US President Donald Trump has announced private sector investment of up to $US500 billion ($A803 billion) to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure.
OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle plan a Texas-based joint venture called Stargate, and have committed $US100 billion ($A161 billion) initially and then up to $US500 billion over the next four years.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Oracle’s Larry Ellison joined Trump at the White House for the launch on Tuesday.
The announcement on Trump’s second day in office follows the rolling back of former President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI, that was intended to reduce the risks artificial intelligence poses to consumers, workers and national security.
AI requires enormous computing power, pushing demand for specialised data centres that enable tech companies to link thousands of chips together in clusters.
“They have to produce a lot of electricity, and we’ll make it possible for them to get that production done very easily at their own plants if they want,” Trump said.
Trump said he would help facilitate the project with emergency orders
“It’s big money and high quality people,” said Trump, adding that it’s “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential” under his new administration.
As US power consumption rises from AI data centres and the electrification of buildings and transportation, about half of the country is at increased risk of power supply shortfalls in the next decade, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said in December.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump promised to push a $US1 trillion ($A1.6 trillion) infrastructure bill through Congress but did not. He talked about the topic often during his first term as president from 2017 to 2021, but never delivered on a large investment, and “Infrastructure Week” became a punchline.
Oracle shares were up seven per cent on initial report of the project earlier in the day. Nvidia, Arm Holdings and Dell shares also rose.
It was not immediately clear whether the announcement was an update to a previously reported venture.
In March 2024, The Information, a technology news website, reported OpenAI and Microsoft were working on plans for a $US100 billion data centres project that would include an artificial intelligence supercomputer also called Stargate set to launch in 2028.
with reuters
https://thewest.com.au/business/openai-softbank-oracle-to-invest-803b-in-ai-c-17465444
