On Tuesday 21st January, a day after his inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence, aiming to outpace rival nations in the business-critical technology.

Trump said that ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle are planning a joint venture called Stargate, which he said will build data centres and create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States. These companies, along with other equity backers of Stargate, have committed $100 billion for immediate deployment, with the remaining investment expected to occur over the next four years.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison joined Trump at the White House for the launch. The first of the project’s data centres are already under construction in Texas, Ellison said at the press conference. Twenty will be built, half a million square feet each, he said. The project could power AI that analyzes electronic health records and helps doctors care for their patients, Ellison said.

The executives gave Trump credit for the news. “We wouldn’t have decided to do this,” Son told Trump, “unless you won.” “For AGI to get built here,” said Altman, referring to more powerful technology called artificial general intelligence, “we wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Mr. President.” It was not immediately clear whether the announcement was an update to a previously reported venture.

In March 2024, The Information, a technology news website, reported OpenAI and Microsoft were working on plans for a $100 billion data centre project that would include an artificial intelligence supercomputer also called “Stargate” set to launch in 2028.

The announcement on Trump’s second day in office follows the rolling back of former President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI, which was intended to reduce the risks that AI poses to consumers, workers and national security. AI requires enormous computing power, pushing demand for specialized data centres that enable tech companies to link thousands of chips together in clusters.

“They have to produce a lot of electricity, and we’ll make it possible for them to get that production done very easily at their own plants if they want,” Trump said. As U.S. power consumption rises from AI data centres and the electrification of buildings and transportation, about half of the country is at increased risk of power supply shortfalls in the next decade, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said in December.

To find out more about the latest construction industry updates and innovations, meet with solution providers and hear talks from expert speakers, attend the Innovatrix Constructing Mega Facilities: Advances in Planning, Design and Engineering Summit taking place in Houston, Texas, USA on April 9-10, 2025. 

For more information, visit our website or email us at info@innovatrix.eu for the event agenda.

Source:

Reuters