one year on
Trump, SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle announce up to $500B Stargate AI infrastructure project
President Trump unveils a joint venture backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX to build AI data centers across the U.S., with an initial $100 billion commitment and potential to reach $500 billion over four years.
President Donald Trump today announced Stargate, a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX that will invest up to $500 billion in U.S. AI infrastructure. Speaking from the White House Roosevelt Room alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Trump said the project will ‘keep it in this country’ and counter China’s AI ambitions.
The initial $100 billion is already being deployed, with the first data center under construction in Texas. SoftBank’s Son will chair the venture, with Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI as initial technology partners. Son noted that Trump had previously jokingly pushed him to raise a $100 billion pledge to $200 billion; ‘Now I came back with $500 [billion],’ Son quipped.
But within hours, Elon Musk posted on X that SoftBank has ‘well under $10B secured’ and that he has ‘inside intel’ suggesting the $500 billion figure is dramatically overstated. The dispute immediately dominated AI circles, with many noting Musk’s history of feuding with Altman and his own xAI competitors. Supporters pointed to the White House stage as a powerful sign of bipartisan AI investment momentum, while skeptics questioned whether the capital can realistically be raised given SoftBank’s debt load and Vision Fund track record.
The record
On X, Musk disputed the funding, claiming SoftBank has 'well under $10B secured' and that he has 'inside intel' that the $500B figure is exaggerated.
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
The Stargate announcement proved more show than substance. While some construction began in Texas, SoftBank never put close to the promised capital, and the venture was effectively mothballed by early 2026 after funding fell through. The project became a symbol of the AI investment hype cycle—big pledges, modest follow-through.