Trump, Altman announce OpenAI's $500 billion Stargate venture

President Trump and OpenAI's Sam Altman on Tuesday announced a $500 billion private-sector investment called Stargate, a new joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank to boost AI infrastructure in the US.

OpenAI's Sam Altman, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son met with the newish President at the White House on Tuesday, according to CBS News, who first reported the story.

Trump, who revealed more about the AI infrastructure project and the massive funding late Tuesday, has been cozying up with significant tech CEOs since winning the Presidential election in November.

The 47th President said the new venture would ensure the US stays ahead of China and other rivals in the global race to develop AI.

All three tech companies are said to have committed $100 billion initially to the Stargate project, and then another up to $500 billion over the next four years, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters before the announcement.

Altman posted about the deal on X, stating that the first $100 million would be deployed immediately.

"This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world, the OpenAI's CEO and co-founder said.

This project 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, he wrote.

Announcing The Stargate Project

The Stargate Project is a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. This infrastructure will secure…

undefined OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 21, 2025

The first order of business for the Stargate venture will be a data center project in Texas, in which the buildout is already underway, according to Altman. Stargate will eventually expand to other states across the nation and bring on more investors.

The data center plans, which are said to include housing a powerful, large-scale supercomputer using chips from Nvidia, are currently being drawn up by executives at Microsoft and OpenAI, The Information also reported on Tuesday.

OpenAI, Oracle, and Microsoft, along with Nvidia and Arm, will be the key "technology partners" in the new venture. SoftBank will head up financial operations, supported by other equity investors, including the United Arab Emirates firm MGX.

It was further revealed by Reuters that Stargate is structured as a new entity in which OpenAI has an equity stake, governance rights, and operational control. Stargate will also "build on the existing OpenAI partnership with Microsoft," Altman said.

A separate board will be appointed by the founding members and its own CEO, the source told Reuters. Altman said that SoftBank's Masayoshi Son will be the chairman.

None of the companies disclosed which US states would be next in line to receive a cut of the massive infrastructure investment, but Altman said the project is "evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses as we finalize definitive agreements."