KUALA LUMPUR – US President Donald Trump, in another move to kickstart his second term in office, unveiled a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project, a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.
The project, dubbed Stargate, is set to revolutionise the AI landscape in the United States, with a commitment to invest up to US$500 billion over the next four years. Trump announced this at the White House, with the CEOs of the three tech companies – OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son – joining him from the Roosevelt Room for the reveal.
“What we want to do is we want to keep it in this country,” Trump said in a speech on his first full day back as president, stressing the importance of securing US leadership in AI as global competition intensifies, particularly from China.
Stargate will begin with a massive data centre project in Texas, with plans to expand to other states in the coming years. The initial phase of the investment is US$100 billion, but the companies involved expect to commit up to US$500 billion over the next four years, reflecting the long-term scale of the endeavour.
Trump called the initiative “the largest AI infrastructure project, by far, in history,” underscoring the transformative potential of the venture.
“It’s going to be incredible,” he said, pointing out that this project will not only advance the US’s technological capabilities but will also create hundreds of thousands of jobs and provide significant economic benefits.
OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle also highlighted the strategic importance of the project. In a statement, the companies said Stargate would “secure American leadership in AI” and “generate massive economic benefits for the entire world.”
The project is expected to fuel innovation across various sectors, including defence, healthcare, and manufacturing.
“This infrastructure will not only support the re-industrialisation of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” OpenAI said in an X post.
Son, SoftBank’s CEO, will serve as chairman of Stargate. The tycoon had previously committed US$100 billion in December to AI investments in the US, a pledge which Trump jokingly referenced.
“Now I came back with US$500 (billion),” Son quipped, a remark that drew laughter from the gathered crowd.
“The US$500 billion Stargate Project comes in addition to a separate pledge, between US$100 and US$200 billion, from, as we know, from (Son),” Trump explained, highlighting the scale and ambition of the venture.
The first Stargate data centre is already under construction in Texas, and there are plans to expand the infrastructure to other states as the project develops. The initiative is expected to help the US maintain its competitive edge in the AI field, providing an ecosystem that can foster rapid advancements in AI research and development.
The project will also involve collaboration from leading technology companies, including NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Oracle, which will play key roles in building and operating the AI infrastructure.
In addition to this initiative, Trump revealed that his administration has secured a total of US$1 trillion in private investments for various projects post-election. This includes SoftBank’s US$100 billion AI investment, which aims to create 100,000 new jobs in the US.
A White House official confirmed that these investments align with Trump’s broader goal of fostering economic growth and job creation in the country, a promise he made during his 2016 presidential campaign. – January 22, 2025