Stargate Project, incorporated in Delaware as Stargate LLC,[1] is an American multinational artificial intelligence (AI) joint venture created by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and investment firm MGX.[2] The venture plans on investing up to US$500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States by 2029. It has been planned since 2022 and was formally announced on January 21, 2025, by United States president Donald Trump.[3] SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son is the venture's chairman.[4]
| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Artificial intelligence |
| Founded | January 21, 2025 |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Masayoshi Son (chairman) |
| Total assets | US$100 billion (2025) |
| Owners |
|
It is named after the 1994 film Stargate, in which the stargates were portals to other worlds.[5] Because of its large scale, the program has been compared to the Manhattan Project.[6][7][8][9]
History
editThe "Stargate" term dates back to 2024, when OpenAI and Microsoft started developing a $100 billion AI supercomputer.[11][12]
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.[4]
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.[13]
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".[14]
The venture launched with an initial investment of $100 billion, with plans to increase it to $500 billion by 2029.[11] 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.[15] Arm CEO Rene Haas stated that the financial backing behind the project is "quite solid".[16] 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.[17][18] According to the Financial Times, the infrastructure being built as part of the project will be exclusive to OpenAI.[19] 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.[20] Debt has been a common strategy in Son's risky investment strategies.[21]
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.[22]
On April 1, 2025, Softbank announced that its first $10 billion funding was expected to be borrowed from Japanese bank Mizuho and other lenders.[20]
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.[23]
Structure
editThe venture is currently building 10 data centers in Abilene, Texas,[24][11] and plans to expand to more states and countries like Japan and United Kingdom,[4][25] 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".[11] Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners.[26]
References
edit- ^ Zakrzewski, Cat; De Vynck, Gerrit; Arnsdorf, Isaac; O'Donovan, Caroline (January 24, 2025). "OpenAI and other tech titans worked on Stargate deal months before Trump won". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 15, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ "OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle to invest $500 bln in AI, Trump says". Reuters. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
- ^ Jacobs, Jennifer (January 21, 2025). "Trump announces up to $500 billion in private sector AI infrastructure investment - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ a b c Habeshian, Sareen (January 21, 2025). "Trump announces billions in private sector AI investment". Axios. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ Hayden, Erik (January 22, 2025). "Project Stargate: Trump Plots With Larry Ellison, Sam Altman On $500B AI Initiative". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
- ^ Ashworth-Hayes, Sam (January 23, 2025). "America's $500bn Manhattan project is an effort to make humanity obsolete". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- ^ "Trump's $500B AI plan is 'slap' in the face for Europe". Politico. January 22, 2025. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- ^ Franzen, Carl (January 22, 2025). "OpenAI Stargate is a $500B bet: America's AI Manhattan Project or costly dead end?". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- ^ "Trump tech agenda begins with $500B private AI plan and cuts to regulation". The Washington Post. January 21, 2025. Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
- ^ @WhiteHouse (January 21, 2025). "President Trump has unveiled a $500 BILLION American AI investment alongside tech leaders Larry Ellison, Masayoshi Son, and Sam Altman, set to create 100,000 American jobs almost immediately! America is leading the way into the future! 🇺🇸" (Tweet). Retrieved March 10, 2025 – via Twitter.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c d "Trump Announces Project Stargate, a Massive New Investment in AI". Inc.com. January 21, 2025. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ "Microsoft and OpenAI Plot $100 Billion Stargate AI Supercomputer". The Information. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
- ^ Gedeon, Joseph (January 21, 2025). "Trump unveils $500bn joint AI venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank". The Guardian. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ Klee, Miles (January 24, 2025). "Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theorists Freak Out Over Trump's $500 Billion AI Plan". RollingStone. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
- ^ Schleifer, Theodore; Kang, Cecilia (January 22, 2024). "Musk Casts Doubt on Trump's $100 Billion A.I. Announcement". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ^ Bloomberg Television (January 22, 2025). Arm CEO Says Trump AI Pact Has Widespread Support. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ Mascarenhas, Natasha; Efrati, Amir (January 23, 2025). "OpenAI, SoftBank Each Commit $19 Billion to Stargate Data Center Venture". The Information. Archived from the original on January 31, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ Chan, Edwin (January 23, 2025). "SoftBank, OpenAI Plan $19 Billion Each for Stargate, Information Reports". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ Hammond, George; Kinder, Tabby; Murghia, Madhumita (January 23, 2025). "Stargate artificial intelligence project to exclusively serve OpenAI". Financial Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ a b Narioka, Eliot Brown and Kosaku. "How Is SoftBank Funding Its Mega Investment in OpenAI? A Lot of Debt". WSJ. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
- ^ "Breakingviews - Stargate is test of SoftBank financial engineering". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 23, 2025. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
- ^ Robison, Kylie (January 21, 2025). "Microsoft is letting OpenAI get its own AI compute now". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 31, 2025. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ "OpenAI, SoftBank Weigh U.K. Investment for Stargate AI Venture, FT Says, Citing Sources". Morningstar, Inc. April 17, 2025. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
- ^ Comment, Sebastian Moss (January 21, 2025). "OpenAI announces 'The Stargate Project': $500bn over four years on AI infrastructure". www.datacenterdynamics.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2025. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
- ^ Associated Press (February 2, 2025). LIVE: OpenAI founder Sam Altman speaks in Tokyo. Archived from the original on February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 4, 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ Seitz, Patrick (January 22, 2025). "Nvidia Stock Rallies As Chipmaker Named To Stargate AI Venture". Investor's Business Daily. Archived from the original on January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.