A joint venture called The Stargate Project will contribute $500 billion over four years to generative AI infrastructure in the United States, representatives of SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle announced in cooperation with President Donald Trump on January 21.
The joint venture will support infrastructure, including data centers, that contribute to what OpenAI calls a “computing system.”
“This infrastructure will secure American leadership in artificial intelligence, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and create massive economic benefit for the entire world,” OpenAI wrote in a Jan. 21 post on X (formerly Twitter). “This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States, but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.”
“It’s big money and high-quality people,” Trump said at a White House news conference, according to the Associated Press.
At least one location confirmed in Texas
OpenAI will initially contribute $100 billion to the project, with the other $400 billion coming at an unknown pace over the next four years.
OpenAI said construction of a data center associated with the project has already begun in Abilene, Texas.
“We are evaluating potential locations across the country for multiple campuses as we finalize final agreements,” OpenAI wrote.
Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison said 10 data centers were already built or under construction.
SEE: AI adoption tends to weaken companies’ chances of meeting sustainability goals, according to a report released in January.
Which companies are involved?
The original equity financiers are:
- The Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank.
- OpenAI.
- Oracle.
- MGX, a technology investment company located in the United Arab Emirates.
SoftBank will be responsible for The Stargate Project’s finances, while OpenAI will handle operations.
Other initial technology partners are:
“This builds on deep collaboration between OpenAI and NVIDIA dating back to 2016 and a more recent partnership between OpenAI and Oracle,” OpenAI wrote.
Trump’s administration will ease the way for more data centers in the United States, he said Tuesday, according to The New York Times. That easement could include unspecified “emergency declarations” surrounding the Stargate project potentially generating its own electricity.
Expanding AI involves rethinking data and power needs
“Our current infrastructure is not ready for the demands AI will require for full maturation,” Sean Tufts, managing partner of critical infrastructure and operational technology at Optiv, said in an email to TechRepublic. “This team is a perfect trifecta to power a new ecosystem. Bringing together the boldest AI company, one of the largest data and cloud companies, and one of the most innovative financiers. This is the type of public/private partnership that that America’s innovators thrive on.”
Tufts suggested that a power generation company join the group to meet electrical needs. In addition to chips, robust data centers and more efficient cooling, he said, power is one of the pillars required for increased support for generative AI technologies.
The government is increasing reliance on public partnerships
The Trump administration backed away from former President Joe Biden’s initiative to provide guidelines for “safe, secure and credible” generative AI, listing it among a group of what the Trump White House called “unpopular, inflationary, illegal and radical” decisions from the previous administration.
Technology companies that may be affected by the rapidly changing government support for artificial intelligence should stay abreast of the changes, including those that may affect international deployments or partner companies outside of the United States. States may also issue individual executive orders regarding artificial intelligence and its infrastructure. State-level AI mandates, such as those in New York and Colorado, will remain in place.
“Look for patterns in new or new state AI laws that follow existing non-AI laws,” Gartner analysts Lydia Clougherty Jones, Frances Karamouzis, Svetlana Sicular, Avivah Litan wrote in a Jan. 14 white paper. “For example, AI algorithmic discrimination laws are often copies of existing non-AI laws that prohibit certain discriminatory acts.”
Removing the 2023 order would mean “the dilution of significant federal oversight of model development,” Jones told TechRepublic in an email, “including requirements to submit safety training results per market or notification of large-scale computer cluster acquisitions, paving .the path to streamlined innovation in a less federally regulated environment.”
Projects like Stargate show that other AI initiatives can land in private rather than public hands.
“Regardless of the status of the 2023 EO, empowering sovereign AI will increase reliance on partnerships with the private sector,” Jones said.
She pointed out that another major AI-related executive order, Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure, was not withdrawn. Making the US a powerhouse for AI innovation remains a goal of the new administration.
“Given the significant amount of energy infrastructure needed to train AI models, the challenge of accelerating AI development lies in the massive energy demand and consumption,” Jones said. “With the revocation of the 2023 EO and the announcement of Stargate, we see the convergence of data centers and power — power both literally in terms of energy demand and figuratively in terms of America’s competitive ambitions.”