A new company called "The Stargate Project" is bringing together some of tech's biggest names to build what could become the largest AI infrastructure network in history. The joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX plans to invest $500 billion in US-based AI infrastructure by 2029.
President Trump unveiled the project at a White House event, announcing an initial investment of $100 billion. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son will lead the company as chairman, with SoftBank handling the financial side and OpenAI managing operations.
The project is already moving forward. At the White House press conference, Oracle founder Larry Ellison revealed that ten data centers are under construction in Texas, with plans to expand to other states soon.
The company expects to create more than 100,000 jobs across the US. Trump said he would use executive orders to speed up development, particularly around energy infrastructure needs.
The project brings together several major tech players as partners, including Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. OpenAI notes that these partnerships build on existing relationships, like their long-running collaboration with Nvidia since 2016 and more recent work with Oracle.
OpenAI plans to continue and expand its partnership with Microsoft, using Azure cloud services alongside its new infrastructure.
Project draws comparisons to historic initiatives
"I think this will be the most important project of this era," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at the announcement. Trump emphasized the project's strategic importance in competing with China, calling it "the largest AI infrastructure project in history."
According to OpenAI's announcement, the project aims to support both US reindustrialization and provide strategic capabilities for national security. The first hints about Stargate emerged in March 2024.
OpenAI researcher Noam Brown, who works on the company's next-generation o-models, compared the scale of the project to the Apollo program and Manhattan Project. "This kind of investment only happens when the science is carefully vetted and people believe it will succeed and be completely transformative. I agree it’s the right time."
