On January 21, 2025, inside the Roosevelt Room of the White House, a significant announcement grabbed attention. President Donald Trump, alongside notable figures like Oracle’s Larry Ellison, SoftBank’s Junichi Miyakawa, and Sam Altman from OpenAI, unveiled a groundbreaking initiative. The collaboration focuses on fuelling the development of artificial intelligence by investing billions in AI infrastructure, with heavyweights like SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle joining forces in this bold venture.
Interestingly, in the midst of this announcement, Microsoft made news regarding its long-standing partnership with OpenAI. Originally Microsoft’s exclusive cloud partner, the tech giant’s status underwent a subtle shift. While Microsoft retains a strong position, it no longer holds exclusivity. Now, if OpenAI needs extra computing power, Microsoft has the “right of first refusal” before OpenAI can seek help elsewhere. This adjustment comes against the backdrop of the newest AI push, dubbed the Stargate Project, a colossal joint undertaking promising up to $500 billion over the next four years specifically for U.S. AI infrastructure.
Oracle steps into a pivotal role in this new alliance, acting as a key technology partner along with players like Arm, Microsoft, and Nvidia. OpenAI, through a blog post, confirmed these companies are heavily involved in setting up the necessary data centers. These centers are already being built, with Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison revealing plans at a White House press event. The first data centers, sprawling over half a million square feet, have begun construction in Texas. Current plans involve expanding from 10 to 20 buildings, potentially spreading to more locations beyond Abilene.
The market reacted favorably to Oracle’s increased involvement, with its shares jumping 7% on Tuesday. Rewinding to 2019, Microsoft had initially invested $1 billion into OpenAI, a move that saw OpenAI’s services transition into Microsoft’s Azure cloud. As their operations grew, Microsoft had to engage third-party cloud providers like CoreWeave to manage expanding requirements.
Oracle recently joined this cloud computing fray. Though lagging behind Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in the cloud sector, Oracle advanced in June by announcing the expansion of Microsoft’s Azure AI platform within its own infrastructure. However, despite this evolving landscape, OpenAI assured stakeholders it remains committed to scaling its Azure usage, underlining a “new, large Azure commitment” aimed at product and model training.
Despite retaining certain exclusives, like rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property for integrations such as Copilot, Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI isn’t without tension. In July, Microsoft even categorized OpenAI as a competitor. Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, noted OpenAI’s ambitious goals during a podcast conversation with investors, explaining how accommodating these aspirations requires flexibility and mutual understanding between both companies.
Catch a glimpse of this monumental development as President Trump elaborates on the AI infrastructure investment, setting the stage for technological strides forward.
