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A $100 billion venture that President Donald Trump heralds as accelerating artificial intelligence in the US is expected to depend in part on power sources favored by his climate-focused predecessor — solar and batteries.
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Bloomberg News
Brian Eckhouse and Min Jeong Lee
Published Jan 23, 2025 • 2 minute read
(Bloomberg) — A $100 billion venture that President Donald Trump heralds as accelerating artificial intelligence in the US is expected to depend in part on power sources favored by his climate-focused predecessor — solar and batteries.
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Trump unveiled the Stargate joint venture involving SoftBank Group Corp., OpenAI and Oracle Corp. on Tuesday. The companies will initially invest $100 billion to build US-based infrastructure including data centers for OpenAI. While company executives during the White House announcement outlined a goal for Stargate to deploy “at least” $500 billion down the road, they didn’t elaborate on what will power the infrastructure.
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At least some power for Stargate is expected to be built by SB Energy, a SoftBank unit that develops solar and battery projects, according to people familiar with the matter. SB Energy will be specifically charged with delivering some digital infrastructure and power generation associated with the venture, said the people, who aren’t authorized to speak publicly.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment. SB Energy and SoftBank declined to comment. An Oracle representative didn’t address a request for comment. An OpenAI spokesperson said the company is considering various options for how Stargate can help modernize the US energy grid, looking at technology ranging from nuclear power to batteries.
The AI boom will require a surge in new US electric capacity, likely buoying natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar and batteries. Natural gas — a fossil fuel that Trump is keen to boost — and nuclear are capable of providing round-the-clock power on their own, a quality that appeals to data-center developers. While solar and wind provide intermittent electricity, batteries can store some of that power and deploy energy when the sun isn’t shining or if the air is calm.
Big-tech companies have long sought clean energy to power their operations. Solar and wind are among the cheapest electric sources, which helps the bottom line, and renewables have also been good for the public image of corporations.
SB Energy has experience building solar for data centers, including a large complex of Texas farms it completed last year with Google as a power buyer.
—With assistance from Sarah McBride, Rachel Metz, Skylar Woodhouse and Brody Ford.
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