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Stargate It was a 1994 science fiction film about travelers who crash through a wormhole into an alternate reality. That seems like an appropriate name too Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Project A promise to invest up to $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, announced by President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening. Powered by Openai, Oracle and Softbank, Stargate reflects the alternate reality created by the AI Superbubble merger and Trump's re-election. Washington, it seems, is disappearing down its hole.
“This massive pledge is a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential under a new president,” Trump said of Stargate. Standing strong in their claims alongside Trump in the White House are Larry Ellison, Sam Altman, the ambitious CEO of Openai, and son Masayoshi, the Softbank Mercurial chair, all beaming with amusement, like the character from old tech, new tech, and global tech.
“This is the beginning of a golden era,” Son said, playing off Trump’s remarks in his inaugural address. “We wouldn't be able to do this without you, Mr. President,” Altman evader. The prominent presence of several tech billionaires at Trump's inauguration also highlighted how much they hold dear to the US president.
Curtis Yarvin, the buzzy new blogger and champion of the Dark Enlightenment movement who has a cult following in some West Coast circles, He argued that democracy was over He called for a more authoritarian type of technique. Trump's “first friend” Elon Musk has already taken to calling himself a Tesla tech. But, surrounded by his isolated trees, it could be Trump who emerges as America's techno.
Trump has made clear that he wants to reassert dominance in technology over China, especially in artificial intelligence. He has It has already been cancelled His executive order to Joey Biden on AI safety. He also seems intent on undoing crypto and reversing the Biden administration's antitrust agenda to give big tech even more freedom. Sniffing profits and new opportunities in the defense, nuclear and aerospace industries, America's largest technology companies have been quick to pick on Trump's moves.
These companies are already among the richest and most powerful in history and need a little help from Trump. Independent research firm Ariete predicts that five of them – Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft – this year will collectively increase their revenues to more than 2 trillion. Despite putting $300 billion on capex, Arete expects it will still record profit margins and generate free cash flow of $430 billion.
Yet three things were achieved after their dominance. The first is that competition is intensifying between the biggest technology companies themselves as they all make huge bets on AI and try to disrupt other business models. “Big Tech can no longer achieve growth by staying in its lanes,” says Richard Cramer, founder of Ariete. “We expect more The hunger games-Big Tech competition, attacking each other's “core” businesses, in consumer technology devices, cloud services, content and e-commerce. “
This competition is increasingly taking on a legal dimension as technology companies attack each other in court. Musk is suing Openai and Altman Claiming that he, and others, were duped into investing in an Amnesty International startup because of its “fake humanitarian mission.” He also made a Stargate ad this week, posting on X: “They don't really have the money.”
Microsoft testified against Google to break up its search monopoly. As Matt Stoller, author of “The Big Newsletter,” wrote in Monopoly Power, individuals, companies, and countries may pursue antitrust action even if it stymies Washington. “Antitrust is a body of law designed for business leaders to fight with each other,” Stoller wrote.
However, some of Silicon Valley's leading venture capital investors, led by Marc Andreessen, have been warning about the dangers of big corporations weaponizing the government to crush startups and stifle innovation. They were promoting Small technical virtueswhich they claim has always been “the vanguard of American technological superiority.” Vice President J.D. Vance, a former VC investor, in the past Supports antitrust interventions To promote competition, arguing against “this strange idea that something cannot be oppressive if it comes through the operation of the free market.”
One of the biggest determinants of tech policy may simply be who has the most access to tech's ear.
