Nvidia, tech stocks rally after Trump announces $500 billion Stargate AI project
Nvidia (NVDA) stock jumped more than 4% Wednesday, extending gains from the prior day following Trump’s announcement of a massive, $500 billion AI infrastructure project.
The project creates a company called Stargate, funded by SoftBank (9984.T), OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL), and MGX. OpenAI named Nvidia as well as Microsoft (MSFT) and British chip designer Arm (ARM) as “key initial technology partners” for the project, which aims to build out US data centers required to power artificial intelligence. OpenAI said Stargate would “begin deploying $100 billion immediately” and invest up to $500 billion over the next four years.
Nvidia’s gain Wednesday pushed its market cap to $3.58 trillion, ahead of Apple’s (AAPL) $3.35 trillion.
Meanwhile, Microsoft shares rose 3% early Wednesday, while Arm surged more than 15%. Oracle stock was up 5.5%, and Softbank jumped almost 11%.
“Stargate will be building the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI, and this will include the construction of colossal data centers, very, very massive structures,” Trump said in a briefing Tuesday. “These buildings, these are big, beautiful buildings are going to employ a lot of people.”
Trump said the effort is meant to maintain the US lead ahead in developing artificial intelligence ahead of China.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, as Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, listen. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) · ASSOCIATED PRESS
The announcement follows a a slew of executive orders from the Biden administration on artificial intelligence last week aimed at restricting the flow of AI chips to China and speeding up the construction of data centers in the US.
“This comes at a critical juncture as we expect Trump to aggressively court more AI investments in the US,” wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a note to investors late Tuesday. Ives noted that the project is “all part of a broader game of high stakes poker with China.”
After the announcement, Elon Musk took aim at OpenAI on his social media platform X. Responding to a post from OpenAI about Stargate, he wrote “They don’t actually have the money.” OpenAI estimated that it lost $5 billion in 2024, but generated just $3.7 billion in revenue.
Tech stocks across the board rallied on the news of the major AI investment. Dell (DELL) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI), which make servers using Nvidia chips, rose 7% and 6%, respectively. Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) climbed 1.4%, ahead of S&P Futures’ (ES=F) 0.6% gain.
Nvidia’s surge Wednesday puts shares up over 11% from last week.
The stock had fallen in early January after The Information reported that the three of the chipmaker’s biggest customers — Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), and Meta (META) — canceled some orders of servers using Nvidia Blackwell AI chips due to glitches and overheating problems. Shares were also under pressure from the Biden administration’s move to cap exports of AI chips.
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