Getty ImagesOpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has joined another US tech giant, a Japanese bank and a United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund to build a $500bn (£405bn) artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the US. We are partnering with.
The venture, called Stargate, was announced at the White House by President Trump, billing it as the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.”
The project began before President Trump took office, announcing that $100 billion in funding would be made available immediately, with the remainder to be delivered over four years, creating an estimated 100,000 jobs.
This is a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, Japan’s SoftBank, and MGX, the technology investment arm of the United Arab Emirates government.
The AI industry has grown explosively in recent years, creating tremendous additional demand for the data centers it relies on, but also raising concerns about the large amounts of water and power such facilities require. I am.
“The most important project of our time”
The United States is already a world leader in AI investment, significantly outpacing other countries.
But President Trump insisted he needed to intervene to help the industry.
Donald Trump said, “Because this is an emergency, we are going to cooperate greatly by declaring a state of emergency,” and emphasized the importance of keeping AI in the United States.
President Trump said the government “will make it very easy to produce that.”
“I think this is going to be the most important project of our time,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who stood next to President Trump during the announcement.
He also credited Trump, saying, “Mr. President, we couldn’t have done this without you,” even though the project was already underway.
Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison said the first data center is under construction in Texas, and more will be built elsewhere in the United States.
Technology news website The Information first reported on the project last March.
OpenAI said the announcement is the culmination of more than a year of conversations.
Other technology partners include British chipmaker Arm, US chipmaker Nvidia, and Microsoft, which already partners with OpenAI.
Demand for mushroom picking
The project is the latest in a series of major investments in data centers by the US technology industry.
Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s main backers, said earlier this month that it plans to invest $80 billion this year in building AI-powered data centers.
It is also involved in $100 billion ventures including BlackRock and MGX, with a focus on investments in AI data centers.
Amazon is pouring money into the space on a similar scale, announcing two projects worth about $10 billion each in just the past two months.
McKinsey said in a report last year that demand for global data center capacity will more than triple by 2030, increasing by 19% to 27% annually by 2030.
The consultancy estimates that developers will need to build at least twice as much capacity by 2030 as has been built since 2000 to meet that demand.
But analysts warn that the process is likely to be bogged down by issues such as power, land constraints and permitting.
The surge in demand for the center has also raised questions about the impact on energy supplies and the role of foreign investors.
In one of his final acts in the White House, former President Joe Biden proposed rules to restrict exports of AI-related chips to dozens of countries around the world, saying the measure would help the U.S. control the industry. .
He also issued an order regarding the development of data centers on state land, highlighting the role of clean energy in powering the centers.
