On Tuesday (Jan. 21), the President Donald Trump announced an AI program called Stargate. During a press conference at the White House attended by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank (SFTBF) CEO Masayoshi Son and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, the returning President told reporters that the program will invest $500 billion-equivalent and about 2 percent of the annual US economy. output—over the next four years to strengthen the AI infrastructure in the US and help the nation gain an edge over China. Trump estimates that Stargate will create 100,000 jobs.
OpenAI will lead the project alongside Oracle, SoftBank and the UAE’s technical investment arm, MGX. Other key players in the technology alliance include Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Arm.
What will the Stargate build?
It appears to be a nod to Roland Emmerich’s 1994 sci-fi film “Stargate,” which explores the concept of intergalactic portals—Stargate will develop a “physical and virtual infrastructure” to power advanced AI systems, according to the President. The project is being launched with a $100 billion commitment to address key challenges in AI infrastructure, such as the need for state-of-the-art data centers across the US and self-powered electricity.
The partnership builds on OpenAI’s established partnership with Nvidia, which began in 2016, and a new collaboration with Oracle, which leverages the company’s expertise in data centers and business analytics. SoftBank’s financial resources continue to support the project, but details remain scarce. Nvidia and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment from the Observer.
Stargate’s first data center, which will be 1 million square feet, is already under construction in Abilene, Texas, Ellison said at this week’s press conference, adding that “more will be built” in other US locations.
Is Stargate worth 500 billion dollars?
Technology leaders not involved in the project question its viability, especially given its large size. Elon Musk, who has been vocal in his criticism of OpenAI, has challenged the viability of the funding. “They actually have no money,” Musk wrote on X. “SoftBank is secured under $10B. I have that on good authority.”
Altman answered Musk’s skepticism by asking to show him the ongoing construction of data centers. “Want to visit the first site in progress?,” Altman he wrote in opposition in X. “I realize that what is best for the country is not always what is best for your companies, but in your new role I hope you will put America first.”
Musk also questioned Altman’s new support for Trump, citing his anti-Trump tweets during the 2016 presidential election. He shared screenshots of Altman’s 2021 post in which the OpenAI CEO thanked LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman for funding legal efforts to prevent Trump’s 2020 re-election. In the post yesterday, Altman said that watching the President more closely lately has really changed my opinion of him. I won’t agree with him on everything, but I think he will make the country happy in many ways!”
Big tech companies are racing to build their own data centers. Amazon’s AWS recently pledged $11 billion to expand data centers in Georgia; Meta announced $10 billion AI hub in Louisiana; and Musk’s xAI recently built a data center in Memphis.
in At the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella echoed Musk’s words on Stargate, confirming the company’s $80 billion commitment to expanding AI infrastructure around the world. “All I know is, I’m ready for my $80 billion,” Nadella said. “And all this money isn’t about hyping AI, it’s about building useful things for the real world!” He you made a comment under Musk’s post on X.
Despite the tension, experts see the project as a necessary step to secure US leadership in the global AI race. “The Stargate Project is the foundation we need to power the next generation of AI agents,” said Claudionor Coelho, the cloud security company’s AI chief. Zscalerhe told the Observer.
Matt Zeiler, founder and CEO of the AI lifecycle platform Clarifai, he said that for Stargate to be truly successful, it must make a mark on multiple domains. He highlighted the rapid progress of basic AI models in fields ranging from protein folding to patient communication. “In areas where AI architectures like transformers already work well or where data can be easily manipulated, Stargate has the potential to be a game changer,” he told the Observer.
