Washington [US], January 22: US President Donald Trump on January 21 announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) led by three companies: Softbank, Oracle and OpenAI.
Speaking at the White House, President Trump said the investment project, called Stargate, will invest at least $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the US, according to AFP.
"This landmark project is a resounding statement of faith in America's potential under a new president," Trump said on January 21, a day after he was sworn in for his second term as president.
Attending the Stargate announcement event were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Oracle founder Larry Ellison. OpenAI and Oracle are based in the US, while SoftBank is a Japanese conglomerate.
The new investment comes as major tech companies scramble to meet the massive computing demands of AI, as well as find the power needed to scale the new technology.
President Trump said the Stargate project would build physical and virtual infrastructure to fuel the next generation of advances in AI, including building "massive data centers."
"SoftBank and OpenAI are the primary partners of Stargate, with SoftBank providing financial support and OpenAI providing operational support," OpenAI said in a statement on its social network X. OpenAI added that MGX was the fourth initial equity investor, while "Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle and OpenAI are key early technology partners."
"Construction is underway, starting in Texas, and we are evaluating potential locations across the country to build more facilities as we finalize final agreements," OpenAI added.
Texas is fast becoming an alternative to California for major US tech investments, according to AFP.
In a brief speech at the White House, Oracle founder Larry Ellison highlighted potential medical improvements from AI such as "detecting cancer early with a blood test."
The Stargate project was announced a day after President Trump rescinded an executive order signed by his predecessor, Joe Biden, that established oversight for companies developing powerful AI models.
The repeal of the order leaves the US, home to most of the world's most impactful AI technologies , without nationwide guidance for AI development, even as individual states pursue their own measures, according to AFP.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
