Donald Trump appeared with three prominent tech executives to unveil a private sector initiative to build AI infrastructure in the United States, with an outlay of up to $500 billion.
The venture will be called Stargate, and it will include OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.
“I think it’s going to be something that’s very special,” Trump told reporters from the Roosevelt Room. “It could lead to something that could be the biggest of all.”
Joining Trump were Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Mr. President,” Altman said.
On Tuesday, per Reuters, Trump revoked an executive order signed by Joe Biden aimed at reducing the dangers of AI, with companies required to share safety tests with the U.S. government before public release of AI systems.
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Trump cited competition from China as a reason for urgency.
Ellison told reporters that 10 data centers actually are already under construction in Texas, with each building a half million square feet. That will expand to 20 locations, he said. He and other executives emphasized the promise of AI in health and medicine. Altman said that the venture would be “the most important project of this era,” with the promise of centering the new industry in the U.S. and creating “hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
But there also is worry that AI will trigger massive job displacement, as was expressed when the Senate held a series of forums featuring experts, executives, union leaders and others, with the purpose of establishing guardrails around the new technology. But no legislation ever passed Congress.
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