Trump Announces Massive $500 Billion "Stargate" AI Infrastructure Project

In a surprise move, President Donald Trump has announced a massive $500 billion joint venture to build up artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. The "Stargate" project will be a collaboration between tech giants Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI, and represents the largest AI infrastructure initiative in history.

Speaking at a White House event, Trump said the Stargate venture would be a "resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential" under his leadership. The initial $100 billion investment is set to grow to $500 billion over the next four years as the companies work to construct "colossal data centers" and other critical AI infrastructure.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle CTO Larry Ellison joined Trump at the announcement. Son described Stargate as the "beginning of our golden age" for AI development in the US.

The move comes just a day after Trump rescinded an executive order from the previous administration that had established safety guidelines for AI. With those rules now lifted, Stargate and other domestic AI projects will face fewer federal restrictions, although individual states may still impose their own regulations.

Trump framed the Stargate initiative as a way to ensure America maintains its competitive edge against rivals like China in the race for AI supremacy. "What we want to do is keep it in this country," he said. "China is a competitor and others are competitors and we want it to be in this country."

The project will be led by SoftBank and OpenAI, with Son serving as chairman. In addition to the three equity funders, Stargate will also involve tech partners like Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Oracle.

According to OpenAI, the buildout for Stargate is already underway, starting in Texas, with the company evaluating potential sites across the country for additional campuses. The initiative, they say, will "not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies."

It remains to be seen how this massive government-backed AI push will impact the technology landscape in the US and globally. But with the backing of some of the biggest names in tech, Stargate is poised to be a game-changer in the race for artificial intelligence dominance.