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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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Grossi Urges Iran to Reach an Understanding with Trump

21 January 2025, Switzerland, Davos: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi speaks at "Road to Tripling Nuclear Capacity session" during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. (Valeriano Di Domenico/World Economic Forum/dpa)
21 January 2025, Switzerland, Davos: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi speaks at "Road to Tripling Nuclear Capacity session" during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. (Valeriano Di Domenico/World Economic Forum/dpa)
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Grossi Urges Iran to Reach an Understanding with Trump

21 January 2025, Switzerland, Davos: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi speaks at "Road to Tripling Nuclear Capacity session" during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. (Valeriano Di Domenico/World Economic Forum/dpa)
21 January 2025, Switzerland, Davos: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi speaks at "Road to Tripling Nuclear Capacity session" during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. (Valeriano Di Domenico/World Economic Forum/dpa)

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urged on Tuesday Iran to reach an understanding over its atomic activity with the administration of US President Donald Trump in order to avoid being dragged into another military conflict in the Middle East.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said that Iran has accelerated its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade.

He spoke about Trump’s decision six-and-a-half years ago to quit the 2015 nuclear deal that gave Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear activities.

“There was an agreement that existed before President Trump decided that was not the path he wanted to follow,” Grossi said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Now we need to come to terms with how we deal with this, excluding of course, a war. We don’t want more wars.”

He confirmed Iran continues to produce large quantities of highly-enriched uranium. In December, Tehran’s engineers increased capacity sevenfold, to about 34 kilograms a month in response to a diplomatic censure in November.

Iran ready for more talks

Meanwhile, Iran threw the ball into the West’s court, declaring its readiness to revive negotiations on its advanced nuclear program.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday his country wants to pursue discussions with European nations (France, Germany and the UK) after both sides held a third round of talks in Geneva last week.

“We agreed to continue discussions. We will determine the date and time for them through joint consultations,” he said.

Both Iran and the so-called E3 countries had described previous talks as “frank and constructive.” Iran said the third round, which started last September in New York, aimed at exploring how Tehran can return to the negotiations table.

Gharibabadi said: “The most logical path forward is to initiate talks on lifting sanctions.”

Speaking to reporters, he reiterated Iran's willingness to engage in diplomacy. The country, as always, is ready to initiate and resume negotiations aimed at lifting sanctions, he said.

“We have consistently been prepared, and if the other parties demonstrate the same readiness, we are confident that talks can proceed and yield positive results,” he said, according to the state-owned Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

He underscored the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, adding that “there are proper opportunities for dialogue and understanding” and noting that “unilateral sanctions were ineffective.”

Both US and Iranian officials have sent mixed signals about whether they were headed to a confrontation or explore diplomatic solutions now that Trump has assumed office.

Maximum pressure

Tehran fears that Trump will return to his previous “maximum pressure” policy that he had applied on Iran during his first term in office. It also fears Britain, France and Germany could trigger the so-called “snapback mechanism,” part of the 2015 deal, which allows signatories to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran in cases of the “significant non-performance” of commitments.

The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year, adding urgency to the ongoing diplomatic efforts.

Last Friday, reports said Iranian officials had informed their European counterparts that Tehran would withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the snapback mechanism is implemented.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Trump could blow a $30 billion hole in Iran’s economy should he return reimpose his maximum pressure policy.

It said the president’s key advisers are looking at a big sanctions package that hits major players in Iran’s oil industry, which could come as early as February.

On Sunday, Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said in an interview that the administration will make key decisions concerning Iran over the next month.

He said the Israeli strikes against Hamas and Hezbollah, in addition to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, have all prepared the circumstances for the US to soon take strategic decisions.