OpenAI and SoftBank announced this Friday a joint investment of $1 billion in SB Energy as part of the Stargate project, focused on creating a US network of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
OpenAI, American, and SoftBank, Japanese, will invest 500 million each in SB Energy (SBE), owned by the latter but based in the United States and which is dedicated to the development of data center infrastructure and energy operations in this country, according to a statement.
“The equity financing supports SBE’s growth and as a leading partner in the development and execution of data center campuses and associated energy infrastructure,” says the note, noting that it has several facilities underway that will enter service early this year.
Previously, OpenAI selected SBE to build and operate a 1.2 gigawatt capacity data center in Milam County, Texas.
In addition to the investment, OpenAI and SoftBank have formed “a non-exclusive preferred partnership to develop a new model of data center structures” to achieve AI infrastructures “at scale.”
OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman was quoted as saying that the result of the partnership will be “a fast and reliable way to scale computing across large, highly optimized AI data centers.”
In January 2025, Trump announced the Stargate project, which seeks to invest up to $500 billion in 4 years to build up to twenty data centers to support AI centers, and in which OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank collaborate through a ‘joint venture’.
With information from EFE
