OpenAI, SoftBank to commit $26 billion each to Trump’s Stargate AI project, says report

Bengaluru – SoftBank Group and OpenAI each plan to commit US$19 billion (S$26 billion) of capital to Stargate, the mega US artificial intelligence (AI) endeavour President Donald Trump unveiled this week, the Information reported.

The two companies would then both own 40 per cent of Stargate, the tech website said, citing comments by OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman to colleagues.

On Jan 21, Mr Trump announced that OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle will unveil Stargate and invest US$500 billion over the next four years to help the US stay ahead of China and other rivals in the global AI race.

Stargate will initially deploy US$100 billion, and the rest of the funding is expected over the next four years. The project to construct data centres and other infrastructure is being led by SoftBank and OpenAI.

AI stocks have rallied since Stargate’s emergence, in anticipation of a potential spike in spending on hardware. On Jan 22, SoftBank’s shares gained another 6 per cent in Tokyo, building on the previous day’s 11 per cent gain.

But tech industry players, including billionaire Elon Musk, have questioned the lack of details around the venture and its financing. The xAI founder openly expressed doubt about whether companies that joined Mr Trump’s announcement could follow through on their promises.

Mr Altman told colleagues that Stargate was like a venture fund, with OpenAI and SoftBank as its general partners, the Information said.

Oracle and Abu Dhabi-backed MGX round out the roster and would contribute about US$7 billion apiece, the outlet cited the OpenAI chief as saying. The rest of the money would come from limited partners and debt financing.

Mr Trump has made it clear that US leadership in AI is a priority for his administration. He has signalled a wide-ranging approach towards ensuring that dominance, including pledges to spur private-sector investment by accelerating the permit process and easing other regulations.

But scepticism persists on whether Stargate amounts to a dramatic leap from previous plans.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son visited Mar-a-Lago in December to announce that SoftBank would spend US$100 billion over the coming presidential term, and the Jan 21 announcement was drawn from that effort, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Oracle’s founder and chairman Larry Ellison said some of the data centres considered for the project were already under construction. OpenAI has outlined plans to invest in AI infrastructure.

Bloomberg previously reported that SoftBank might tap hyperscalers in a project financing scheme and leverage tens of billions of dollars into hundreds of billions of dollars. The Japanese tech investor had 3.8 trillion yen (S$33 billion) in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet at the end of September. BLOOMBERG