Trump unveils Stargate AI investment during infrastructure address
President Donald Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure. He then turned his attention to TikTok’s ownership and tariffs.
This story has been updated to include video..
President Donald Trump has announced up to $500 billion in private-sector investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, starting with data centers in Texas.
Executives from OpenAI, Softbank and Austin-based Oracle will invest an initial $100 billion and up to $500 billion over the next four years in a joint venture called Stargate. Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison joined SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the White House for Tuesday’s announcement.
Trump said Stargate will “build the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI.”
“China is a competitor, there are other competitors. We want to be in that country, and we’re making it available,” Trump said. “I’m going to help a lot with emergency announcements, because we have an emergency, we have to build this stuff, so they’re very More electricity has to be produced and we will make it possible for them to produce it easily at their plants.”
Ellison announced during Tuesday’s briefing that 10 data centers for the project are already under construction in Texas, including one covering 1 million square feet.
“There are currently 10 buildings under construction, but it will expand to 20 more locations beyond the Abilene location, which is our first location,” Ellison said.
CBS News previously reported that Stargate will start with a data center project in Texas and later expand to other states.
“AI holds incredible promise for all of us, for every American,” Ellison said.
Trump claimed that Stargate would “create 100,000 American jobs almost immediately.” Further details about Stargate and the broader partnership were not immediately known. Other investors are also expected to join the project.
Oracle is one of the largest data center operators in the country. Oracle, although based in Austin, Last April, it announced plans to move its headquarters to Nashville..
Softbank, a Japanese investment firm, has received funding to expand its AI infrastructure. Altman reportedly met with Son to discuss investing in new semiconductor plants to make AI chips. Altman has expressed the need for the federal government to stay ahead of China in the AI ​​arms race by supporting infrastructure.
“I think this will be the most important project of this era,” Altman said.
With one report, Texas has seen an increase in growth in data centers in recent years. From commercial services firm CBRE Finding that data center activity under construction in Austin and San Antonio combined is four times higher in the first half of 2024 than last year. Dallas-Fort Worth has the second largest data center market. In the back country of Northern Virginia.
Ken FleishmanA professor at the University of Texas School of Information told the American-Statesman that such a large investment in AI infrastructure could greatly affect Texas, especially the city of Austin.
“With ‘Silicon Hills’ here in Austin, we’ve emerged as one of the primary sites of AI innovation across the country and around the world,” said Fleishmann. “This type of investment can further strengthen AI innovation here in Austin. For economic strength, it will boost Austin’s and Texas’ broader national profile and reputation.” can be a very good thing for
How is AI being managed?
Fleishmann, who also established Good Systems: Ethical AI at UT AustinHe said that the most important part of it is the regulations.
“With technology in general and AI in particular, we’ve been in a very reactive position,” Fleishman said. “That’s certainly happened with social media, where the technology led the way and we had to pick up the pieces in terms of all the externalities and consequences of that. So I think with AI it’s important that we Try to be as active as possible.
On the first day of his presidency, Trump rescinded Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order that established guidelines for creative AI.
Generative AI can create content such as text, images and videos in response to open-ended prompts, unlike traditional AI that is designed to perform specific tasks.
Biden’s 2023 order, which came after lawmakers failed to pass legislation to establish guardrails for AI development, required developers to conduct safety tests for AI systems with the federal government. Share findings that threaten national security, the economy, public health or safety. The order also directed agencies to set standards for testing and addressing chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and cybersecurity threats. Republicans had pushed to repeal the order, saying it hindered AI innovation.
Biden signed an additional AI executive order on January 14, which US President Trump has not rescinded.
For Fleishmann, states shouldn’t wait for Congress to pass clean AI regulations.
“In the meantime, it is very prudent and reasonable for Texas and other states to follow what we can do here in Texas to create laws that are fair to Texans,” he said. “And hopefully, if enough states are regulating AI individually, it will be a bottom-up approach that the federal government can then learn from progress in the states.”
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, filed a much-anticipated AI regulatory bill in December, called the proposed Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act.
The act would establish regulations, guidelines, and obligations for the development, use, and distribution of “high-risk AI systems.”
Highlights from Capriglione’s bill:
- Require companies to disclose whether they are using AI systems and explain how it is being used.
- Establish guidelines to prevent bias, discrimination and misuse of AI.
- Create safeguards to protect personal data used in AI systems.
- Encourage education and training programs to help Texas workers better understand the AI-driven economy.
- Establish free speech protections and prevent censorship of “legitimate political discourse.”
Data Centers in Central Texas
Earlier this month, Trump announced that Dubai developer DAMAC Properties plans to invest at least $20 billion “in the very short term” in data centers across the country, including in Texas.
At the time of the announcement, a Texas-based expert on power system reliability told the Statesman that the greater Austin area could not support that much data growth over the next five or so years.
“Even if they can build a data center in a few months, we can’t build new generation and new transmission as fast as they can build that data center,” he said. Allison SilversteinFormer board member of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
For perspective, Electric Power Research Institute reported. ChatGPT requests and similar AI queries have been estimated to require 10 times more power than traditional Google searches.
Fleishmann said he believes so A blackout during the February 2021 winter storm revealed many gaps and problems About Texas Power Grid Capabilities
Large-scale AI infrastructure investment and the construction of data centers in Central Texas could be incredibly beneficial for the state and Austin in particular.
However, Fleischmann believes more communication and care is needed so that Austinites and Texans are not blindsided by overtaking energy systems.
“We’ll have data centers serving the world in terms of creative AI and then we’ll have residents in Austin. It’s a tough trade-off,” Fleishmann said. “Certainly, there will be job opportunities to build and maintain these data centers, and it will have the potential to bring more high-tech jobs to Austin. But I think we have to deal with the potential environmental impact as well as emergency management. One needs to think about the possible implications of
