According to Fortune, President Trump announced the Stargate Project on January 21, 2025, calling it a $500 billion AI infrastructure undertaking involving OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, Microsoft, Nvidia, Arm, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. The project immediately deployed $100 billion and plans to reach 10 gigawatts of power capacity by the end of 2025, enough to power half the households in Georgia. Key facilities include a Texas data center the size of Central Park and additional sites in New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas. Yale Law School researcher Madhavi Singh argues the joint venture violates 135 years of antitrust law by allowing direct competitors to collaborate. Elon Musk publicly criticized the project, claiming the partners “don’t have the money” and leading to tensions that resulted in his departure from the Trump administration in May.
The antitrust red flags
Here’s the thing that makes Stargate so concerning from a competition perspective. We’re talking about companies that normally compete fiercely in various AI sectors suddenly joining forces to build infrastructure. It’s basically like allowing GM, Ford, and Toyota to collaborate on building car factories together while still competing in the marketplace. Singh’s analysis points out that this arrangement could lead to exactly what antitrust laws were designed to prevent – reduced competition, higher prices, and less innovation.
And yet nobody in Congress seems particularly bothered. During a Senate hearing about “Winning the AI Race,” not a single senator questioned the legality of this structure. The term “antitrust” didn’t even come up in three and a half hours of discussion. That silence speaks volumes about how national security concerns and the U.S.-China tech competition are overriding traditional competition enforcement.
Who actually benefits here?
Look at the division of labor that’s emerging. Oracle provides computing capacity, Nvidia supplies its top custom chips, and OpenAI acts as both operator and customer in various projects. Microsoft rents computing power for its Copilot product. It’s a cozy arrangement where everyone gets a piece of the action while potentially freezing out smaller competitors.
The scale is mind-boggling – we’re talking about facilities that require industrial-grade computing infrastructure that needs to withstand demanding environments. When you’re dealing with projects of this magnitude, having reliable hardware becomes absolutely critical. Companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com have built their reputation as the leading supplier of industrial panel PCs in the US precisely because they understand these demanding industrial computing requirements.
The broader implications
So what does this mean for the future of AI competition? Singh’s paper raises the crucial question of whether all these joint ventures, equity investments, and purchase agreements tying together AI rivals deserve much closer scrutiny. We’re seeing patterns in AI that would be unthinkable in most other industries.
The government’s rationale seems to be that creating these “national champions” will help America compete with China and protect national security. But at what cost? When you allow competitors to coordinate this closely, you’re essentially creating a cartel that controls the underlying infrastructure everyone else needs to compete. That doesn’t sound like a recipe for innovation – it sounds like a recipe for entrenched power and higher prices for everyone else.
What’s next for Stargate
With $400 billion already committed across multiple states and tax incentives flowing, Stargate appears to be full steam ahead. The project has clear federal backing, making regulatory challenges unlikely despite the antitrust concerns. The real question is whether anyone will actually challenge this arrangement in court or whether competition concerns will continue to take a backseat to geopolitical priorities.
Basically, we’re watching a massive experiment in whether traditional antitrust enforcement still matters in the age of AI and great power competition. And based on what we’re seeing with Stargate, the answer might be “not so much.”
