Trump’s $500 billion AI data-center project expected to be powered by solar

US President Donald Trump's $500 billion AI data-center project, Stargate, could be powered in part by solar and energy storage from Softbank's SB Energy, says Bloomberg.

From pv magazine USA

The Trump administration has unveiled  a plan to develop a $100 billion AI data center with Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle, with plans to expand to “at least” $500 billion in investment.

Bloomberg has reported that sources near the project claim it could be powered at least in part by solar and energy storage developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of Softbank.

The Stargate mega-project outsizes former President Joe Biden’s largest-ever climate and energy spending package, the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which set aside at least $369 billion to support the energy transition and create well over 100,000 jobs. Trump recently ordered a pause to all IRA disbursements.

Bloomberg said the White House, SB Energy, Softbank and Oracle declined requests for comment. An OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg the company is considering various options for how Stargate can help modernize the US energy grid, looking at technology ranging from nuclear power to batteries.

SB Energy has experience in developing solar and storage for datacenters, including a 942 MW power purchase agreement for Google.

The rapid advancement of AI-powered data centers alone is expected to account for 8% of the U.S.’s total energy consumption by 2030, up from 3% in 2022, according to Goldman Sachs.