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OPINION:
One day after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump hosted tech industry giants Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle; and Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, for a major announcement at the White House. Mr. Trump revealed the creation of Stargate, a company dedicated to investing $500 billion in massively building AI infrastructure in America. The plan is to establish the United States as the global leader in the rapidly evolving AI industry.
The project includes building an extensive network of data centers and related infrastructure nationwide, with $100 billion allocated for immediate use. This investment promises to create 100,000 jobs almost overnight. Mr. Ellison explained how a massive data center is already being constructed in Texas.
Advocates of the initiative tout its potential to uncover groundbreaking discoveries that could revolutionize entire industries. Mr. Ellison talked specifically about possible medical breakthroughs, claiming new AI systems could eventually produce personalized mRNA vaccines that could cure diseases such as cancer.
The announcement has been generally greeted with enthusiasm and hopefulness. Half a trillion dollars will be invested to ensure the United States remains dominant in the incredibly important emerging AI industry. What’s not to love?
Digging deeper
At first glance, Stargate seems like a home run for everyone involved, especially America. But a closer look reveals reasons for concern. One significant investor in Stargate, though absent from the White House announcement event, is MGX — a government-created investment fund from the United Arab Emirates. MGX’s involvement raises questions about foreign influence and globalist agendas potentially shaping U.S. technological priorities.
The UAE has forged strong ties with the World Economic Forum, hosting many events, such as The Great Narrative Conference in Dubai. At this event, WEF President Klaus Schwab and UAE officials emphasized their vision to “design the future,” aligning it with WEF-endorsed global governance strategies. MGX is even listed as a Partner organization on the WEF website.
Additionally, MGX recently partnered with BlackRock on an AI infrastructure initiative. This plan aimed to spend $100 billion on building AI data centers in the United States. While it remains unclear whether this plan is completely separate from Stargate, the implications remain the same: WEF-aligned organizations like BlackRock and MGX bring potential risks of undue influence.
And why is the UAE, through MGX, so eager to spend billions of dollars building AI infrastructure in the United States? According to His Highness Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of MGX, “Artificial intelligence is not just an industry of the future; it underpins the future. This unique partnership will enable faster innovation, technological breakthroughs and transformational productivity gains across the global economy. Today’s investments will secure a more sustainable, prosperous and equitable future for all mankind.”
While such language speaks of lofty ambitions, it also raises legitimate concerns. Could the UAE’s agenda be more about influencing AI advancements and ensuring control over the direction of global innovation? By embedding itself in a project of this scale, MGX and the UAE could gain significant leverage over how AI technologies develop — and whose interests they ultimately serve.
Larry Ellison’s remarks at a recent Oracle conference also warrant attention. He enthusiastically outlined how AI could enable a surveillance state where citizens are “constantly recorded and reported.” “We’re going to have supervision,” Mr. Ellison said. “Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.” These ideas echo “Smart City” concepts championed by the WEF and raise valid concerns about potential overreach and the erosion of individual liberties.
Mr. Son has also raised eyebrows by suggesting that major investments such as Stargates could help pave the way toward artificial super intelligence (ASI). This technology surpasses human intelligence entirely. The implications of such a development are staggering. If achieved, ASI could lead to societal transformations with little human oversight. Many futurists have voiced concerns that ASI could fundamentally alter power structures, economies and even the fabric of society in ways that may be difficult or impossible to predict or control.
Trump’s role
During the White House announcement, Mr. Altman thanked Mr. Trump for making Project Stargate a reality. Mr. Trump’s actions within his first few days in office have undoubtedly helped facilitate the project. Shortly after his inauguration, Mr. Trump rescinded an executive order requiring AI companies to submit reports to the government on products that could pose national security risks, reducing regulatory hurdles for technology innovators.
More importantly, Mr. Trump’s declaration of a National Energy Emergency allows for expedited approval of new power plants — an essential step in powering the energy-intensive data centers that form the backbone of Project Stargate. In a recent address at Davos 2025, Mr. Trump emphasized the need to rapidly increase energy production, saying, “I’m going to get them the approval. Under emergency declaration, I can get the approvals done myself without having to go through years of waiting.” “And the big problem,” Mr. Trump continued, “is we need double the energy we currently have in the United States for AI to really be as big as we want to have it.”
This call for greatly increasing energy production echoes public statements made by many tech leaders in recent years, including Mr. Altman and Mark Zuckerberg. BlackRock’s Larry Fink acknowledged this fact at a WEF event last year when he stated, “The world is going to be short power” as demand increases for the AI industry.
We must remain vigilant
While Project Stargate represents an incredible opportunity for technological advancement, it also brings significant risks that demand careful consideration. The involvement of the UAE, BlackRock and the WEF introduces concerns about foreign influence and globalist agendas potentially shaping U.S. technological priorities.
Even more alarming is the possibility of AI evolving into an artificial super intelligence, capable of radically altering society with little human oversight. The concentration of power in such systems could threaten liberty, privacy and even free will as we know it. It is crucial to balance the pursuit of innovation with safeguarding foundational freedoms.
America must remain a leader in technological development, but we must be vigilant in ensuring that these advancements empower individuals and do not centralize control in the hands of a few. Let us be careful and not unleash a genie from a bottle that cannot be summoned back.
• Donald Kendal (dkendal@heartland.org) is the director of the Emerging Issues Center at The Heartland Institute.
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