Stargate: Building super intelligence

In 1941, faced with imminent threats from hostile Axis powers, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a secret assignment known as the Manhattan Project. That monumental research and development initiative culminated in the creation of the first atomic bomb.

Seven decades later, Donald Trump, the 47th President of the U.S., faces a powerful adversary in China, and is embarking on mission to solidify America’s position as a dominant artificial intelligence (AI) superpower.

Announcing ‘Project Stargate’, a multi-billion-dollar initiative aimed at establishing a vast network of AI-optimised data centres and developing increasingly sophisticated generative AI models, Mr. Trump called it “the largest AI infrastructure project in history.”

Through this initiative, OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank will establish a state-of-the-art AI ecosystem across various regions of the U.S. Notably, while the Manhattan Project incurred an estimated $2 billion in 1945 (about $30 billion in today’s currency), Stargate commences with an initial investment commitment of $100 billion from SoftBank. Over the course of the next four years, the investment company will further augment its commitment with an additional $400 billion.

Such a huge financial commitment has triggered varied responses, including from Mr. Trump’s close aide, Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO posted a pithy reply to an X post by OpenAI on Stargate, saying, “They don’t actually have the money.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman retorted, “Wrong, as you surely know. Want to come visit the first site already under way?”

Mr. Musk, who was one of the co-founders of OpenAI when it was started as a non-profit in 2015, is beefing up his own AI platform, xAI, which directly competes with Mr. Altman’s AI company.

Apart from missing details on financing the project, there isn’t any information on how the consortium will be structured. Based on some estimates, both SoftBank and OpenAI could come up with a combined investment of about $20 billion in the initial stage.

Some experts have pointed out that the $500 billion claim should not be taken seriously unless SoftBank plans to sell all its holdings in Alibaba and Arm. Despite the glaring gaps in funding, OpenAI’s role is pivotal to Stargate.

As a leader in generative AI, the ChatGPT creator can provide the technological foundation with its advanced language models that have revolutionised AI, enabling the development of more powerful and general-purpose AI systems. Oracle’s role in the project is already putting OpenAI’s current investor, Microsoft, on the spot, as the tech titan has invested $14 billion in the Silicon Valley startup.

Strategic move

The collaboration with Oracle, a direct competitor in the cloud services market, signifies a strategic move to diversify OpenAI’s dependencies while leveraging Oracle’s capabilities.

For Oracle, Stargate presents a significant opportunity to challenge the dominance of Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS. By hosting OpenAI’s models and constructing AI-optimised data centres, Oracle will reposition its cloud strategy and re-enter the increasingly competitive cloud market.

For the U.S., the focus is on its high-tech competition with China.

China’s AI development has surged forward, with state support and strategic goals driving innovation. It must be noted that China prioritised AI as a core component of its national strategy even before the COVID pandemic shut the whole world down.

The race to dominate AI comes at a time when countries are belittling regulations and hitting the pedal on building super intelligent systems. Some experts have cautioned against this approach as AI, which is better than humans in cognition and problem solving, could improve at a terrifying pace.

In such a scenario, the words of General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, comes to one’s mind. “‘Was the development of the atomic bomb by the United States necessary?’ I reply unequivocally, ‘Yes’. To the question, ‘Is atomic energy a force for good or for evil?’ I can only say, ‘As mankind wills it’.”