President Trump on Tuesday announced a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to create at least $100 billion in computing infrastructure to power artificial intelligence.
The venture, called Stargate, adds to technology companies' significant investments in U.S. data centers, huge buildings full of servers that provide computing power. Stargate could ultimately invest as much as $500 billion over four years. The three companies plan to contribute money to the venture, which will be open to other investors and will start with ten data centers already under construction in Texas.
The announcement of the joint venture was an early trophy for Mr. Trump, even though the effort to create the joint venture predated his taking office on Monday. Mr. Trump has pledged to accelerate production of American-made AI to compete against China for global leadership in the technology, and on Monday he completed an executive order from former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. rolled back that imposed standards on safety and other matters. requirements for government use of AI
At a news briefing Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he would remove barriers to allow the creation of more data centers. He said he would make “emergency declarations” to allow Stargate to generate its own electricity, without providing details.
“This monumental undertaking is a resounding statement of confidence in America's potential,” Trump said from the Roosevelt Room in the White House.
“We're going to make it as easy as possible,” he added.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son; and Oracle founder Larry Ellison joined Mr. Trump at the White House announcement.
Mr. Trump separately addressed questions from reporters about the possible sale of TikTok. On Monday, he signed an executive order that aims to slow enforcement of a law forcing the sale or banning of the popular app in the United States over national security concerns.
When asked if he would be in favor of that Elon Musk buying TikTok, Mr Trump said: “That would be me, yes.” He then turned to Mr. Ellison and said Oracle could also buy TikTok.
“I have the right to make a deal,” Mr. Trump added.
Tech executives have rushed to voice their support for Mr. Trump in recent months, hoping to curry favor and protect themselves from regulatory reprisals. They donated millions to his campaign and inauguration. Mr. Altman attended the inauguration, and the leaders of Google, Apple and Meta occupied prime seats in the Capitol Rotunda.
Mr. Trump has touted the promise of artificial intelligence for economic growth and appointed David Sacks, a venture capital investor, to a new role as his AI adviser.
OpenAI has long worked to fund its ambitious goals of building data center campuses around the world. This month, the company presented an economic roadmap for the new administration that focused on a massive plan for U.S. data centers used to power AI tools like ChatGPT.
For years, Microsoft, OpenAI's largest investor, provided the data center infrastructure needed to power the startup. But as the ChatGPT maker struggled to get enough computing power from Microsoft, the two companies agreed that OpenAI could look for additional data centers built by Oracle.
(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner Microsoft for copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. The two companies have dismissed the lawsuit's claims).
Last year, Mr. Altman began meeting with investors in the United Arab Emirates, computer chip makers in Asia and officials in Washington, proposing that they join together to build new computer chip factories and data centers around the world.
After officials in Washington expressed concern that an American company was trying to build vital technology in the Middle East, OpenAI focused on building new data centers in the United States.
