What is Stargate, Trump’s $500-billion bid for global leadership in AI?

What is Stargate?

Stargate is a $500 billion initiative aimed at creating an AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years. Trump said $100 million will be invested right away. This is an ambitious project that aims to propel the US into global leadership in AI advancements.

“This monumental undertaking is a strong vote of confidence in America’s future and leadership under this administration. This project ensures that the United States will remain the global leader in AI and technology, rather than letting competitors like China gain the edge,” Trump said while announcing the project.

Further, he said that in order to facilitate the project, his administration will offer support through emergency declarations, and expediting energy production to meet infrastructure needs.

Stargate would include construction of massive data centers and campuses across the US. “This project will not only support the re-industrialisation of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” OpenAI said in a statement.

Talking about the initiative, Altman said, “I am thrilled to be part of this initiative. Project Stargate will be the most important undertaking of this era. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, establish a new industry centered here in the US, and push the boundaries of innovation.”

Altman added that AI has the potential to redefine healthcare, offering unprecedented advancements in disease diagnosis and treatment. “I believe this technology will cure diseases at a remarkable rate and drastically improve the quality of healthcare worldwide,” he said.

Oracle’s Ellison, meanwhile, suggested the project would make it easier to treat diseases such as cancer by possibly developing a customised vaccine, AP reported.

Key people of Stargate

Japanese investment firm SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and investor MGX are the key stakeholders of the project. While SoftBank will manage the financial aspect of the project, OpenAI will steer the operations. Masayoshi Son will be the chairman of the project, which will also have Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, OpenAI and Arm as the technology partners. The construction of the physical centres has already started in Texas, and there are plans to expand to other locations in the US.

Son had pledged $50 billion in US investments after Trump’s last victory too, in 2016.

Stargate will make use of long-standing partnerships, such as the one OpenAI has with NVIDIA and Microsoft, including the use of Microsoft’s Azure AI to train models and deliver AI products. The computing systems will be operated in close collaboration between Oracle, NVIDIA and OpenAI. The project also aims to accelerate the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a significant step in AI advancement.