AI

Stargate Project: SoftBank and OpenAI Plan Billion-Dollar Investment in AI Infrastructure

SoftBank and OpenAI are advancing the billion-dollar AI infrastructure with the Stargate project, which is intended to benefit only OpenAI.

Eulerpool News Jan 26, 2025, 9:11 AM

The AI infrastructure project Stargate, supported by Donald Trump, is intended to exclusively serve OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. This was stated by people familiar with the endeavor. SoftBank and OpenAI, the main players in the project, announced plans to invest up to 500 billion US dollars in technology infrastructure over the next four years. The official launch took place this week at the White House, where Trump referred to the project as a "resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential.

Despite the ambitious announcement, the funding for Stargate is still pending. The project will receive no government support and remains entirely dependent on private investments. SoftBank and OpenAI each plan to contribute more than $15 billion to the venture and raise capital through equity and debt financing. SoftBank will also use existing funds to advance the project.

According to insiders, however, the project still lacks a clear structure. "There is a willingness to realize the project, but the details are not yet worked out," said a person involved. Nevertheless, the construction of a first data center in Abilene, Texas, is already underway. The start-up Crusoe has been developing the facility for Oracle since June 2023, which intends to acquire chips for seven billion US dollars and pass on the capacities to Microsoft to support OpenAI.

Microsoft, which has already invested $13 billion in OpenAI, is not participating in the financing of Stargate but is supporting the project technologically. Instead, the company is focusing on its own infrastructure initiatives, including a $30 billion fund with BlackRock and planned investments of $80 billion this year.

The close collaboration between SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has existed for two years. As part of a $6.6 billion funding round in October, SoftBank already invested in OpenAI and planned the purchase of additional shares worth $1.5 billion.

Stargate is registered as an independent company in Delaware. SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and the Abu Dhabi state AI Fund MGX hold shares. An independent CEO and its own board are to be installed. The company's structure will be divided into an operating unit led by OpenAI, responsible for the construction and operation of data centers, and a capital raising unit led by SoftBank.

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