Stargate LLC
Imagine a project so ambitious, so monumental, it's likened to the Manhattan Project—but instead of unlocking nuclear power, it aims to unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence. This is Stargate LLC, a colossal joint venture poised to invest hundreds of billions into building the very foundations of tomorrow's AI. It's a story of unprecedented scale, bold vision, and a race to define the future of technology. Stargate LLC is a massive, multi-billion-dollar joint venture by tech giants like OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, focused on building unparalleled AI infrastructure. The project was unveiled with significant political backing, promising rapid development and transformative applications, particularly in areas like medicine. Despite initial financing challenges and skepticism, Stargate has rapidly expanded its global footprint, securing sites and partnerships across multiple continents to achieve its ambitious goals.
AI Summary
Imagine a project so ambitious, so monumental, it's likened to the Manhattan Project—but instead of unlocking nuclear power, it aims to unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence. This is Stargate LLC, a colossal joint venture poised to invest hundreds of billions into building the very foundations of tomorrow's AI. It's a story of unprecedented scale, bold vision, and a race to define the future of technology.
- Stargate LLC is a massive, multi-billion-dollar joint venture by tech giants like OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, focused on building unparalleled AI infrastructure.
- The project was unveiled with significant political backing, promising rapid development and transformative applications, particularly in areas like medicine.
- Despite initial financing challenges and skepticism, Stargate has rapidly expanded its global footprint, securing sites and partnerships across multiple continents to achieve its ambitious goals.
Unveiling Stargate: A Colossal AI Ambition
Stargate LLC isn't just another tech project; it's an American multinational artificial intelligence joint venture on an almost unimaginable scale. Brought to life by powerhouses like OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and investment firm MGX, it represents a bold leap into the future of AI.
The venture plans to pour an astounding $500 billion into AI infrastructure across the United States by 2029. This sheer scope has earned it comparisons to the Manhattan Project—the top-secret WWII initiative that developed the atomic bomb—hinting at its potential to reshape our world.
The Name: A Portal to New Worlds
The name 'Stargate' itself carries a fascinating legacy. OpenAI and Microsoft first used it in 2024 for an earlier $100 billion AI supercomputer project. It was inspired by the 1994 film 'Stargate,' where 'stargates' were mythical portals to other worlds, perfectly encapsulating the ambition to open new frontiers in AI.
The Grand Announcement
The project was officially unveiled on January 21, 2025, during a high-profile White House press conference. President Donald Trump, flanked by luminaries like OpenAI's Sam Altman, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, declared it 'the largest AI infrastructure project in history.'
President Trump signaled his intent to use emergency declarations to accelerate the project's development, especially concerning the critical energy infrastructure needed to power such massive data centers. This underscores the government's commitment to making Stargate a reality.
Larry Ellison of Oracle painted a vivid picture of Stargate's potential, suggesting it could lead to AI-facilitated production of mRNA vaccines against cancer. He boldly claimed such vaccines could be designed 'robotically'—meaning by AI—in a mere 48 hours, revolutionizing medical science.
Initial plans involved building ten data centers in Abilene, Texas, with ambitions to expand to more US states and international locations like the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. It's a truly global vision from the outset.
The venture also promises to be a massive job creator, projecting over 100,000 new jobs in the United States. While SoftBank takes on the 'financial responsibility,' OpenAI handles the crucial 'operational responsibility,' a clear division of labor for this gargantuan undertaking.
The core technology partners from the start include a roster of industry titans: Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and, of course, OpenAI. Their combined expertise forms the backbone of Stargate's technological foundation.
Coinciding with the announcement, Microsoft and OpenAI also formalized a new agreement. Microsoft gained a 'right of first refusal' on OpenAI's future cloud computing capacity, yet OpenAI retained the flexibility to use other cloud providers if Microsoft opted not to take up its option.
Funding the Future
Stargate began with an initial investment of $100 billion, with the audacious goal of escalating that to $500 billion by 2029. This level of investment sparked immediate attention and some initial skepticism.
Elon Musk, CEO of OpenAI's competitor xAI, initially doubted the venture's ability to secure such vast funding. However, Sam Altman quickly countered these claims, and Arm CEO Rene Haas later affirmed that the project's financial backing was 'quite solid.'
According to reports, SoftBank and OpenAI each pledged $19 billion in initial capital, securing 40% ownership each. Oracle and MGX contributed $7 billion apiece, with the remaining funds sourced from limited partners and various forms of debt financing.
Notably, the massive infrastructure being developed through Stargate is intended to be exclusive to OpenAI, ensuring their access to cutting-edge computing power for future AI advancements.
The financing journey quickly gained momentum. SoftBank's first $10 billion tranche was secured through Japanese bank Mizuho and other lenders, while JPMorgan Chase later agreed to lend $2.3 billion for the Abilene data center projects specifically.
Despite the grand vision, early reports from August 2025 noted some delays in funding and project commencement, attributed to market uncertainty, American trade policy, and fluctuating AI hardware valuations. However, these appear to be temporary hurdles.
Building a Global Network
Stargate's ambition isn't confined to American borders. OpenAI and Oracle quickly began exploring overseas locations for AI infrastructure, with the United Kingdom emerging as a potential future investment site.
A major step forward was the announcement of the 'UAE Stargate' artificial intelligence data center, expected to open in 2026. This project involves a broad coalition including Nvidia, Cisco, OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and the UAE AI firm G42, showcasing global collaboration.
Back in the US, September 2025 saw OpenAI announce five new data center sites in Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, and an undisclosed Midwestern location. These sites collectively bring Stargate's planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts and over $400 billion in investment over the next three years—ahead of schedule for their full $500 billion commitment.
Stargate's reach extends to Latin America with 'Stargate Argentina,' a $25 billion deal with Sur Energy to develop an AI data center in Patagonia. This 500-megawatt facility will be the largest in Latin America, promising to accelerate regional AI development and bring economic opportunities to a vast, sparsely populated area.
Powering these behemoth data centers requires top-tier hardware. AMD is slated to supply up to 6 gigawatts of its high-performance Instinct GPUs, with OpenAI potentially acquiring a 10% stake in AMD upon reaching certain milestones. Broadcom will also contribute 10 gigawatts of custom hardware, ensuring Stargate has the processing power it needs to change the world.
Article
Stargate LLC
Stargate Project, incorporated in Delaware as Stargate LLC, is an American multinational artificial intelligence (AI) joint venture created by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and investment firm MGX. The venture plans on investing up to US$500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States by 2029. It has been planned since 2022 and was formally announced on January 21, 2025, by United States president Donald Trump. SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son is the venture's chairman.
Because of its large scale, the program has been compared to the Manhattan Project.
Background
Stargate LLC
Footage from the press conference released by the White House
The term "Stargate" was used by OpenAI and Microsoft in 2024 to designate an earlier US$100 billion AI supercomputer project. It was named after the 1994 film Stargate, in which the stargates were portals to other worlds.
Announcement
Stargate LLC
On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the venture at a White House press conference, accompanied by Sam Altman from OpenAI, Larry Ellison from Oracle and Masayoshi Son from SoftBank. Trump called it "the largest AI infrastructure project in history", and he indicated that he would use emergency declarations to expedite the project's development, particularly regarding energy infrastructure. Larry Ellison contended that Stargate could lead to the AI-facilitated production of mRNA vaccines against cancer, and that such vaccines could be designed "robotically", or by leveraging AI, "in about 48 hours".
According to Ellison, 10 data centers were being built in Abilene, Texas, with plans to expand to more states and countries, like the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Trump said that he would use executive orders to help build the venture's infrastructure. The new venture claims that it will create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States. Altman has said that SoftBank will have the "financial responsibility" of the venture and OpenAI will have the "operational responsibility". Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners.
Coinciding with the project announcement, Microsoft and OpenAI signed a new agreement that grants Microsoft a right of first refusal on future OpenAI cloud computing capacity, while allowing OpenAI to use other cloud providers if Microsoft declines.
Financing
Stargate LLC
The venture launched with an initial investment of $100 billion, with plans to increase it to $500 billion by 2029. Elon Musk, CEO of OpenAI's competitor xAI, said that the venture lacked the financing to meet the promised investment levels. This was later denied by Sam Altman. Arm CEO Rene Haas stated that the financial backing behind the project is "quite solid". The Information reported that Softbank and OpenAI have each committed $19 billion of capital to initially fund Stargate and would each hold 40% ownership interest in the joint venture, while Oracle and MGX would each contribute $7 billion, and the remaining funds would be sourced from limited partners and debt financing. According to the Financial Times, the infrastructure being built as part of the project will be exclusive to OpenAI. The Wall Street Journal reported that SoftBank, the main financial backer for Stargate, could collect only a 10% equity funding and the remaining would come from debt or debt-like fundings.
On April 1, 2025, Softbank announced that its first $10 billion funding was expected to be borrowed from Japanese bank Mizuho and other lenders.
On May 22, 2025, JPMorgan Chase agreed to lend $2.3 billion to OpenAI and its partners for the Stargate data center projects in Abilene, Texas. The project is being developed by a joint venture involving Blue Owl Capital, Crusoe Energy Systems, and Primary Digital Infrastructure, and is leased to Oracle Corporation.
On August 7, 2025, Bloomberg reported that the project had not started and no funds were raised to meet the project's initial $500 billion budget. Market uncertainty, American trade policy, and AI hardware valuations caused the delay according to a Bloomberg News report, and it also added that TSMC was earlier approached by Masayoshi Son to invest US$1 trillion in Arizona.
Infrastructure development and partnerships
Stargate LLC
On April 17, 2025, the Financial Times reported that OpenAI and Oracle weighed a future investment in the United Kingdom as they explored overseas locations to build out AI infrastructure.
On May 16, 2025, Nvidia, Cisco, and OpenAI announced plans to help build the "UAE Stargate" artificial intelligence data center in United Arab Emirates. UAE Stargate is expected to open in 2026. On May 22, 2025, the UAE AI firm G42, Oracle, SoftBank Group and again OpenAI, Nvidia and Cisco announced a partnership to build Stargate UAE.
On September 23, 2025, OpenAI announced 5 new data center sites under Stargate with sites being located in Shackelford County, Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; Lordstown, Ohio; Milam County, Texas; and a midwestern United States site whose location is not yet publicly known. This brings Stargate to nearly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and over $400 billion in investment over the next three years. They said that this puts them on a clear path to securing the full $500 billion, 10-gigawatt commitment they announced in January, by the end of 2025, ahead of schedule.
On October 10, 2025, OpenAI and Sur Energy announced a deal to develop an AI data center in Argentina's Patagonia, named Stargate Argentina. This project, the first Stargate site in Latin America, represents an estimated investment of up to $25 billion and will have a capacity of up to 500 megawatts, making it the largest in Latin America, surpassing existing facilities in Brazil, Chile and Mexico. It is expected to accelerate AI development in the region while bringing economic opportunities to a traditionally cold and sparsely populated region.
AMD will supply up to 6 gigawatts of its Instinct GPUs, and OpenAI may buy a 10% stake in AMD if milestones are met. Broadcom will also supply 10 gigawatts of custom hardware.