Before taking office, President Donald Trump sent a clear signal that to surpass China, his administration would need to pursue an aggressive agenda when it comes to developing artificial intelligence and the infrastructure that powers it.
On his first day in office, President Trump rescinded an executive order signed in 2023 by former President Joe Biden that placed some barriers around the development of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence tools, as well as setting out other safeguards on privacy, civil rights and national security.
A day later, Mr. Trump met with leaders of several major technology companies, including Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI; Larry Ellison, president of Oracle; and Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, to announce a $500 billion private sector investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, known as Stargate.
"Starting now, 'Stargate' will build the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of innovation in the field of artificial intelligence, and this will include building colossal data centers," President Trump said at a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
'Stargate' aims to invest in the creation of about 10 large centers in the United States that will help process data for artificial intelligence systems.
The first data center is already under construction in Texas. The massive private sector investment will create up to 100,000 jobs in the US, technology company executives said.
Keeping Artificial Intelligence in the US
"What we want to do is keep it in this country," President Trump said. "China is a competitor and other countries are too. We want artificial intelligence to stay in this country and we're making it available. I'm going to help by declaring a national emergency, because this is a situation, such an emergency. We have to build these things," he said.
Tech company leaders took the opportunity to praise the new president.
"I think this will be the most important project of this era," Mr. Altman said. "We couldn't do this without you, Mr. President."
Janet Egan, a senior fellow in the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security, said that all the signals that President Trump is sending show that he is serious about preserving the advantages that the United States currently has in the development of artificial intelligence.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has relied on Microsoft data centers for its processing. The company has reportedly also discussed with Mr. Biden's administration the regulatory hurdles of planning and permitting for building data centers.
In a document released earlier this month, OpenAI mentioned competition with China, outlining its proposals for "expanding America's leadership role in the development of artificial intelligence."
"There are approximately $175 billion in global funds waiting to be invested in projects related to artificial intelligence. If the US does not absorb those funds, they will flow into projects supported by China - strengthening the global influence of the Chinese Communist Party," the document said.
Patrick Hedger, policy director at NetChoice, an organization that addresses technology issues, told VOA that the announcement of the Stargate project "is an immediate signal that private capital is more than willing to go beyond borders these days, with the new Trump administration."
As part of a slew of executive actions on Monday, President Trump eliminated several existing executive orders that placed restrictions on the extraction of energy produced from fossil fuels.
During the event at the White House on Monday, President Trump also noted that artificial intelligence data centers consume large amounts of energy and added that he would pave the way for Stargate and other private companies to invest in new energy generation projects.
Competition with China
While President Trump eliminated many of former President Biden's executive orders, he does not appear to have taken action against some of the former president's other initiatives related to artificial intelligence.
Last year, Mr. Biden took several steps to limit China's access to cutting-edge technology related to artificial intelligence, specifically, by limiting companies' ability to sell advanced semiconductors and the machinery used to produce them to Chinese firms.
On this issue, Ms. Egan said, President Trump and former President Biden appear to be on the same page.
"I think it's important to also emphasize the continuity in how Trump is approaching artificial intelligence," she said. "He sees it both as a risk and a necessity for national security. ... So I think we should expect to see this rapid approach to artificial intelligence being complemented, to understand and manage emerging risks, particularly cyber, nuclear, biological risks," she said./ VOA (A2 Televizion)
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