ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle, along with other equity backers of Stargate, have committed $100 billion for immediate deployment, with the remaining investment expected over the next four years, according to the White House. The first of Stargate’s data centers are already under construction in Abilene, Texas.

In response, global investors dumped tech stocks, particularly Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, the leading maker of AI computer chips, evaporating $593 billion of Nvidia's market value, a record one-day loss for any company on Wall Street.

OpenAI is scouring the U.S. for sites to build a network of huge data centers to power its artificial intelligence technology, expanding beyond a flagship Texas location and looking across 16 states to accelerate the Stargate project championed by President Donald Trump.