Stargate: The Story Behind a US$500bn US Investment Plan

A consortium of technology giants has announced a US$500bn investment to develop AI infrastructure across the US, marking a significant shift in AI development strategy.
The Stargate project, led by OpenAI and SoftBank, aims to create shared computing facilities to meet the growing demands of AI systems.
Representing a departure from traditional AI models, Stargate will bring together competitors to create shared infrastructure.
SoftBank, the Japanese technology investment company, will manage financial operations, with CEO Masayoshi Son presiding as chairman. OpenAI, the leading AI research company, will oversee the operational aspects of the initiative.
A collaborative approach to AI infrastructure
This shift comes as AI companies face increased pressure on computing resources. The training of large language models (LLMs) now requires computing power that exceeds the capacity of individual data centres, forcing companies to seek new approaches to infrastructure development.
“The Stargate initiative’s US$500bn investment underscores the massive scale of infrastructure required to reach the full potential of AI – and managing the extraordinary amount of heat that AI systems generate will need to be a fundamental part of that plan,” explains Joe Capes, CEO of leading data centre company LiquidStack.
“As new generations of AI bring unprecedented computational power needs, cooling AI data centers will be a critical factor.”
The initial US$100bn Stargate deployment will focus on facilities in Texas, with Oracle and Microsoft joining as equity partners alongside SoftBank and OpenAI.
MGX, an Abu Dhabi government-backed AI investment vehicle, is also part of the initial equity funding structure.
Building on existing partnerships within the AI sector, Stargate will see Oracle collaborating with Nvidia and OpenAI to build and operate the computing systems. This marks a new phase in the already-existing partnership between OpenAI and Nvidia that began in 2016.
Arm Holdings, the semiconductor and software design company, is also named as a key technology partner.
The consortium is currently evaluating potential sites across the country for additional campuses as they finalise definitive agreements, as Stargate hopes to create a nationwide network of AI infrastructure.
It is aiming to secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs and generate significant economic benefits worldwide. Beyond its economic impact, the initiative has been positioned as a strategic capability to protect the national security of the US and its allies.
Confronting market concerns
The White House has indicated support for the initiative, with potential emergency declarations to facilitate power infrastructure development for the computing facilities.
This could accelerate the project's deployment timeline and address critical infrastructure requirements.
- $500 billion: Total planned investment in US artificial intelligence computing infrastructure through Stargate consortium
- $100 billion: Initial deployment commitment for Texas facilities
- 2030: End date of existing Microsoft-OpenAI partnership agreement
US President Donald Trump announced the initiative at a White House briefing, accompanied by SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Oracle's Larry Ellison.
President Trump said: “What we want to do is we want to keep it in this country. China is a competitor, others are competitors. We want to be in this country, and we're making it available.
“I'm gonna help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built.”
He also called the Stargate initiative the “largest AI infrastructure project by far in history,” and has pledged to assist the new company in gaining access to the electric power that it will need for its operations.
The initiative comes at a time of growing competition in the global AI landscape. The US in particular is eager to remain globally competitive and has recently bolstered its efforts to support the construction of AI data centres.
As the Stargate project moves forward, it may have to contend with regulations. The US Federal Trade Commission in particular has recently raised concerns over partnerships between leading cloud service providers and Gen AI developers, warning of potential risks to market competition.
“All of us look forward to continuing to build and develop AI – and in particular AGI – for the benefit of all of humanity,” OpenAI and Softbank said in a statement.
“We believe that this new step is critical on the path, and will enable creative people to figure out how to use AI to elevate humanity.”
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