SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son joined hands with former US President Trump to launch the $500 billion "Star Gate Plan" aimed at creating the world's largest artificial intelligence computing power. The core of the plan is to build a number of data centers and plan to adopt a project financing model. In the early stage, SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi MGX jointly invested by about 10%, and the remaining funds will be resolved through debt financing. The implementation of this grand plan faces many challenges from China's low-cost AI competition and the potential acquisition of OpenAI, and its future development is full of uncertainty.
Recently, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, accompanied by former US President Trump, officially launched an artificial intelligence project called the "Star Gate Project". The plan is expected to invest more than $500 billion, aiming to build multiple data centers and related infrastructure. Faced with such a huge capital demand, Masayoshi Son is actively looking for a suitable financing method.
It is understood that SoftBank is currently considering a financing method called project financing. This model is commonly found in the oil and gas sectors and can support the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects such as the Alaska pipeline. The biggest advantage of project financing is that the initial investment is less and long-term financing can be carried out based on the future cash flow of the project, so that funds are raised relatively easy.
In the "Star Gate Plan", SoftBank hopes to include some characteristics of project financing into the funding structure. The plan is a plan that SoftBank, OpenAI, partners Oracle and MGX in Abu Dhabi will jointly contribute about 10% of the total expenses, while the rest will be obtained through the debt market. This method can effectively diversify risks and also reduce financial pressure from all parties.
The "Star Gate Plan" was officially released last month, aiming to rapidly expand the construction of data centers in order to achieve the largest computing power layout in history. SoftBank has started its first data center construction in Abilene, Texas, and plans to select more project locations in more than a dozen states. Son said that $100 billion will be invested in the initial stage, but the specific source of funds has not yet been determined, and SoftBank is negotiating with potential investors.
However, the prospects for the project have become more complex as Chinese startup DeepSeek launches competition for low-cost open source AI. In addition, OpenAI also received an acquisition proposal from Elon Musk, which further added the challenge of financing the Stargate Project.
In the current vision, SoftBank and OpenAI will jointly hold about 10% of the shares, with a total investment of this shares expected to reach US$50 billion. According to preliminary estimates, SoftBank and OpenAI each may have investments between $15 billion and $25 billion, with Oracle and MGX relatively small investments.
Key points:
The Stargate Project is an artificial intelligence project jointly launched by SoftBank and OpenAI. The investment is expected to exceed US$500 billion, with the goal of building multiple data centers.
SoftBank plans to adopt a project financing model, with an initial investment of about 10%, and the rest is raised through the debt market to alleviate financial pressures.
Faced with China's low-cost AI competition and Elon Musk's acquisition proposal, the financing prospects of the Stargate Program are facing uncertainty.
In short, the success of the Stargate Project depends not only on its technical strength, but also on whether it can overcome financing difficulties and deal with fierce market competition. The future development of the plan deserves continued attention.