The Stargate Project facts for kids

The Stargate Project is a huge plan in the United States to build many things for artificial intelligence (AI). It is a team effort, also known as a joint venture, created by four major companies: OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and the investment company MGX.

This project aims to invest a massive amount of money, up to US$500 billion, to build special facilities for AI across the U.S. by the year 2029. The idea for this project started in 2022. It was officially announced on January 21, 2025, by then-US president Donald Trump. The company behind the project is called Stargate LLC and is based in Delaware. Masayoshi Son, who is the CEO of SoftBank, will be the chairman of this new company.

The project is named after the 1994 movie, Stargate. In the movie, "stargates" were like magical doors that could take people to other worlds. Because of its very large size and importance, some people have compared the Stargate Project to the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a secret research and development project during World War II that created the first atomic bombs.

How the Stargate Project Started

The Stargate Project was announced at a special meeting at the White House on January 21, 2025. President Donald Trump shared the news. He was joined by important leaders from the companies involved. These leaders included Sam Altman from OpenAI, Larry Ellison from Oracle, and Masayoshi Son from SoftBank.

President Trump called it "the largest AI infrastructure project in history." He also said he would use special powers to make the project happen faster. This was especially true for building the energy infrastructure needed for the project.

Larry Ellison, from Oracle, suggested that Stargate could help create new mRNA vaccines to fight cancer. He believed that AI could design these vaccines very quickly, possibly in about 48 hours. This means AI could help create new medicines much faster than before.

The project began with an investment of $100 billion. The plan is to increase this investment to $500 billion by 2029. However, Elon Musk, who leads a competing AI company called xAI, said that the project might not have enough money to reach its goals. Sam Altman later said that these statements were not true. The CEO of Arm, Rene Haas, also stated that the project's financial support is "quite solid."

The Information reported that SoftBank and OpenAI each promised $19 billion to start the project. They would also each own 40% of the new company. Oracle and MGX would each contribute $7 billion. The rest of the money would come from other investors and loans. The Financial Times newspaper also reported that the special facilities built by this project will be mainly for OpenAI to use.

Around the same time the project was announced, Microsoft and OpenAI made a new agreement. This agreement gives Microsoft the first chance to use OpenAI's future cloud computing power. However, OpenAI can use other cloud providers if Microsoft decides not to use it.

The name "Stargate" was first used in 2024. That's when OpenAI and Microsoft started working on a $100 billion AI supercomputer.

How the Project Works

The Stargate Project is currently building 10 large data centers in Abilene, Texas. They plan to build more in other states. President Trump said he would use special orders to help build the project's facilities.

The new company says that it will create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States. Sam Altman has explained that SoftBank will be in charge of the money for the project. OpenAI will be in charge of how the project runs day-to-day. Several big technology companies are key partners in this project. These include Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI.

See also

In Spanish: The Stargate Project para niños