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United States President Donald Trump has announced a $500bn joint venture with Texas-based tech firm Oracle, Japan’s SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to advance artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Trump made the announcement at a White House event on Tuesday that was joined by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison.
Trump said the venture would be the largest AI infrastructure project in history “by far” and represented “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential” under his new administration.
Shares of Tokyo-based Softbank Group soared more than 8 percent on Wednesday following the announcement.
The so-called Stargate venture will see the three companies initially commit $100bn, rising to $500bn over the next four years.
The funding will be used to build “colossal data centres” and other infrastructure needed to support AI, helping ensure the future of the technology, Trump said.
The project will be led by Softbank and Open AI, according to a statement by OpenAI. Softbank’s Son will serve as chairman.
Trump’s announcement came a day after he revoked an executive order by former US President Joe Biden that established safety guidelines for AI development.
The rules would have required companies to share the results of safety tests with the US government, among other provisions.
After Trump’s executive order, Stargate and other US-based AI projects will no longer be subject to national development guidelines, although states may still impose restrictions. Al Jazeera
