SoftBank and OpenAI's Stargate aims building small data centre by year-end: WSJ
In January, US President Donald Trump hosted top tech CEOs at the White House to highlight the $500 billion Stargate Project, which would create more than 100,000 jobs in the country.
SoftBank and OpenAI, which jointly lead the joint venture, have been at odds over crucial terms of the partnership, including where to build the sites, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. In a joint statement, the two companies told Reuters they were moving "with urgency on site assessments" and were also advancing projects in multiple states. When the project was unveiled, the companies involved, along with other equity backers of Stargate, had committed $100 billion for immediate deployment, with the remaining investment expected to occur over the next four years. Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said at the time that the first of the project's data centres was already under construction in Texas. Trump has prioritized winning the AI race against China and declared, on his first day in office, a national energy emergency aimed at removing all regulatory obstacles to oil and gas drilling, coal and critical mineral mining, and building new gas and nuclear power plants to bring more energy capacity online. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Apple has a new Indian-American COO. What it needs might be a new CEO.
Central banks existential crisis — between alchemy and algorithm
What if Tata Motors buys Iveco's truck unit? Will it propel or drag like JLR?
Paid less than plumbers? The real story of freshers' salaries at Infy, TCS.
Stock Radar: HDFC AMC gives a breakout from Cup & Handle pattern to hit fresh highs – time to buy or book profits?
These large-caps have 'strong buy' & 'buy' recos and an upside potential of more than 20%
Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus
Stock picks of the week: 4 stocks with consistent score improvement and return potential of more than 19% in 1 year
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump Environmental Protection Agency moves to repeal finding that allows climate regulation
President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule rescinds a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Technology others Project Management Finance Degree Data Science Management Public Policy Artificial Intelligence Others Cybersecurity MCA CXO healthcare Data Science Healthcare MBA Operations Management Product Management Leadership Skills you'll gain: Duration: 12 Weeks MIT xPRO CERT-MIT XPRO Building AI Prod India Starts on undefined Get Details The "endangerment finding" is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the proposed rule change on a podcast ahead of an official announcement set for Tuesday in Indiana. Repealing the endangerment finding "will be the largest deregulatory action in the history of America," Zeldin said on the Ruthless podcast. Live Events Zeldin called for a rewrite of the endangerment finding in March as part of a series of environmental rollbacks announced at the same time in what Zeldin said was "the greatest day of deregulation in American history.'' A total of 31 key environmental rules on topics from clean air to clean water and climate change would be rolled back or repealed under Zeldin's plan. He singled out the endangerment finding as "the Holy Grail of the climate change religion" and said he was thrilled to end it "as the EPA does its part to usher in the Golden Age of American success.'' Tailpipe emission limits also targeted The EPA also called for rescinding limits on tailpipe emissions that were designed to encourage automakers to build and sell more electric vehicles. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Three former EPA leaders have criticized Zeldin, saying his March proposal would endanger the lives of millions of Americans and abandon the agency's dual mission to protect the environment and human health. "If there's an endangerment finding to be found anywhere, it should be found on this administration because what they're doing is so contrary to what the Environmental Protection Agency is about," Christine Todd Whitman, who led EPA under Republican President George W. Bush, said after Zeldin's plan was made public. The EPA proposal follows an executive order from Trump that directed the agency to submit a report "on the legality and continuing applicability" of the endangerment finding. Conservatives and some congressional Republicans hailed the initial plan, calling it a way to undo economically damaging rules to regulate greenhouse gases. But environmental groups, legal experts and Democrats said any attempt to repeal or roll back the endangerment finding would be an uphill task with slim chance of success. The finding came two years after a 2007 Supreme Court ruling holding that the EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Passing court muster could be an issue David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said it was virtually "impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding (to the 2009 standard) that would stand up in court." Doniger and other critics accused Trump's Republican administration of using potential repeal of the endangerment finding as a "kill shot'' that would allow him to make all climate regulations invalid. If finalized, repeal of the endangerment finding would erase current limits on greenhouse gas pollution from cars, factories, power plants and other sources and could prevent future administrations from proposing rules to tackle climate change. "The Endangerment Finding is the legal foundation that underpins vital protections for millions of people from the severe threats of climate change, and the Clean Car and Truck Standards are among the most important and effective protections to address the largest U.S. source of climate-causing pollution,'' said Peter Zalzal, associate vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund. "Attacking these safeguards is manifestly inconsistent with EPA's responsibility to protect Americans' health and well-being,'' he said. "It is callous, dangerous and a breach of our government's responsibility to protect the American people from this devastating pollution."
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Microsoft heads into Q4 earnings announcement with one big Risk Question: Is the company's AI ...
Microsoft investors who will be attending the company's upcoming fourth quarter earnings call may have one 'big question' for the tech giant. They are expected to ask the company: Is the company's AI 'upper hand' at risk as its partner OpenAI plans to go public while reportedly discussing partnership opportunities with rivals like Google, Oracle and CoreWeave for cloud services? Due to its exclusive licensing deals and access to OpenAI's models, Microsoft has been a significant beneficiary of the generative AI boom. This partnership has reportedly fueled growth in Microsoft's Azure cloud business and pushed its market value toward $4 trillion. According to data shared by Visible Alpha (seen by the news agency Reuters), the tie-up is expected to have driven a 34.8% increase in Microsoft's cloud service Azure's revenue for the April-June quarter, which exceeds the 33% rise in the last quarter. However, the partnership deal is currently being renegotiated as OpenAI aims for a public listing. As per recent reports, a potential deadlock over the extent of Microsoft's access to the technology of the ChatGPT maker and its stake is expected in the coming days, if OpenAI convert into a public-benefit company. This conversion requires Microsoft's approval and is crucial for a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group, with $20 billion contingent on the restructuring being finalised by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, OpenAI has recently deepened its Oracle ties with a planned 4.5 gigawatts of data centre capacity and added Google Cloud as a supplier for computing capacity. Why investors may still have confidence in the Microsoft OpenAI deal According to a report by Reuters, UBS analysts have noted that investor opinions on the Microsoft–OpenAI deal are mixed. However, Microsoft maintains a stronger position in the partnership. 'Microsoft's leadership earned enough credibility … such that the company will end up negotiating terms that will be in the interest of its shareholders,' the analysts said to Reuters. Some of that confidence among investors appears to be reflected in Microsoft's stock performance, which has gained over 20% so far this year. During the April–June period (fourth quarter of Microsoft's fiscal year), the company may have seen positive effects from a weaker dollar, steady demand for non-AI Azure services, and early Windows orders by PC makers anticipating potential US tariffs, Reuters noted. Meanwhile, revenue is projected to have grown by 14% to $73.81 billion, marking its most significant increase in three quarters, according to LSEG data seen by Reuters. The company's profit is also expected to have risen 14.2% to $25.16 billion, though this represents a slightly slower pace than the prior quarter due to higher operating expenses. Apart from this, capital spending is also likely to draw attention in the earnings call after Alphabet recently announced $10 billion increase in its annual budget. Microsoft has indicated it is still facing capacity limits in AI and suggested further capital expenditure growth after spending over $80 billion last fiscal year. However, the pace may be slower and focused on shorter-term assets like AI chips. According to Dan Morgan of Synovus Trust, who holds Microsoft stock, the investment appears to be yielding results. 'Investors may still be underestimating the potential for Microsoft's AI business to drive durable consumption growth in the agentic AI era,' Morgan said to Reuters. iQOO Z10R 5G goes on Sale: BEST Budget Phone for Content Creators? AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Donald Trump's tariffs to hit less than expected! IMF raises global growth forecast to 3% for 2025; India, US, China see upgrades
AI image The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday upgraded its global growth outlook for 2025, projecting a 3% expansion—up 0.2 percentage points from its April forecast—as early stockpiling ahead of US tariffs, a weaker dollar, and improved financial conditions help cushion the blow of American President Donald Trump's sweeping trade measures. Growth for 2026 was also raised marginally to 3.1%, according to the IMF's July update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO). 'This reflects stronger-than-expected front-loading in anticipation of higher tariffs; lower average effective US tariff rates than announced in April; an improvement in financial conditions, including due to a weaker US dollar; and fiscal expansion in some major jurisdictions,' the IMF said. US, China, India growth forecast raised The US economy is now expected to grow 1.9% in 2025 and 2% in 2026, bolstered in part by fiscal expansion, including the effects of Trump's tax cuts. China's forecast was revised up sharply to 4.8%, from 4% earlier, on the back of lower-than-expected US tariffs and higher public spending. India will likely retain its crown as the world's fastest-growing major economy, with projected growth of 6.4% in both 2025 and 2026, up 0.2% from the previous April estimates. Euro area growth is now seen at 1% in 2025, up from 0.8%, led by a surge in pharmaceutical exports from Ireland ahead of new US drug tariffs. Japan continues to lag with sub-1% growth expectations. Global inflation seen easing, but US could remain above target IMF expects global headline inflation to decline to 4.2% in 2025 and further to 3.6% in 2026, broadly in line with its April estimates. However, the IMF warned of diverging trends. 'The overall picture hides notable cross-country differences, with forecasts predicting inflation will remain above target in the United States and be more subdued in other large economies.' IMF flags downside risks if trade shocks worsen While the tone of the update was cautiously optimistic, the IMF flagged significant risks to the outlook. 'Risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside, as they were in the April 2025 WEO,' the report noted. 'A rebound in effective tariff rates could lead to weaker growth. Elevated uncertainty could start weighing more heavily on activity, also as deadlines for additional tariffs expire without progress on substantial, permanent agreements,' the IMF said, warning that geopolitical tensions may disrupt global supply chains and fuel commodity price spikes. Markets, central banks in spotlight The IMF cautioned that rising fiscal deficits or greater risk aversion could lift long-term interest rates and trigger financial volatility. 'Combined with fragmentation concerns, this could reignite volatility in financial markets,' it said. On the other hand, progress on the trade front could deliver upside surprises: 'Global growth could be lifted if trade negotiations lead to a predictable framework and to a decline in tariffs,' the IMF said. Calling for a coordinated global policy response, the Fund urged governments to ensure 'confidence, predictability, and sustainability by calming tensions, preserving price and financial stability, restoring fiscal buffers, and implementing much-needed structural reforms.' Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . Discover stories of India's leading eco-innovators at Ecopreneur Honours 2025
