OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank announced plans to invest $100 billion immediately in artificial intelligence data centres, with aims to expand the investment to $500 billion over four years through a joint venture called Stargate.
The announcement, made at the White House alongside President Donald Trump, includes participation from Microsoft, Arm, NVIDIA and UAE-backed investor MGX.
“I think this will be the most important project of this era”, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at the event, where Oracle’s chief technology officer Larry Ellison revealed initial construction is underway in Texas.
The venture comes amid an AI infrastructure boom, with Microsoft recently announcing $80 billion in data centre investments and involvement in a separate $100 billion venture with BlackRock.
Amazon has also committed about $20 billion across two projects in recent months.
According to McKinsey, global data centre capacity needs will more than triple by 2030, requiring construction to exceed all capacity built since 2000.
However, analysts warn of potential constraints including power supply, land availability and permit procedures.
The project follows former President Biden’s recent restrictions on AI chip exports and guidelines for data centres on government land, emphasising clean energy use.
(with information from the BBC, image source: Getty images)
