US tech giants announce AI plan worth up to $500bn
Getty ImagesOpenAI is working with Oracle and SoftBank to build artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled data centers and plans to invest $100 billion “immediately.”
US President Donald Trump, flanked by the bosses of three major companies at the White House, said the plan was a “resounding statement of confidence in America’s potential”.
OpenAI has previously called for major investments in infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and pushed for government support for these initiatives.
ChatGPT’s creators and SoftBank said the joint venture, called Stargate, intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years.
“I think this will be the most important project of our time,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said.
“Mr. President, we couldn’t do this without you,” he added, giving credit to Trump even though work on the project was already underway.
Trump said the plan involves the construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure such as data centers and is expected to create more than 100,000 jobs.
Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison said the first data center is being built in Texas and more will be built elsewhere.
Technology news site The Information first reported on the project in March last year.
OpenAI said the announcement of the new company was the result of more than a year of conversations, which also included UAE-backed investor MGX.
Other partners in the project include tech giants Microsoft, Arm and NVIDIA, according to statements from SoftBank and OpenAI.
OpenAI kicked off the AI ​​race in 2022 with the launch of the ChatGPT bot, which provided lifelike answers to questions and demonstrated the rapid progress of the technology.
It triggered massive investment, including in the dedicated data centers needed to support computing.
But demand for the centers is expected to surge, which will require large amounts of electricity to run and finance construction, raising concerns about the impact on energy supplies and questions about the role of foreign investors.
In one of his final moves at the White House, former President Joe Biden proposed rules restricting the export of artificial intelligence-related chips to dozens of countries around the world, saying the move would help the United States control the industry.
He also issued orders related to the development of data centers on government land, emphasizing the role of clean energy in powering data centers.
The latest investment plan is not unusual in an industry context.
Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s major backers, said earlier this month that it was on track Invest $80 billion in AI-powered data centers This year.
it also involves a BackRock and other $100 billion joint ventures And focus on artificial intelligence data center investment.
Amazon has been pouring money into the space on a similar scale, announcing two project In the past two months alone, each company has been valued at approximately $10 billion.
exist a report from last yearAccording to McKinsey, global demand for data center capacity will more than triple by 2030, growing 19% to 27% annually by 2030.
To meet this demand, the consultancy estimates that by 2030 developers will have to build at least double the capacity built since 2000.
But analysts warn the process could be bogged down by issues such as power, land restrictions and permitting.
