Stargate LLC

File:The White House - American AI investment.webm

The "Stargate" term dates back to 2024, when OpenAI and Microsoft started developing a $100 billion AI supercomputer.

On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the venture at a White House press conference, accompanied by Sam Altman from OpenAI, Larry Ellison from Oracle and Masayoshi Son from SoftBank.

Donald Trump called it "the largest AI infrastructure project in history", and he indicated that he would use emergency declarations to expedite the project's development, particularly regarding energy infrastructure.{{Cite web |last=Gedeon |first=Joseph |date=January 21, 2025 |title=Trump unveils $500bn joint AI venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/trump-ai-joint-venture-openai-oracle-softbank |access-date=January 21, 2025 |website=The Guardian}}

Larry Ellison contended that Stargate could lead to the AI-facilitated production of mRNA vaccines against cancer, and that such vaccines could be designed "robotically", or by leveraging AI, "in about 48 hours".{{Cite web |last=Klee |first=Miles |date=24 January 2025 |title=Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theorists Freak Out Over Trump's $500 Billion AI Plan |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/conspiracy-theory-anti-vax-ai-infrastructure-trump-1235245054/ |access-date=24 January 2025 |website=RollingStone |archive-date=January 24, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124182919/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/conspiracy-theory-anti-vax-ai-infrastructure-trump-1235245054/ |url-status=live }}

The venture launched with an initial investment of $100 billion, with plans to increase it to $500 billion by 2029.{{Cite news |date=January 21, 2025 |title=Trump Announces Project Stargate, a Massive New Investment in AI |url=https://www.inc.com/ben-sherry/project-stargate-massive-new-trump-era-investment-in-ai/91109890 |access-date=January 21, 2025 |work=Inc.com |archive-date=January 21, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121232408/https://www.inc.com/ben-sherry/project-stargate-massive-new-trump-era-investment-in-ai/91109890 |url-status=live }} Elon Musk, CEO of OpenAI's competitor xAI, said that the venture lacked the financing to meet the promised investment levels. This was later denied by Sam Altman.{{Cite web |last1=Schleifer |first1=Theodore |last2=Kang |first2=Cecilia |date=January 22, 2024 |title=Musk Casts Doubt on Trump's $100 Billion A.I. Announcement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-stargate-ai-announcement.html |access-date=January 22, 2024 |website=New York Times |archive-date=January 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122190247/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-stargate-ai-announcement.html |url-status=live }} Arm CEO Rene Haas stated that the financial backing behind the project is "quite solid".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtRGssyw-I8&ab_channel=BloombergTelevision |title=Arm CEO Says Trump AI Pact Has Widespread Support |date=2025-01-22 |last=Bloomberg Television |access-date=2025-01-23 |via=YouTube |archive-date=January 23, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123122229/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtRGssyw-I8&ab_channel=BloombergTelevision |url-status=live }} The Information reported that Softbank and OpenAI have each committed $19 billion of capital to initially fund Stargate and would each hold 40% ownership interest in the joint venture, while Oracle and MGX would each contribute $7 billion, and the remaining funds would be sourced from limited partners and debt financing.{{Cite web |last1=Mascarenhas |first1=Natasha |last2=Efrati |first2=Amir |date=January 23, 2025 |title=OpenAI, SoftBank Each Commit $19 Billion to Stargate Data Center Venture |url=https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-softbank-each-commit-19-billion-to-stargate-data-center-venture |website=The Information |access-date=January 25, 2025 |archive-date=January 31, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131194919/https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-softbank-each-commit-19-billion-to-stargate-data-center-venture |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Chan |first=Edwin |date=January 23, 2025 |title=SoftBank, OpenAI Plan $19 Billion Each for Stargate, Information Reports |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-23/softbank-openai-plan-19-billion-each-for-stargate-information |publisher=Bloomberg News |archive-date=February 4, 2025 |access-date=January 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250204142055/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-23/softbank-openai-plan-19-billion-each-for-stargate-information |url-status=live }} According to the Financial Times, the infrastructure being built as part of the project will be exclusive to OpenAI.{{Cite news |last1=Hammond |first1=George |last2=Kinder |first2=Tabby |last3=Murghia |first3=Madhumita |date=January 23, 2025 |title=Stargate artificial intelligence project to exclusively serve OpenAI |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4541c07b-f5d8-40bd-b83c-12c0fd662bd9 |work=Financial Times |archive-date=February 1, 2025 |access-date=January 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201185944/https://www.ft.com/content/4541c07b-f5d8-40bd-b83c-12c0fd662bd9 |url-status=live }} It was reported that SoftBank, the main financial backer for Stargate could collect only a 10% equity funding and the remaining would come from debt or debt-like fundings.{{Cite web |last=Narioka |first=Eliot Brown and Kosaku |title=How Is SoftBank Funding Its Mega Investment in OpenAI? A Lot of Debt |url=https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/openai-softbank-investment-debt-51b4a130 |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}} Debt has been a common strategy in Son's risky investment strategies.{{Cite news |title=Breakingviews - Stargate is test of SoftBank financial engineering |url=https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/stargate-is-test-softbank-financial-engineering-2025-03-20/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250323183150/https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/stargate-is-test-softbank-financial-engineering-2025-03-20/ |archive-date=March 23, 2025 |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=Reuters |language=en-US |url-status=live }}

Coinciding with the project announcement, Microsoft and OpenAI signed a new agreement that grants Microsoft a right of first refusal on future OpenAI cloud computing capacity, while allowing OpenAI to use other cloud providers if Microsoft declines.{{Cite web |last=Robison |first=Kylie |date=January 21, 2025 |title=Microsoft is letting OpenAI get its own AI compute now |url=https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/21/24349006/microsoft-openai-compute-partnership |website=The Verge |access-date=January 25, 2025 |archive-date=January 31, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131194919/https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/21/24349006/microsoft-openai-compute-partnership |url-status=live }}

On April 1, 2025, Softbank announced that its first $10 billion funding was expected to be borrowed from Japanese bank Mizuho and other lenders.

On April 17, 2025, the Financial Times reported that OpenAI and Oracle weighed a future investment in the United Kingdom as they explored overseas locations to build out AI infrastructure.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-17 |title=OpenAI, SoftBank Weigh U.K. Investment for Stargate AI Venture, FT Says, Citing Sources |url=https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202504175513/openai-softbank-weigh-uk-investment-for-stargate-ai-venture-ft-says-citing-sources |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Morningstar, Inc. |language=en}}

The venture is currently building 10 data centers in Abilene, Texas,{{Cite web |last=Comment |first=Sebastian Moss |date=January 21, 2025 |title=OpenAI announces 'The Stargate Project': $500bn over four years on AI infrastructure |url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/openai-announces-the-stargate-project-500bn-over-four-years-on-ai-infrastructure/ |access-date=January 21, 2025 |website=www.datacenterdynamics.com |language=en |archive-date=January 21, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121231902/https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/openai-announces-the-stargate-project-500bn-over-four-years-on-ai-infrastructure/ |url-status=live }} and plans to expand to more states and countries like Japan and United Kingdom,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7torZn5lM&ab_channel=AssociatedPress |title=LIVE: OpenAI founder Sam Altman speaks in Tokyo |date=2025-02-02 |last=Associated Press |access-date=2025-02-04 |via=YouTube |archive-date=February 5, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250205172310/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7torZn5lM&ab_channel=AssociatedPress |url-status=live }} with Trump saying that he will use executive orders to help build the venture's infrastructure. The new venture claims that it will create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States. Altman has said that SoftBank will have the "financial responsibility" of the venture and OpenAI will have the "operational responsibility". Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners.{{Cite web |last=Seitz |first=Patrick |date=2025-01-22 |title=Nvidia Stock Rallies As Chipmaker Named To Stargate AI Venture |url=https://www.investors.com/news/technology/nvidia-stock-rallies-stargate-ai-project/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Investor's Business Daily |language=en-US |archive-date=January 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122193405/https://www.investors.com/news/technology/nvidia-stock-rallies-stargate-ai-project/ |url-status=live }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/trump-announces-stargate-ai-infrastructure-project-229900357578 Trump announces the venture]
• [https://openai.com/index/announcing-the-stargate-project/ Announcing The Stargate Project] (by OpenAI)

{{OpenAI}}

Category:Artificial intelligence companies

Category:Larry Ellison

Category:Joint ventures

Category:Second presidency of Donald Trump

Category:OpenAI

Category:SoftBank Group

Category:Oracle Corporation

Category:2025 in artificial intelligence