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OpenAI and SoftBank said on Tuesday they plan to launch a massive new US artificial intelligence infrastructure project, a move that Donald Trump hailed as a “declaration of confidence in America”.
The joint venture, called Stargate, plans to spend $100 billion on Big Tech infrastructure projects, rising to $500 billion over the next four years, the groups said late Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how Stargate would raise the funding, but one person involved in the project said they intend to bring in additional investors.
“This monumental undertaking is a resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential under a new president,” Trump said Tuesday night from the White House, flanked by Son, OpenAI chief Sam Altman and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Trump he added that Stargate will build “the physical and virtual infrastructure that powers the next generation of AI advances, and that will include the construction of colossal data centers.”
The announcement comes as tech executives turn to Trump, who is eager to make significant investments in the U.S. early in his term. The president said Stargate would create 100,000 jobs “almost immediately” and keep the “future of technology” in America.
SoftBank has ultimate financial responsibility for the new company, with OpenAI assuming operational responsibility. The joint venture will be chaired by SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son from Tokyo.
Funding for the project is also provided by Abu Dhabi state AI fund MGX and Oracle, while technology partners include Arm, Microsoft and SoftBank-owned Nvidia.
The stargate aims to increase the training and running capacity of the new AI models. It will first build a data center project in Abilene, Texas — which the companies say is already under construction — before expanding to other states.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence systems over the past two years has stretched America's infrastructure, and data centers have emerged as a particular trouble spot. Top models like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini chatbots, and Anthropic's Claude require massive amounts of data and computing power to train and run.
“This project will not only support the reindustrialization of the United States, but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” OpenAI said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Dubai developer Damac, announced plans to invest at least $20 billion in US data centers in a meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Leading figures in the AI sector, including OpenAI's Altman, have argued that better infrastructure is necessary to develop the next phase of AI models and compete with China for dominance of the technology.
Altman said earlier this month that the Trump administration could boost domestic AI companies with “US-built infrastructure and lots of it.”
“The thing that I really deeply agree with the president is that it's strange how difficult it has become to build things in the United States. Power plants, data centers, anything like that,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump promised that the US was on the verge of an “exciting new era of national achievement,” though he did not specifically mention AI technology.
Last month, Trump convened a separate SoftBank pledge to invest $100 billion in the US “a monumental demonstration of confidence in America's future”. One person familiar with the matter said Stargate will be a significant part of the previously announced $100 billion commitment.
“This is the beginning of a golden age,” Son said Tuesday, adding that the company would not invest unless Trump won again, comments echoed by Ellison and Altman.
Son has long held a sweeping vision of what SoftBank can do in AI, from robotics to data centers, all underpinned by its crown jewel, Semiconductor designer Armwho wants to see their own chips manufactured. The SoftBank founder also has a significant stake in OpenAI and speaks regularly with Altman.
Additional reporting from Rafe Uddin and Alex Rogers
