In recent weeks, prominent names in the AI industry have urged US officials to support local companies to avoid falling behind China. Beijing has been making great strides despite trade restrictions seeking to prevent its access to key AI hardware. In line with this, a new report claims that OpenAI—ChatGPT’s parent company—and Japan’s SoftBank will invest $19 billion in Stargate.
Stargate project reportedly getting $19B from OpenAI and SoftBank
Stargate is a massive project that aims to build data center infrastructure in the US. This will boost the development of great AI advances in the country in the short, medium and long term. Stargate also contemplates setting up the electricity generation plants necessary for them.
This is good news because it will avoid potential disruptions to the national electricity supply. Google is also investing in establishing wind farms to generate energy dedicated to its data centers. The Mountain View giant will provide a percentage of the generated power to the national electricity grid. It is not known whether Stargate’s power generation centers will do the same.
A report from The Information says that OpenAI and SoftBank will each give $19 billion to the Stargate project. The outlet cites OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself during a conversation with colleagues. The two companies could jointly own 40% of Stargate.
This appears to be a response from Washington to the latest requests from local AI experts. Stargate began building data centers in 2024. However, US President Donald Trump said this week that the big investments in the local AI industry are “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential” under his administration.
Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle credited Trump with helping push the initiative forward. “This will be the most important project of this era,” Altman said.
AI fund to channel up to $500 billion to Stargate
MGX, a Middle Eastern AI fund, is also betting big on AI development in the US. MGX plans to channel around $500 billion from multiple partners. The first $100 billion will go to a data center facility in Abilene, Texas. The rest of the funding will take place over a four-year period.
The Stargate project has built ten large data centers so far. Oracle’s Ellison also said the project will boost advances in digital medicine to treat serious diseases like cancer. The project could even spur the development of a customized vaccine against cancer, he suggested.
