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project stargate, Announcement by the White House Earlier this week, a monumental AI “infrastructure” project was touted that would completely transform America’s technological capabilities. The CEOs of Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank traveled to D.C. this week to announce the supposed $500 billion effort and meet with Trump. Stargate will “re-industrialize” the United States and create strategic capabilities to protect the national security of America and its allies,” its proponents claim. But a Recent reports From the Financial Times, Stargate is little more than a development deal for OpenAI, with sources claiming it will “exclusively” serve the interests of the ChatGPT creator. At the same time, sources say that the money needed to make the project’s promises a reality is not yet there.
Stargate is technically a new company, formed in part by funding from OpenE, SoftBank, Oracle, Microsoft, Nvidia, Microsoft and ARM, among others. Formulating the organization’s goals Data Centers and Other “AI Infrastructure” across the United States and thus, build “infrastructure”. [that] will secure American leadership in AI, create tens of thousands of American jobs, and generate enormous economic benefits for the entire world,” reads a press release on OpenAI’s website. However, while publicized rhetoric claimed Stargate would “benefit the entire world,” anonymous sources with knowledge of the deal told the FT that Stargate would mostly benefit OpenAI’s business.
“The aim is not to become a data center provider for the world, it’s for OpenAI,” said an unnamed source interviewed by the FT. Those same sources claimed that the project’s backers had not yet worked out the details when they held a big event at the White House earlier this week. According to a statement from a source interviewed by the FT, “the project has yet to secure the funding it needs, will not receive any government funding and will only be completed once”. A source told The Outlet, “They have not discovered the structure, they have not identified the financing, Money doesn’t happen,” a source told the outlet. “There’s real intent to do it, but the details haven’t been leaked,” another added. “People want to make a splash in Trump’s first week in office.”
While it’s unclear which of these sources spoke to the FT, it’s notable that both Elon Musk—a new White House staffer and a high-profile foe of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—is saying exactly the same thing. A recent tweet, Musk claimed Stargate “actually has money” and has repeatedly derided the project.
Other reports this week Despite the White House’s claim that the project would “create tens of thousands of American jobs and generate massive economic benefits for the entire world,” Stargate has so far committed to hiring only 57 people. It’s not a great look for a project whose ultimate end-goal is to create technology that can automate labor and replace American workers, though I suppose it’s par for the course.
Gizmodo reached out to OpenAI for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.
The project’s significant ties to an authoritarian regime in the Middle East have also raised eyebrows. In fact, one of the larger known revenue sources will come from the UAE. Abu Dhabi State AI Fund—Known as MGX– It is a founding partner of Stargate and reportedly plans to invest $7 billion in the Trump initiative. By contrast, SoftBank and OpenAI each plan to contribute more than $15 billion. MGX is part of a sovereign wealth fund overseen by Sheikh Tahnun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s intelligence chief. Nahyan has spent recent months meeting with top American tech executives — Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Google parent company Alphabet president Ruth Porat — to discuss AI development. Bloomberg reports.
When Altman was Shockingly ousted From OpenAI in November 2023, one theory as to why the CEO was ousted had to do with his trip to the Middle East. Raise billions for an AI-focused chip company. Altman’s discussion of authoritarian regimes was controversial then and still is. The reason for Altman’s ouster has never been made public.
