US President Donald Trump declared that private sector investment could reach $500 billion to support artificial intelligence infrastructure. OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle are establishing a Texas-based collaboration named Stargate, pledging an initial investment of $100 billion and potentially up to $500 billion in total over the forthcoming four years.

SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Oracle's Larry Ellison were with Trump at the White House for the launch. The declaration on Trump's second day in office comes after the reversal of former President Joe Biden's executive order on AI, which aimed to mitigate the threats artificial intelligence presents to consumers, employees, and national security.

AI demands vast computing resources, increasing the need for specialized data centers that allow tech firms to connect thousands of chips in clusters.

"They have to produce a lot of electricity, and we'll make it possible for them to get that production done very easily at their own plants if they want," Trump said.

As U.S. power consumption rises from AI data centers and the electrification of buildings and transportation, about half of the country is at increased risk of power supply shortfalls in the next decade, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said in December.