03:33 PM EDT, 05/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI said Wednesday it is expanding its Stargate initiative working to build data centers and other infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence in the US to other countries also wanting to "build on democratic AI rails."

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman, together with Larry Ellison and Masayoshi Son, the CEOs at Oracle (ORCL) and Softbank, respectively, disclosed plans to spend around $500 billion on the Stargate project over the next four years during a White House event in January.

The new project would support similar buildouts in other countries while also supporting free-market competition and other democratic principles, such as keeping governments from using AI to concentrate control, the company said.

The global Stargate Project would be financed through startup funds in each country, it said, adding national governments also would invest in construction. OpenAI also said the initiative already is receiving interest from several countries, with the company hoping to support around 10 public-private projects at first before expanding from there.

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