President Trump Indirectly Endorses Sustainable IT Services, Renewable Energy for Data Centers

During a press conference at The White House, President Donald Trump indirectly endorsed sustainable IT services and renewable energy to power AI (artificial intelligence) and next-generation data centers.

To be clear, Trump did not mention sustainability or renewable energy by name. But Trump did endorse The Stargate Project -- a $500 billion initiative and startup company formed by database and enterprise application giant Oracle; investment firm SoftBank; and generative AI pioneer OpenAI.

The project seeks to build modern AI infrastructure and next-generation data centers across the United States. Take a closer look at the strategy, and The Stargate Project is seeking partners that specialize in renewable energy and sustainability, according to a launch form from OpenAI.

Renewable Energy and Sustainability: Trump Ends Biden Initiatives

The Stargate Project surfaced at The White House on January 21, 2025 -- only one day after the Trump administration revoked a total of 78 executive orders signed by Joe Biden. Some of those Biden executive orders provided federal government incentives for electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy systems and various climate technologies.

In stark contrast, Trump's America First Priorities call for the federal government to "unleash American energy by ending Biden’s policies of climate extremism, streamlining permitting, and reviewing for rescission all regulations that impose undue burdens on energy production and use, including mining and processing of non-fuel minerals."

Who Should Pay for Modern U.S. Infrastructure and Data Centers?

Read between the lines, and the Biden administration was providing billions of dollars in grants and/or tax breaks to some climate tech startups, chip companies, and consumers who purchased EVs (electric vehicles).

While Trump has bashed some renewable energies (particularly off-shore wind power systems), he endorsed The Stargate Project because it involves corporations and venture capitalists investing $500 billion in U.S. infrastructure. And clearly, some of that modernized infrastructure will involve renewable energy systems that power new data centers, according to OpenAI's overall data center business strategy, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's personal investment strategy.

Still, The Stargate Project faces some critics, skeptics and question marks. Among the anecdotal proof points: Launch partner Oracle does not mention The Stargate Project on its website as of January 22, 2025 -- despite the fact that Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison participated in the launch announcement at The White House.

Elon Musk, Anthropic CEO Express Doubts About The Stargate Project

Critics and skeptics of the project include xAI founder Elon Musk, a major contributor to Trump's presidential campaign, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

Musk alleges The Stargate Project does not have enough funds to fulfill its stated mission, Axios reported. Still, it's important to consider Musk's personal interests. In addition to running Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), Musk runs xAI, an artificial intelligence startup that competes against OpenAI. Musk also runs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump effort to make the federal government and associated IT systems more efficient.

Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said The Stargate Project seems chaotic, Bloomberg reported. Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Google, competes against OpenAI in the generative AI market.

So what's next? According to OpenAi, The Stargate Project "buildout is currently underway, starting in Texas, and we are evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses as we finalize definitive agreements."

Stay tuned for updates -- and potential partnerships with renewable energy and sustainability companies.