The world's largest data center project ground to a halt on Friday when CEO Toby Neugebauer abruptly stepped down, sending shares into freefall in aftermarket trading. The departure marks the latest setback for Fermi America, a Trump-branded infrastructure venture that has already shed 75% of its value over the last six months.
The venture, co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, promised to build a sprawling campus in the Texas Panhandle called the President Donald Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus. Just months into its public existence, the project is entangled in delays that threaten to derail it before major construction even begins.
In a Thursday interview with Axios, Neugebauer acknowledged the company faces significant obstacles. He conceded he may have underestimated the complexity of assembling such a massive facility, particularly the specialized cooling systems required to prevent AI chips from overheating. "I will accept that as a failure," he said when pressed about misunderstanding where cooling equipment suppliers stand in their capacity to deliver.
The most critical missing piece is an anchor tenant, typically a tech giant capable of anchoring such enormous infrastructure projects. Without it, the company cannot finalize cooling designs or secure project financing to move forward. Neugebauer told analysts on a March 30 earnings call that new letters of intent were being signed, but he declined to reveal specifics until deals were locked. A tenant exit in December prompted investors to file a class-action lawsuit.
The scope of Fermi's ambition is staggering. The campus spans an area half the size of Manhattan and would demand three times the power consumption of all New York City. The company pledged to generate 17 gigawatts of power using natural gas, nuclear, and solar sources. Despite these grand projections, satellite imagery reviewed by market research firm Cleanview shows limited visible construction progress in recent months compared to other major data center projects.
Cleanview's independent analysis suggests that even under optimistic assumptions, if Fermi landed an anchor tenant this month and matched timelines of similar projects, the first buildings would not operate until May 2027, roughly a year later than originally promised. The company had previously targeted bringing 1.1 gigawatts online by the end of 2026 but recently disclosed in SEC filings that this goal is now unachievable.
Co-founder Griffin Perry, son of Rick Perry, reduced his stake by roughly 11 million shares in mid-April, cutting his position by about 15%. The insider sale drew scrutiny from energy analyst Robert Bryce, who flagged it as a potential warning sign. Perry did not respond to requests for comment about the transaction.
The project's troubled trajectory stands in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm that surrounded its IPO last fall. While AI and energy stocks broadly rallied, Fermi's stock performance has cratered, suggesting investors may be losing confidence in whether such megaprojects can deliver on their ambitious promises.
CFO Miles Everson stated on the March earnings call that no additional construction would advance until a final tenant agreement and project financing were secured. The company has cleared some regulatory hurdles, including an air permit, but the fundamental challenge of locking down a major customer appears intractable at present.
Author James Rodriguez: "A Trump-branded megaproject collapsing under the weight of its own ambition is a cautionary tale for the entire AI infrastructure boom."
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