Generative AI doesn’t just happen. The AI models that power services like ChatGPT, Dall-E, or Copilot need to run on servers, and this technology is particularly resource- and energy-intensive. OpenAI has a growing need for this infrastructure, which its partner Microsoft alone cannot provide.
SoftBank at the helm
OpenAI has unveiled the outlines of Stargate, a megalomaniacal project worth $500 billion over the next four years to rapidly build data centers across the United States.
This sum does not come solely from the company's pockets: it is in fact SoftBank that will finance a large part of this investment, made as part of a joint venture that will also include Oracle, Microsoft, Arm and Nvidia. Masayoshi Son, the boss of SoftBank, will hold the reins of the project. A first tranche of 100 billion dollars will be released "immediately," assures OpenAI.
Construction of the first site has already begun in Texas. The project is evaluating other locations across the United States, with the goal of having 20 sites available by 2029. The announcement was made by Sam Altman (OpenAI), Masayoshi Son and Larry Ellison (Oracle) at the White House, in the presence of Donald Trump.
In order to flatter the new occupant of the Oval Office, Sam Altman — who also paid the regulatory million dollars for the inauguration — emphasized his closeness to Trump during the press conference: "What I deeply agree with [President Trump] on is that it is incredible how difficult it has become to build things in the United States."
He added that he understands "how bureaucracy accumulates, but it is not beneficial for the country in general." A speech in line with the deregulation that the new administration wants to impose, to the detriment of the environmental impact of these infrastructures that consume enormous amounts of energy and water. Not enough to slow down massive investments.
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