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$500 billion 'Stargate' project to boost AI in the USA

500 billion Stargate project to boost AI in the USA
President Trump’s return to power is marked by a new AI infrastructure investment project, with OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank and the UAE’s MGX all taking part.

OpenAI and Oracle cosy up to President Trump

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The first 10 datacentres constructed under Stargate are set to be built in Texas, boosting the state's rivalry with California as the USA’s leading tech hub.

President Trump’s return to power is marked by a new AI infrastructure investment project, with OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank and the UAE’s MGX all taking part.

On the same day as he revoked a Biden-era executive order on AI safety standards (EO14110), Donald Trump launched Stargate: a new company that is already building datacentres dedicated to AI.

In an early example of how Silicon Valley’s relationship with the President could manifest over the next four years, both Oracle – whose CEO Larry Ellison has previously given millions to the Republican Party – and OpenAI – which was among the tech giants to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration – will be key beneficiaries of the project.

Stargate is a new privately held company that is constructing 10 datacentres in Texas, with more sites under evaluation.

The company received an initial $100 billion from SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and UAE investment arm MGX. It is set to invest as much as $500 billion over the next four years.

According to OpenAI on X, SoftBank and OpenAI are the lead partners, with the former having financial responsibility and the latter operational responsibility. SoftBank CEO and Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son will be the chairperson of Stargate.

Arm, Microsoft and NVIDIA - as well as the predictable Oracle and OpenAI – are the key initial technology partners.

Announcing the news at a press conference, Trump said, "I'm gonna help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built. So they have to produce a lot of electricity. And we'll make it possible for them to get this production done easily, at their own plants if they want.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, for his part, said he thought Stargate would be “the most important project of this era... We wouldn't be able to do this without you, Mr President.”

That was despite work on Stargate already being under way well before Trump took office, with conversations kicking off more than a year ago, according to OpenAI.

Financial firm Blackstone estimated last year that the USA would see $1 trillion invested into datacentres to 2029, and another $1 trillion in the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, McKinsey believes global datacentre demand will more than triple by 2030.

However, any datacentre expansion has to deal with issues around land, water and especially power use. OpenAI has a contact page where stakeholders in those sectors can register their interest.

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