Project Stargate: Who is Really Funding America’s $500B AI Race

The Shareholder Anatomy of Stargate

At the heart of the Stargate consortium lies a tripartite alliance of American tech giants, Gulf sovereign wealth funds, and SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

The UAE’s MGX Group, a sovereign investment vehicle chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is projected to contribute an estimated 15–20% ($75–$100billion) of the $500 billion target. MGX operates as a conduit for Abu Dhabi’s sprawling $1.5 trillion sovereign wealth ecosystem, consolidating capital from Mubadala, ADQ, and other state-backed entities. Its strategic leverage stems from control over critical AI supply chains, particularly through its partnership with G42, an Abu Dhabi-based tech conglomerate that has emerged as a linchpin in global AI diplomacy. G42’s alliances with Microsoft, OpenAI, and Cerebras—a California-based AI chip designer—grant MGX indirect control over the hardware and software stack underpinning Stargate’s infrastructure.

SoftBank Group, the Japanese investment titan burdened by $160 billion in debt, occupies another pivotal role. Through its Vision Fund, SoftBank has amassed a $30 billion portfolio of AI-centric investments, including Arm Holdings, the UK-based chip designer whose architectures power everything from smartphones to data centers.

SoftBank’s stake in Stargate, is estimated at 10–15% ($50-$75billion). However it has been confirmed by Elon Musk earlier today, that SoftBank has less than $10 billion to invest in the Stargate Project to date.

For SoftBank, Stargate becomes less a strategic choice than a financial necessity. The Vision Fund’s catastrophic losses- $32 billion between 2022 and 2023- from failed bets on WeWork, Didi, and Klarna—have forced the holding to seek high-profile partnerships to monetize its remaining assets. Stargate serves as a lifeline, aligning with SoftBank’s $100 billion “Izanagi” initiative to develop AI chips that could rival NVIDIA’s dominance.

The U.S. government and tech giants round out the consortium, though their contributions are overshadowed by foreign capital. Microsoft, through its Azure cloud division, is expected to claim a 20–25% stake in Stargate, while NVIDIA’s role as the primary chip supplier could translate to a 5–10% equity share. The U.S. federal government’s involvement, framed as a $100 billion loan package, is contingent on foreign participation—a tacit admission that domestic capital alone cannot sustain such ambitions.