President Donald Trump on Tuesday is announcing investments worth up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank.
The new entity, Stargate, will start building out projects needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House.
The announcement comes amid expectations of a massive buildout in data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI, which holds the promise of increasing productivity by automating work but also the risk of displacing jobs if poorly implemented.
Last October, the financial company Blackstone estimated that the U.S. would see $1 trillion invested in data centers over five years, with another $1 trillion being committed internationally.
Stocks rise after inauguration
U.S. stocks rose Tuesday after more companies said they made bigger profits at the end of last year than analysts expected and as Treasury yields eased.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, while many markets around the world took only tentative steps following Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 538 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.6%.
Trump has promised sweeping moves to reshape global trade and the economy, often at the expense of other countries, but most stock indexes in Asia and Europe made only modest moves.
In the foreign-currency market, the values of both the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar fell against the U.S. dollar after Trump said he expects to put 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1.