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OpenAI and SoftBank announced Tuesday that they plan to launch a massive new artificial intelligence infrastructure project in the United States, a move that Donald Trump hailed as a “statement of confidence in America.”
The joint venture, called Stargate, seeks to spend $100 billion on Big Tech infrastructure projects, and up to $500 billion over the next four years, the groups announced Tuesday evening. It was not immediately clear how Stargate would obtain funding, but a person involved with the project said it intends to attract additional investors.
“This monumental undertaking is a resounding statement of confidence in America’s potential under the leadership of a new president,” Trump said Tuesday evening from the White House, flanked by SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, the head of OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Asset added that Stargate will build “the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI advancements and this will include building colossal data centers.”
The announcement comes as tech executives seek to court Trump, eager to win major U.S. investments early in his term. The president said Stargate would create 100,000 jobs “almost immediately” and preserve “the future of technology” in America.
SoftBank assumes ultimate financial responsibility for the new company, with OpenAI assuming operational responsibility. Son will chair the joint venture.
Abu Dhabi’s state AI fund, MGX and Oracle, are also funding the project, while SoftBank-owned Arm, Microsoft and Nvidia are technology partners.
Stargate aims to strengthen the training and execution capacity of new AI models. It will initially build a data center project in Abilene, Texas – construction of which is already underway, according to the companies – before expanding to other states.
The rapid development of AI systems over the past two years has strained U.S. infrastructure, with data centers becoming a particular bottleneck. Cutting-edge models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude chatbots require enormous 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-based real estate developer Damac, announced plans to invest at least $20 billion in U.S. data centers during a meeting with Trump at his data center. Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Figures in the AI industry, including OpenAI’s Altman, have argued that better infrastructure is key to developing the next stage of AI models and competing with China for dominance of the technology.
Altman said earlier this month that the Trump administration could boost domestic AI companies with “American-built infrastructure and a lot of it.”
“What I deeply agree with the president on is that it is incredibly difficult to build things in the United States. Power plants, data centers, all that kind of stuff,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
In his inaugural address Monday, Trump promised that the United States was on the brink of an “exciting new era of national success,” but made no specific mention of AI technology.
Last month, Trump called for a separate SoftBank promise to invest $100 billion in the United States, “a monumental demonstration of confidence in America’s future.” A person familiar with the matter said Stargate would represent a significant portion of that previously announced $100 billion commitment.
“This is the beginning of a golden age,” Son said Tuesday, adding that the company would not have made the investment if Trump had not been re-elected, comments echoed by Ellison and Altman.
Son has long taken a holistic view of what SoftBank can do in AI, from robotics to data centers, all backed by its crown jewel, UK-based semiconductor designer Armthat he wants to see produce his own chips. The SoftBank founder also took a significant stake in OpenAI and speaks regularly with Altman.
SoftBank shares rose 7.5 percent in Tokyo.
“We have for the first time concrete details on SoftBank’s ambitions in AI and . . . When you look at what they’ve hinted they’ll do before, that’s probably the best place to start,” said Kirk Boodry, a SoftBank analyst at Astris Advisory in Tokyo, highlighting “high-profile partners.” of the group in the Stargate plan. .
Additional reporting by Rafe Uddin and Alex Rogers
