On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced a major $500 billion private-sector initiative named “Stargate,” aimed at building an artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States though a partnership between tech giants OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle.
Trump pledged to kickstart the initiative through an executive action that would utilize emergency declarations to fast-track production and simplify regulatory hurdles for participating companies.
“I’m going to help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built,” Trump said on Tuesday. “So they have to produce a lot of electricity. And we’ll make it possible for them to get this production done easily, at their own plants if they want.”
Trump’s announcement came just hours after he signed an executive order titled “Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which aimed to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs within federal agencies — while warning of future initiatives to curtail similar efforts in the private sector. The order directs federal agencies to end DEI-related mandates, policies and programs, calling such initiatives “discriminatory and illegal,” and it requires agencies to enforce civil-rights laws to combat private-sector DEI preferences.
Despite the Trump administration’s sweeping actions against DEI, all three of the companies Trump announced as part of the Stargate initiative have touted DEI programs and remain publicly committed to DEI principles, according to company websites.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has a webpage titled “Commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion,” where the company touts its DEI programs and its commitment to mitigate harmful biases in AI systems.
“Our investment in diversity, equity, and inclusion is ongoing, executed through a wide range of initiatives, owned by everyone across the company, and championed and supported by leadership,” the website states. “We take this work seriously and are committed to continuously improving our work in creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization.”
SoftBank President and CEO Junichi Miyagawa has also touted DEI initiatives, saying in a 2021 post on the company’s website, “It is extremely important that we ensure diversity within the core personnel involved in management.” In a 2024 post, the company said that “Promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion is an important management issue, and we strive to foster a dynamic and vibrant organization that enables diverse members of our workforce to fully exercise their talents, regardless of age, gender, nationality or disabilities.”
Larry Ellison’s Oracle also promotes initiatives related to diversity and inclusion, with a page on the company’s website titled “Culture and Inclusion Empowers Diversity.”
“If you ever find yourself wondering why diversity and inclusion matters, remember: It makes our teams stronger and our ideas better,” the page reads.
Representatives from OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment. A White House spokesperson also did not respond.
Meanwhile, the Stargate deal has faced skepticism regarding its $500 billion price tag — including from Trump’s own adviser, billionaire Elon Musk.
In an overnight post on his social media platform X, Musk questioned OpenAI’s financial backing, and later shared a post that called the $500 billion price tag “ridiculous” and said that “no one should take it seriously.”
The Stargate deal comes as other tech companies have pulled back their DEI initiatives ahead of the Trump administration’s actions.
Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta announced it was terminating its major DEI programs effective immediately, including as they relate to hiring, training and picking suppliers.
“The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” Meta’s vice president of human resources, Janelle Gale, wrote in a memo obtained by ABC News.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI. It reaffirms longstanding principles that discrimination should not be tolerated or promoted on the basis of inherent characteristics.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management directed all federal agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday, and to take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline.
Musk, who now heads the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, has long criticized DEI programs, writing in a post on X that “DEI is just another word for racism.”
“Shame on anyone who uses it,” Musk wrote.
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