Here’s What’s in ‘Stargate,’ the $500-Billion Trump-Endorsed Plan to Power U.S. AI
Tech giants are backing a massive effort, announced by President Trump and dubbed the Stargate Project, to add data centers across the U.S.
A power substation near a the LC1 CloudHQ data center in Ashburn, Virginia, US, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
The Stargate Project is a new company with SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX as lead investors. Microsoft and Nvidia are partnering in the project and construction at one site has started at a site in Texas, according to an Open AI press release. Approximately $100 billion is expected to be spent on Stargate “immediately,” the company said.
At the White House, Trump said he would help with Stargate’s developments “a lot” through emergency declarations.
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“We have to get this stuff built .… They have to produce a lot of electricity, and we’ll make it possible for them to get that production done very easily,” Trump said.
The growth in AI-driven data centers is expected to be a chief determinant of the makeup of the power grid — and its emissions — over the next two decades. A December report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory concluded that electricity demand from data centers could triple by 2028. Many state officials — including from data center hub Virginia — have said they are uncertain how the grid will accommodate all the new power.
The QTS data center complex under development in Fayetteville, Georgia, US, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.
At his confirmation hearing this month, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Doug Burgum, made a similar argument, saying that “clean coal” could help address inadequate electricity supplies to meet demand for AI.
“Particularly with this AI battle, people don’t understand what is coming,” said Burgum before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
It was not immediately clear what power sources Stargate might tap for its data centers or if the total funding amount includes previous funding for data centers announced by the companies. Stargate officials said they were currently evaluating potential sites across the country.
Ellison said Stargate data centers already under construction in Abilene, Texas, currently involve 10 buildings that will expand to 20. Each building is a half million square feet, he said.
“The projected massive growth in demand for electricity from data centers has already raised electricity rates for households and small businesses in many parts of the country and threatens to increase pollution,” DeRoche said.
On Monday, Trump rescinded a 2023 executive order from then-President Joe Biden on AI requiring developers that pose risks to national security, the economy or public health to share results from safety tests with the federal government. That order also had directed DOE and other agencies to develop guidelines for “safe” AI development.
Electricity demand from data centers also was a top topic of discussion between Biden and Trump officials, according to outgoing DOE Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk.
This story also appears in Energywire.
Reprinted from E&E News
Christa Marshall is a reporter at E&E News.
E&E News provides essential energy and environment news for professionals.
Source: www.scientificamerican.com