OpenAI and Softbank team up for $500 billion AI data center venture

OpenAI will build and open $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years in partnership with SoftBank. The two organizations merged to create a new company called the Stargate project to build AI data centers for the creator of ChatGPT, and according to their announcement, it will “provide American leadership in AI” as well as “create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.” SoftBank will fund the project, while OpenAI will be in charge of its operations. Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, will serve as its chairman.

While OpenAI and SoftBank will serve as lead partners of the Stargate Project, there are several other companies involved in the initiative. In addition to OpenAI, Arm, NVIDIA, Oracle and, of course, Microsoft will be its key initial technology partners. The company’s official announcement says OpenAI, NVIDIA and Oracle will work together to “build and manage this computing system,” though it doesn’t elaborate on what that means.

As for Microsoft, the company has published message for its involvement in the project and said it would continue its “strategic partnership” with OpenAI. Microsoft will still have the right to use the OpenAI IP in its products, and the OpenAI API will still run exclusively on Azure. However, it will no longer be OpenAI’s exclusive provider of computing capacity. Whenever OpenAI needs additional capacity as its needs grow, Microsoft will have a “right of first refusal,” meaning that the creator of ChatGPT must check with him first before dealing with other countries.

The Stargate project is releasing $100 billion immediately to build its first data centers, starting with one in Texas. like TechCrunch notes, OpenAI was previously reported to be in talks with Oracle to lease a data center in Abilene, Texas that could reach nearly a gigawatt of electricity by 2026. No other sites are mentioned, but it is said to be “evaluating potential” locations across the country.

If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn a commission.