August 14, 2025
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