In January, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stood next to President Trump and the leaders of Softbank and Oracle to announce a $500 million plan to build data centers in the U.S. So far, the mega project, called Stargate, has yet to complete its first planned data center in Abilene, Tex. But that didn’t stop OpenAI from touting a new global initiative today—this time aimed at developing AI infrastructure globally. While the plan, called OpenAI for Countries, is short on details, it’s long on rhetoric casting both OpenAI and the U.S. as benevolent actors in the face of authoritarian regimes like China.
The company said it wants to spread “democratic AI,” or “AI that protects and incorporates long-standing democratic principles.” That includes “the freedom for people to choose how they work with and direct AI, the prevention of government use of AI to amass control, and a free market that ensures free competition.”
