Earlier in the week, the Wall Street Journal reported that SoftBank and OpenAI's "$500 billion" "AI Project" was now setting a "more modest goal of building a small data center by year-end."
To quote:
A $500 billion effort unveiled at the White House to supercharge the U.S.’s artificial-intelligence ambitions has struggled to get off the ground and has sharply scaled back its near-term plans.
Six months after Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son stood shoulder to shoulder with Sam Altman and President Trump to announce the Stargate project, the newly formed company charged with making it happen has yet to complete a single deal for a data center.
One might be forgiven for being a little confused here, as there is, apparently, a Stargate Data Center being built in Abilene Texas. Yet the Journal added another detail:
Altman has used the Stargate name, shared with a 1994 Kurt Russell film about aliens who teleport to ancient Egypt, on projects that aren’t being financed by the partnership between OpenAI and SoftBank. The trademark to Stargate is held by SoftBank, according to public filings.
For instance, OpenAI refers to a data center in Abilene, Texas, and another it agreed in March to use in Denton, Texas, as part of Stargate even though they are being done without SoftBank, some of the people familiar with the matter said.
Confusing, right? One might also be confused by the Bloomberg story called "Inside The First Stargate AI Data Center," which had the subheadline "OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank hope that the site in Texas is the first of many across the US." More-confusingly, the piece talked about Stargate LLC, which OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank were (allegedly) shareholders of.
Yet I have confirmed that SoftBank never, ever had any involvement with the site in Abilene Texas. It didn't fund it, it didn't build it, it didn't choose the site and, in fact, does not appear to have anything to do with any data center that OpenAI uses. The data center many, many reporters have referred to as "Stargate" has nothing to do with the "Stargate data center project." Any reports suggesting otherwise are wrong, and I believe that this is a conscious attempt at misleading the public by OpenAI and SoftBank.
I confirmed the following with a PR representative from Crusoe, one of the developers of the site in Abilene Texas:
Funding for construction of [the] Abilene data center is a JV between Crusoe, Blue Owl and Primary Digital Infrastructure. Confirming that Softbank is not and has not been involved in the funding for its construction.
And, as a reminder, Stargate as an entity was never formed — my source being the CEO of Oracle Safra Catz on Oracle’s earnings call.
This is an astonishing — and egregious — act of misinformation on the part of Sam Altman and OpenAI. By my count, at least 15 different stories attribute the Abilene Texas data center to the Stargate project, despite the fact that SoftBank was never and has never been involved. One would forgive anyone who got this wrong, because OpenAI itself engaged in the deliberate deception in its own announcement of the Stargate Project [emphasis mine]:
The initial equity funders in Stargate are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. SoftBank and OpenAI are the lead partners for Stargate, with SoftBank having financial responsibility and OpenAI having operational responsibility. Masayoshi Son will be the chairman.
Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners. The buildout is currently underway, starting in Texas, and we are evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses as we finalize definitive agreements.
You can weasel-word all you want about how nobody has directly reported that SoftBank was or was not part of Abilene. This is a deliberate, intentional deception, perpetrated by OpenAI and SoftBank, who deliberately misled both the public and the press as a means of keeping up the appearance that SoftBank was deeply involved in (and financially obligated to) the Abilene site.
Based on reporting that existed at the time but was never drawn together, it appears that Abilene was earmarked by Microsoft for OpenAI's use as early as July 2024, and never involved SoftBank in any way, shape or form. The "Stargate" Project, as reported, was over six months old when it was announced in January 2025, and there have been no additional sites added other than Abilene.
In simpler terms, Stargate does not exist other than as a name that Sam Altman gives things to make them feel more special than they are, and SoftBank was never involved. Stargate does not exist as reported.
The use of the term "Stargate" is an intentional act of deceit, but beneath the surface lies, in my mind, a much bigger story. Furthermore, I believe this deceit means that we should review any and all promises made by OpenAI and SoftBank, and reconsider any and all statements they've made, or that have been made about them.
Let's review.
According to reporting:
- In January 2025, it was reported that both OpenAI and SoftBank are contributing $18 billion or $19 billion to the "Stargate data center project."
- In February 2025, it was reported that OpenAI and Softbank would set up a joint venture called "SB OpenAI Japan," with SoftBank "also [stating they would] pay $3 billion annually to use OpenAI's technology across SoftBank group companies."
- Per SoftBank's own statement, this would also involve developing and marketing something called "Cristal Intelligence." No, I don't know what that means either, but allegedly SB OpenAI Japan will market it. SoftBank stated it would deploy "...existing tools like ChatGPT Enterprise to employees across the entire group."
- On March 31 2025, SoftBank stated it had entered into a definitive agreement to "make follow-on investments of up to $40 billion," with the plan to "syndicate out $10 billion," with SoftBank's effective investment amount "expected to be up to $30 billion."
- This round was repeatedly referred to as "closed" by the media, but only $10 billion — of which $7.5 billion was provided by SoftBank according to The Information — has actually been sent. The remaining $30 billion — or $10 billion, in the event OpenAI can't convert to a for-profit by years-end — would be due in December 2025.
Yet based on my research, it appears that SoftBank may not be able to — or want to — proceed with any of these initiatives other than funding OpenAI's current round, and evidence suggests that even if it intends to, SoftBank may not be able to afford investing in OpenAI further.
I believe that SoftBank and OpenAI's relationship is an elaborate ruse, one created to give SoftBank the appearance of innovation, and OpenAI the appearance of a long-term partnership with a major financial institution that, from my research, is incapable of meeting the commitments it has made.
In simpler terms, OpenAI and SoftBank are bullshitting everyone.
I can find no tangible proof that SoftBank ever intended to seriously invest money in Stargate, and have evidence from its earnings calls that suggests SoftBank has no idea — or real strategy — behind its supposed $3-billion-a-year deployment of OpenAI software.
In fact, other than the $7.5 billion that SoftBank invested earlier in the year, I don't see a single dollar actually earmarked for anything to do with OpenAI at all.
SoftBank is allegedly going to send upwards of $20 billion to OpenAI by December 31 2025, and doesn't appear to have started any of the processes necessary to do so, or shown any signs it will. This is not a good situation for anybody involved.