President Donald Trump has announced private-sector investments of up to $500 billion into ‘Project Stargate’ – a new company that aims to be the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.”
The new company is being spearheaded by some biggest players in AI, including OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, and aims to construct 20 data centers across the US and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. As the AI race intensifies, the historical initiative will also see the US compete with global powers like China.
However, just a day before Stargate was unveiled, the President overturned a previous executive order designed to mitigate the risks of AI, leading some experts to question the ethical implications of Trump’s build-first, think-later approach to AI.
What Is Stargate? Trump’s New AI Infrastructure Project
Just a day into his administration, President Donald Trump has announced a new artificial intelligence project that aims to set the standard for AI infrastructure and see the US compete with global powers like China.
Project Stargate was unveiled by Trump at a White House event on Tuesday, alongside joint collaborators OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and SoftBank SEO Masayoshi Son. Alongside other equity backers, these companies have committed to investing $100 billion into kick-starting the project, with plans to funnel a further $500 billion into Stargate in years to come.
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As part of Stargate’s mission to build the “physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI”, Trump revealed that 20 data centers would be constructed across the country, with each measuring at least half a million square feet. According to Ellison, a one-million-square-foot data center is already under construction in Texas.
Talking about the initiative, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explained Stargate aims to create “hundreds of thousands of jobs”, while also having the potential to “redefine healthcare” and offer unprecedented advancements in disease diagnosis and treatment. Oracle’s Ellison echoed this sentiment, adding that the project could make it easier to treat diseases like cancer with mRNA vaccines.
Will Stargate Actually Create 100,000 Jobs?
Trump’s claim that project Stargate could create 100,000 jobs challenges widely held anxieties about AI being a job destroyer. However, while the company will undeniably provide new opportunities for thousands of developers, technicians, and engineers, previous initiatives suggest that these job estimates could be overblown.
In 2017 Trump stated that Foxconn’s proposed $10 billion electronics factory was expected to create 13,000 jobs. Later in 2021, the company announced it would be scaling back its plans and investing just $672 million, in a revised deal that could create fewer than 1,500 jobs.
So, while Project Stargate does have financial backing from some of the biggest companies in AI, if Donald Trump’s track record is anything to go by it’s uncertain whether this new initiative will actually be able to meet its sky high job targets.
Stargate Aims to Position US at the Front of the Global AI Race
Stargate’s announcement comes a week after AI trailblazer OpenAI published a policy white paper calling the US government to invest more in the technology to continue the country’s global leadership in innovation while protecting national security.
The paper estimates that there’s $175 billion sitting in global funds awaiting to be invested in AI projects, and claims if the US doesn’t attract those funds, they could flow into the pockets of our biggest global competitor, China, “strengthening the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence” as a result.
“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,” – President Donald Trump at the White House event
China has outpaced the US in machine learning patents every year since 2021, and the nation’s rapidly developing AI sector is intensifying concerns around surveillance and trading dominance. With Stargate aiming to set the global standard in AI, it appears OpenAI’s prayers have been answered.
Yet, as the US prioritizes unchecked innovation, it’s likely that Stargate could raise the stakes of the AI race and exacerbate global trading disputes even further. What’s more, with Trump reversing an executive order from former President Joe Biden which aimed to regulate AI risks on the first day of his administration, it’s unclear how the President’s hands-off AI strategy will play out in the long term.
Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
