Dear Commons Community,

The creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI, is teaming up with another US tech giant, a Japanese investment firm and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund to build $500 billion of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the United States.

The new company, called The Stargate Project, was announced by Donald Trump who billed it “the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history.”  As reported by the BBC.

The venture, which began under President Joe Biden’s term in office, announced $100 billion of funding was being made available immediately, with the rest to come over four years, creating an estimated 100,000 jobs.

It is a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, Japan’s Softbank and MGX, a tech investment arm of the United Arab Emirates government.

The AI industry has exploded in recent years, creating massive extra demand for the data centers which it relies on, while also raising concerns about the huge amounts of water and power such facilities require.

Elon Musk, however, clashed with Trump and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the Stargate project.  

Musk, a close Trump adviser who helped bankroll his campaign and now leads a government cost-cutting initiative, questioned the value of the investment yesterday.

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote on his social platform X. The project  has well under $10 billion  secured. I have that on good authority.”

Altman responded Wednesday to say Musk was “wrong, as you surely know” and inviting Musk to come visit the first site in Texas that is already under construction.

Billionaires squabble and poor Trump is in the middle!

Tony

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