$500bn AI plan announced by US tech giants
OpenAI has partnered with Oracle and SoftBank to develop data centres designed to support advanced artificial intelligence (AI), with an initial investment of $100bn (£81bn) set to be deployed immediately.
Speaking at the White House alongside the leaders of the three companies, US President Donald Trump described the initiative as "a resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential."
The Stargate Project aims to secure American leadership in artificial intelligence, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and deliver significant economic benefits globally.
Masayoshi Son, the Chairman of SoftBank, will serve as the chairman of Stargate.
The initial equity funders of Stargate are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, with SoftBank taking financial responsibility and OpenAI leading operations. Key technology collaborators include Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI. The collaboration builds on longstanding partnerships, such as the one between OpenAI and NVIDIA since 2016, as well as a newer partnership with Oracle.
The infrastructure buildout has commenced in Texas, with evaluations underway for additional sites across the US to support the planned expansion. Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will work together to construct and operate the computing systems, while OpenAI will also increase its use of Microsoft’s Azure platform to train AI models and deliver products and services.
"I think this will be the most important project of this era," said OpenAI's Chief Executive, Sam Altman.
SoftBank stated: "All of us look forward to continuing to build and develop AI–and in particular AGI–for the benefit of all of humanity. We believe that this new step is critical on the path, and will enable creative people to figure out how to use AI to elevate humanity."