OpenAI-lead ambitious AI project Stargate is set to enter its first phase in 2026. Ahead of its initiation, SoftBank is getting its finances in order to fulfill its commitment of $22.5 billion towards this project.
The project is primarily focussed on creating clusters of advanced, AI-supporting data centres that provide the technical assistance that the U.S. needs to establish itself as the AI capital of the world. OpenAI and its partners on the project estimate $500 billion could be invested to complete Stargate. UAE’s AI firm G42, Japan’s SoftBank, as well as Microsoft and Oracle are among other Stargate investors.
SoftBank should ideally raise its part of the investment into this AI project in the next one week – that would be before the year of 2025 wraps up.
After SoftBank offloaded all of its stocks in Nvidia last month for $5.8 billion, it also sold off a chunk of its shares in T-Mobile for $9.2 billion, Reuters reported.
In order to raise the remaining amount, the Tokyo-based bank is reportedly mulling selling a part of its shares in China’s cab platform called Didi to gather the $19 billion it had promised OpenAI as the first payment towards Stargate. Later in 2026, SoftBank plans to publicly list the payments app PayPay to raise funds for the next installment for Stargate.
The investment major could possibly look to borrow against British chip designer Arm as well.
In 2026, the first international data center under the Stargate project is slated to be inaugurated in UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. U.S. tech giants like OpenAI as well as the U.S. government will be closely working with the UAE leaders to shape up the project.
A similar Stargate data centre has been announced in Norway. These will give countries outside the U.S. to also forge ahead with AI research and development work.