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Trump Announces Private-sector $500 Billion Investment in AI Infrastructure

US President Donald Trump (L) gives remarks on artificial intelligence (AI) Infrastructure as Larry Ellison (2-L), Chief technology officer of Oracle, Masayoshi Son (2-R), CEO of SoftBank, Sam Altman (R), CEO of OpenAI look on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 January 2025. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
US President Donald Trump (L) gives remarks on artificial intelligence (AI) Infrastructure as Larry Ellison (2-L), Chief technology officer of Oracle, Masayoshi Son (2-R), CEO of SoftBank, Sam Altman (R), CEO of OpenAI look on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 January 2025. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
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Trump Announces Private-sector $500 Billion Investment in AI Infrastructure

US President Donald Trump (L) gives remarks on artificial intelligence (AI) Infrastructure as Larry Ellison (2-L), Chief technology officer of Oracle, Masayoshi Son (2-R), CEO of SoftBank, Sam Altman (R), CEO of OpenAI look on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 January 2025. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
US President Donald Trump (L) gives remarks on artificial intelligence (AI) Infrastructure as Larry Ellison (2-L), Chief technology officer of Oracle, Masayoshi Son (2-R), CEO of SoftBank, Sam Altman (R), CEO of OpenAI look on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 January 2025. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a private sector investment of up to $500 billion to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence, aiming to outpace rival nations in the business-critical technology.
Trump said that ChatGPT's creator OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle are planning a joint venture called Stargate, which he said will build data centers and create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States, Reuters reported.
These companies, along with other equity backers of Stargate, have committed $100 billion for immediate deployment, with the remaining investment expected to occur over the next four years.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison joined Trump at the White House for the launch.
The first of the project's data centers are already under construction in Texas, Ellison said at the press conference. Twenty will be built, half a million square feet each, he said. The project could power AI that analyzes electronic health records and helps doctors care for their patients, Ellison said.
The executives gave Trump credit for the news. "We wouldn't have decided to do this," Son told Trump, "unless you won."
"For AGI to get built here," said Altman, referring to more powerful technology called artificial general intelligence, "we wouldn't be able to do this without you, Mr. President."
It was not immediately clear whether the announcement was an update to a previously reported venture.
In March 2024, The Information, a technology news website, reported OpenAI and Microsoft were working on plans for a $100 billion data center project that would include an artificial intelligence supercomputer also called "Stargate" set to launch in 2028.
POWER-HUNGRY DATA CENTERS
The announcement on Trump's second day in office follows the rolling back of former President Joe Biden's executive order on AI, that was intended to reduce the risks that AI poses to consumers, workers and national security.
AI requires enormous computing power, pushing demand for specialized data centers that enable tech companies to link thousands of chips together in clusters.
"They have to produce a lot of electricity, and we'll make it possible for them to get that production done very easily at their own plants if they want," Trump said.
As US power consumption rises from AI data centers and the electrification of buildings and transportation, about half of the country is at increased risk of power supply shortfalls in the next decade, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said in December.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump promised to push a $1 trillion infrastructure bill through Congress but did not. He talked about the topic often during his first term as president from 2017 to 2021, but never delivered on a large investment, and "Infrastructure Week" became a punchline.
Oracle shares were up 7% on initial report of the project earlier in the day. Nvidia, Arm Holdings and Dell shares also rose.
Investment in AI has surged since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, as companies across sectors have sought to integrate artificial intelligence into their products and services.

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World

US Treasury Issues Iran-Related Missile and Drone Sanctions

The US Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP)
The US Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP)
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US Treasury Issues Iran-Related Missile and Drone Sanctions

The US Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP)
The US Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. (AP)

The US on Wednesday sanctioned individuals and entities in several countries related to their support of Iran's ballistic missile and drone production, in the latest attempt to pressure Tehran.

A total of 32 individuals and entities based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye, China, Hong Kong, India, Germany and Ukraine that operate multiple procurement networks are being targeted in Wednesday's designations, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

"These networks pose a threat to US and allied personnel in the Middle East and to commercial shipping in the Red Sea," the department said in a statement.

The US, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear program as a veil for efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

World

At Least 37 Dead after a Passenger Bus Falls into a Ravine in Peru

The health manager of the Arequipa region said the bus hit a pickup truck and it went off a road on a curve, falling more than 200 meters (more than 650 feet) to the banks of the Ocoña river - (File photo of Peru police/The AP)
The health manager of the Arequipa region said the bus hit a pickup truck and it went off a road on a curve, falling more than 200 meters (more than 650 feet) to the banks of the Ocoña river - (File photo of Peru police/The AP)
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At Least 37 Dead after a Passenger Bus Falls into a Ravine in Peru

The health manager of the Arequipa region said the bus hit a pickup truck and it went off a road on a curve, falling more than 200 meters (more than 650 feet) to the banks of the Ocoña river - (File photo of Peru police/The AP)
The health manager of the Arequipa region said the bus hit a pickup truck and it went off a road on a curve, falling more than 200 meters (more than 650 feet) to the banks of the Ocoña river - (File photo of Peru police/The AP)

A passenger bus fell into a deep ravine early Wednesday after crashing with another vehicle in southern Peru, killing at least 37 people and injuring 13 more, authorities said.

The health manager of the Arequipa region, Walther Oporto, said to local radio RPP that the bus hit a pickup truck and it went off a road on a curve, falling more than 200 meters (more than 650 feet) to the banks of the Ocoña river.

The bus had departed from the city of Chala, a mining area also in southern Peru, and was heading to the city of Arequipa.

Fatal bus accidents are not uncommon in Peru. The cause of Wednesday's accident was not clear, but authorities have said in the past that reckless driving and excessive speed are behind many of these events, The AP news reported.

In August, a bus overturned on a highway and 10 people died. In July, another bus traveling from Lima to Peru’s Amazon region also overturned, leaving at least 18 people dead and 48 injured.

In January at least six people died and 32 were injured when a bus fell into a river.

In 2024 there were approximately 3,173 deaths as a result of traffic accidents in the South American country, according to official data from the Death Information System.

World

Palestinian NGO Cannot Appeal UK Court Ruling over F-35 Parts to Israel

Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organized by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organized by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville
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Palestinian NGO Cannot Appeal UK Court Ruling over F-35 Parts to Israel

Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organized by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Police officers detain a protester during a mass demonstration organized by Defend our Juries, against the British government's ban on Palestine Action, at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, October 4, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville

A Palestinian NGO was on Wednesday refused permission to appeal a court ruling that Britain lawfully allowed F-35 fighter jet parts to be indirectly exported to Israel, despite accepting they could be used to breach international humanitarian law.

Al-Haq, a Palestinian rights group based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, unsuccessfully challenged Britain's Department for Business and Trade over its decision last year to exempt F-35 components when it suspended export licences for arms that could be used in the war in Gaza.

The group last month asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge a lower court ruling that found Britain's decision was lawful and dismissed Al-Haq's challenge, Reuters reported.

The Court of Appeal refused permission, ruling that it was a matter for the government to decide whether national security issues relating to the supply of F-35 components outweighed an assessment that Israel was not committed to complying with international humanitarian law.

When it suspended export licences in 2024, Britain assessed that Israel was not committed to complying with such law in its military campaign, which Gaza health officials say killed more than 68,000 Palestinians.

But Britain did not suspend licences for British-made F-35 components, which go into a pool of spare parts Israel can use on its existing F-35 jets.

London's High Court rejected the challenge in June, saying in its ruling that then-business minister Jonathan Reynolds was "faced with the blunt choice of accepting the F-35 carve-out or withdrawing from the F-35 programme and accepting all the defence and diplomatic consequences which would ensue".

The Court of Appeal heard Al-Haq's application for permission to appeal as Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement last month to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

In a similar case earlier this month, a Dutch appeals court confirmed a decision to throw out a case brought by pro-Palestinian groups to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.