--- title: "Trump Set to Approve $500 Billion Deal to Build Huge AI Datacenters" description: "President Trump is preparing to approve a $500 billion investment into private sector-built AI infrastructure, according to CBS." date: "2025-01-21" modified: "2025-01-21" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-ai-infrastructure-deal" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "datacenters" - "the digest" - "trump" --- # Trump Set to Approve $500 Billion Deal to Build Huge AI Datacenters ![President Trump is preparing to approve a $500 billion investment into private sector-built AI infrastructure, according to CBS.]() *STERLING, VIRGINIA - JANUARY 18: President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump attend a private party and fireworks show at Trump National Golf Club on January 18, 2025 in Sterling, Virginia. Trump has arrived in the Washington, DC region ahead of his inauguration ceremony on January 20 which has been moved inside the U.S. Capitol as temperatures are expected to be the coldest in forty years. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) \Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images\* ## Big Spenders Returning president Donald Trump is preparing to approve a $500 billion investment into private sector-developed AI infrastructure, [according to reporting from *CBS*](). The project is reportedly a joint venture between ChatGPT creator OpenAI, the Japanese investment group SoftBank, and the software behemoth Oracle, and will see the building of new datacenters — in short,[ massive, wildly energy-intensive computing facilities]() — in the US. The first of these facilities, according to the report, will be constructed somewhere in Texas. The effort is reportedly called "Stargate," because of course it is. More investors are reportedly expected to join the project, though it's unclear who they might be. The money going into this thing is staggering: company executives are "expected to say they plan to commit $100 billion initially," reads the *CBS* report, and "pour up to $500 billion into Stargate over the next four years." News of Stargate's forthcoming announcement comes fresh on the heels of the Trump Administration's reversal of the [Biden-era executive order on AI]() — which, [though largely vague and legally toothless](), provided some kind of regulatory roadmap for AI development and investment in the US. Now, with the repeal of that order, the AI industry is once again free to enjoy a deregulatory playground. And Trump, in addition to making good on his [campaign promise]() to axe the Biden-era AI roadmap, appears to be giving AI's private sector the green light to [compute, baby, compute](). ## Foreshadowing We should note that executives for SoftBank and OpenAI declined to comment on the deal. But OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [attended]() this week's inauguration and, like many other high-powered tech executives in recent weeks, [donated cash]() to Trump's inaugural fund. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, meanwhile, is a [longtime Trump ally and donor](), and Softbank CEO and billionaire Masayoshi Son was one of many tech leaders to [take a trip to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate]() post-election. As the [*New York Times* reported at the time](), Trump declared during a December press conference that SoftBank would be making a $100 billion investment into US projects, and that the investment would center on tech and AI. The announcement was otherwise scant on details, but it's hard to imagine Trump's statement wasn't in reference to the reported Stargate venture. **More on Trump and AI:** [*A Peek Into Trump's AI Border Dystopia*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()