SoftBank, OpenAI's $100B investment delayed due to tariffs: report

Core Insights - SoftBank and OpenAI plan to invest $100 billion in AI infrastructure in the US as part of the Stargate project, but the initiative has faced delays due to concerns over President Trump's tariffs potentially increasing costs [1][3] - The initial promise was to deploy $100 billion and raise it to $500 billion over four years, with early-stage talks held with various lenders and asset managers [2] - The project aims to build up to 20 large data centers across the US, with SoftBank managing the financing and a dedicated team to expedite the project [4] Investment Challenges - No deals have been finalized due to high tariffs and recession warnings causing investor hesitance towards expensive data center projects [3] - Import taxes could increase data center construction costs by 5% to 15%, according to analysis [3] Competitive Landscape - The emergence of China's DeepSeek AI model, which reportedly required less time and funding, raises questions about the viability of multi-million dollar data center investments [5] Project Development - Progress has been made on Stargate, with the first data center site in Abilene, Texas, being developed by Oracle, which is expected to be the largest AI training facility globally [9][10] - OpenAI is also facing legal challenges from Elon Musk regarding its restructuring plans, which adds complexity to its operations [10][14]