Jan 21, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Trump announces billions in private sector AI investment

Sareen Habeshian

US President Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room flanked by Masayoshi Son (2L), Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp, Larry Ellison (2R), Executive Charmain Oracle and Sam Altman (R), CEO of Open AI at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JI — President Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room flanked by Masayoshi Son, Larry Ellison and Sam Altman at the White House on Jan. 21. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images

President Trump on Tuesday announced billions in private sector investments to grow artificial intelligence in the U.S. and build massive new data centers for OpenAI.

The big picture: OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and the UAE's MGX will convene under a joint venture called Stargate, and will commit $100 billion to start with a potential of up to $500 billion over four years.

The new company will create more then 100,000 American jobs, Trump said.
Stargate will open a data center project in Texas and later expand to other states.

Driving the news: "This monumental undertaking is a resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential under a new president," Trump said Tuesday.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle founder and chairman Larry Ellison appeared with Trump at the White House for the announcement.
Son will serve as the company's chairman, according to an Oracle press release.
Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle and OpenAI are the initial technology partners, per the release.

Zoom out: The announcement comes a day after Trump signed an executive order rescinding a Biden-era executive order regulating AI.

Flashback: SoftBank's Son made a similar promise of $50 billion investment in Dec. 2016 on the eve of Trump's first term.

Our thought bubble: Trump will take credit for these spending commitments, but the rush to build AI data centers has been building for two years, and this money would likely have flowed regardless of who occupied the White House.

Go deeper: Biden warns against extreme wealth and rise of "tech industrial complex"

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Trump announces billions in private sector AI investment

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