Trump Announces $100 Billion A.I. Initiative
OpenAI,
Oracle and SoftBank formed a new joint venture called Stargate to invest in data
centers, building on major U.S. investments in the technology.
[ABS
News Service/23.01.2025]
President Trump on Tuesday announced a
joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to create
at least $100 billion in computing infrastructure to power artificial intelligence.
The venture, called Stargate, adds to tech
companies’ significant investments in U.S. data centers,
huge buildings full of servers that provide computing power. Stargate could eventually
invest as much as $500 billion over four years. The three companies plan to contribute
funds to the venture, which will be open to other investors and start with 10 data
centers already under construction in Texas.
The announcement of the joint venture was
an early trophy for Mr. Trump, even though the effort to form the venture predates
his taking office on Monday. Mr. Trump has promised to accelerate the production
of American-made A.I. to compete against China for global leadership in the technology,
and on Monday he rolled back an executive order from former President Joseph R.
Biden Jr. that imposed standards on safety and other requirements for government
use of A.I.
During a news briefing Tuesday, Mr. Trump
said he would remove barriers to allow for the creation of more data centers. He said he would make “emergency declarations” to allow
Stargate to generate its own electricity, without providing details.
“This monumental undertaking is a resounding
declaration of confidence in America’s potential,” Mr. Trump said from the White
House’s Roosevelt Room.
“We’re going to make it as easy as it can
be,” he added.
OpenAI’s
chief executive, Sam Altman; SoftBank’s chief, Masayoshi Son; and Oracle’s founder,
Larry Ellison, were at the White House announcement with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump separately addressed questions
from reporters about the potential sale of TikTok. On
Monday he signed an executive order that
aims to stall enforcement of a law that forces a sale or bans the popular
app in the United States over national security concerns.
When asked if he would be in favor of Elon Musk buying TikTok,
Mr. Trump said, “I would be, yeah.” Then he turned to Mr. Ellison and said Oracle
could also purchase TikTok.
“I have the right to make a deal,” Mr.
Trump added.
Tech executives have rushed to show their
support for Mr. Trump in recent months in hopes of currying favor
and shielding themselves from regulatory retaliation. They have donated millions
to his campaign and inauguration. Mr. Altman attended the inauguration and the chiefs
of Google, Apple and Meta occupied prime seats in the Capitol Rotunda.
Mr. Trump has extolled the promise of artificial
intelligence for economic growth and appointed David Sacks, a venture capital investor,
to a new position as his A.I. adviser.
OpenAI
has long worked on financing
its ambitious goals to build data center campuses around
the world. This month, the company
pitched an economic road map for the new administration
that centered on a large-scale plan for U.S. data centers that are used to power A.I. tools like its ChatGPT.
For years, Microsoft, which is OpenAI’s largest investor, provided data center infrastructure needed to power the start-up. But as the
ChatGPT maker struggled to get enough computer power from
Microsoft, the two companies agreed that OpenAI could
seek additional data centers built by Oracle.
(The New York Times has sued
OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, claiming copyright
infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied
the suit’s claims).
Last year, Mr. Altman began meeting with
investors in the United Arab Emirates, computer chip makers in Asia and officials
in Washington, proposing that they unite to build new computer chip factories and
data centers across the globe.
After officials in Washington expressed
concern that a U.S. company was trying to build vital technology in the Middle East,
OpenAI focused on building new data centers in the United States.