OpenAI, the company behind the popular generative AI tool ChatGPT, recently announced the start of a new company called Stargate Project. This company will invest at least $500 billion over the next four years to build new AI infrastructure in the US. The first $100 billion will be deployed immediately.
The Stargate project aims to do many things, including the re-industrialization of the United States, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and generating a massive impact on the world.
According to OpenAI’s press release, SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX are the Stargate Project’s initial equity funders, with the first two companies serving as lead partners.
SoftBank will be responsible for the financial side, and OpenAI will be responsible for the operational side. SoftBank’s’ Masayoshi Son will be the chairman.
Son has collaborated with President Donald Trump since 2016 during the first Trump Administration and promised to invest billions in the US and create thousands of jobs.
Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are among the initial technology partners. The Stargate Project’s data center buildout will start in Texas and soon be followed by other campuses across the US.
OpenAI, Oracle, and NVIDIA will collaborate to build and operate the computing system. OpenAI will also partner with Microsoft as it continues to increase its Azure consumption to provide additional computing power to train AI models.
As for Microsoft, they announced separately that the company’s continued partnership with OpenAI, including the recently announced Stargate project, will remain in place for the duration of the contract through 2030, including Microsoft’s access to OpenAI’s IP, revenue sharing arrangements, and the exclusivity on OpenAI’s APIs.
However, a new agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI indicated some changes to the exclusivity of new capacity, where Microsoft claims the right of first refusal (ROFR).