Georgia residents sue OpenAI over $20 billion data center deal

The Project Camellia Proposal

OpenAI and Octans GA LLC have proposed a massive infrastructure project known as Project Camellia. The plan involves building a data center campus on a 1,440-acre site within the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub near the town of Rincon. This facility is intended to be a major hub for computing power, covering approximately 4.4 million square feet.

The scale of the project is significant for the region's infrastructure. It is expected to require up to 3.2 gigawatts of power to support the operations. Construction for the campus is currently slated to begin in 2028, with a rollout planned across five different development phases through 2034.

Economic impacts for the county include the creation of at least 80 permanent positions per phase. Additionally, the project is tied to a substantial tax incentive package. These incentives are estimated to be worth between $870 million and $900 million over the next 15 years.

Allegations of Secret Dealings

The primary source of local friction is the perceived secrecy surrounding the project's development. According to reports from Crypto Briefing, the project only became public on July 22, 2026. Before this date, the deal was reportedly the subject of nearly nine months of private negotiations protected by confidentiality agreements.

Residents and environmental advocacy groups in Effingham County are now challenging how the deal moved forward. They argue that the community was not given a chance to weigh in on the proposal before it reached its current stage. The lack of early transparency has led to a series of legal challenges against OpenAI and local government bodies.

The lawsuits target the way the deal was structured and communicated. Plaintiffs are specifically looking at the roles played by the local Industrial Development Authority (IDA). They want to determine if the project was pushed through without the standard level of public scrutiny expected for a development of this size.

Three Distinct Legal Challenges

There are currently three separate lawsuits targeting different aspects of the project's approval process. The first lawsuit focuses on a specific county zoning ordinance. Plaintiffs argue that the current rules allow data centers to be built on industrial land without requiring the public hearings they believe are necessary.

The second lawsuit targets the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority regarding transparency. It alleges that the IDA violated Georgia’s Open Meetings and Open Records Acts. The complaint points to the use of codenames like “Project Gateway” and claims that meeting agendas were changed without providing any prior notice to the public.

The third and most aggressive lawsuit was filed between November 6 and November 9, 2026. This complaint names OpenAI, local officials, and the IDA as defendants. It includes serious allegations of conspiracy, fraud, and civil racketeering, though these claims have not yet been decided by a court.

Potential Impacts on Policy

The outcome of these lawsuits could have implications far beyond a single data center. If the plaintiffs succeed in their zoning challenge, it could change how all future developments are handled in the county. It might establish a requirement for public hearings for any data center built on industrial land.

For the local government, the stakes involve the integrity of the tax incentive package. If a court finds that open records laws were broken, the $870 million to $900 million in incentives could become a major point of legal contention. This would put the county's financial agreements with OpenAI under significant pressure.

For OpenAI, the immediate risk is primarily related to delays and reputational friction. Since construction is not scheduled to begin until 2028, the company has time to navigate the legal hurdles. However, the litigation creates a public record of the friction between big tech expansion and local community governance.