Operator, can you open a Stargate for me please?
Trump's 'shock and awe' campaign of executive orders; the plan for a $500B AI Stargate; and the real environmental cost of generative AI
Good morning folks!
Donald Trump took office as the 47th president of the United States of America last Monday, and quickly conducted what one historian has described as an “executive order shock and awe campaign.” He issued a slew of executive orders and rescinded dozens others, following through on many campaign promises. The new administration includes a new closeness between Trump and Big Tech, with Silicon Valley CEOs like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai all highly visible at the inauguration. Combining these themes, Trump also announced the first major tech policy of his second administration: a huge drive to build out US computing infrastructure for AI under the name Project Stargate.
We’ve got all this and more from the first two weeks of Trump’s second term in this issue of The Output, including:
OpenAI dials up a new Operator
The EU reconsiders its US tech probes
How companies value AI services
And is ChatGPT really so bad for the environment?
Policy
How do you fund a Stargate? Trump’s first major tech policy announcement is Stargate: a joint venture between SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI to build out AI computing infrastructure in the US. The news is big; the funding, uncertain. The headline figure of $500B over four years seems like a stretch goal while $100B is the immediate target and already under scrutiny. Elon Musk undermined the news, saying “they don’t actually have the money,” and that SoftBank had only secured “well under $10B.” (To which OpenAI’s Sam Altman replied “wrong, as you surely know,” with Microsoft’s Satya Nadella adding: “I’m good for my $80 billion.”) Citing those involved in funding, The Financial Times says a “large portion” of the $100B is due to come from sources “not yet” identified, but The New York Times says “Stargate already has $100 billion in hand.” So who knows! In his announcement, Trump said Stargate would create 100,000 jobs and keep the US ahead of China in AI development. Notably, although Trump announced Stargate, the project has been in the works for a while. (The FT; The NYT)
AI EO UH-OH. We knew it was coming, but Trump has officially rescinded Biden’s executive order on AI and signed his own. In the immediate term, the rescindment and Trump’s new EO put a freeze on effectively all of the ongoing AI projects left over from the last administration. That means a stop on frontier model reporting requirements under the Defense Production Act and even a review of popular bipartisan AI programs, including NAIRR and the U.S. AI Safety Institute (AISI), both of which have received support from a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, industry, and advocates. For more on what to expect in terms of immediate impacts from the repeal and the new EO, it’s worth reading ARI’s latest explainer blog on President Trump’s week one actions on AI. While Trump’s EO this week didn’t include a high level of detail, the order points to “human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security,” as the big picture direction for AI policy under the new administration. (Associated Press)
The EU reconsiders probes into Big Tech. The Financial Times reports that the European Union is “reassessing its investigations of tech groups including Apple, Meta and Google,” and quotes one senior diplomat as saying: “It’s going to be a whole new ballgame with these tech oligarchs so close to Trump and using that to pressurize us.” Trump last week called EU fines a “form of taxation.” So far, fines have mostly focused on antitrust issues, but future scrutiny will also soon include regulations aimed at artificial intelligence under the EU AI act. (The FT)
Industry
OpenAI introduces its first AI agent. 2025 is supposed to be the year of AI agents, and OpenAI is quick off the mark with Operator: a system that can browse the web for users and perform tasks like booking holidays, ordering food, researching shopping, and so on. Operators is live as a “research preview” for Pro users in the US (that’s the $200/month tier) and will expand to Plus, team, and Enterprise users some time “in the future.” (OpenAI)
Samsung borrows Google’s AI to beat Apple. Samsung announced its new Galaxy S25 series last week, offering an upgraded version of Google’s AI assistant Gemini in the phones. Gemini is now supposedly able to carry out multi-step tasks with a single prompt, e.g. pulling information from your email or calendar app to text a friend. Let’s see how it works in reality. Reviewers will be comparing this with Apple Intelligence features recently introduced for the iPhone that have so far been underwhelming. (The Verge)
AI is pricey but are users too cheap? Big tech is still trying to find the right cost for AI services. First up is Google, which is now offering AI services in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, etc, free while raising the price of enterprise plans. Similarly, Microsoft has made access to its AI agents in Copilot free as part of a rebrand for businesses while raising the cost of its subscription 365 bundles (the first such raise since 2013). Such changes show that companies and users alike are still trying to work out what AI is really worth..
ChatGPT adds reminders and, uh, something else? Oh yeah — to-do’s. Could be useful! Could even help someone trying to write, say, a newsletter. (The Verge)
Research
Putting ChatGPT’s environmental cost in perspective. You’ve probably seen claims on social media about the excessive electricity and water consumption of AI products. And while these figures are often accurate (e.g. a single ChatGPT query does generate around 10 times more emissions than a Google search; see p.34 in this IEA report) they lack context; including comparisons with other common activities like using a washing machine, driving a car, or taking a flight. This blog post from Andy Masley offers some helpful information, and even if you don’t read the whole thing, at least take a look at the graphs at the top of the story which summarize his findings.
Another startup joins the quest for AGI. For AI insiders, François Chollet is an impressive and influential figure. The former Google engineer is creator of both the Keras deep learning library and the ARC-AGI benchmark for testing AI reasoning and abstraction. Now, Chollet has co-founded a new startup, Ndea, with the aim of using new research techniques to develop and operationalize AGI. Specifically, Ndea will focus on what’s known as program synthesis; using deep learning techniques to access existing programs that solve the user’s query. (Ndea)
Want to hear experts break down the latest on President Trump’s AI policies? Join us for a virtual panel on Wednesday, January 29, at 2:00PM ET. Moderated by ARI’s own Senior VP of Government Affairs and former Trump White House official Satya Thallam, the panel will discuss the impact of Trump’s repeal of the Biden Executive Order on AI, the President's announcement of the Stargate project, relevant appointments, and what to watch as the new Administration rolls out AI policy. Register here.
Also keep an eye out this Wednesday for the Senate to hold a hearing on President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick. As the new Administration makes its first moves on AI policy, the Commerce Department will likely remain a nerve center for AI policymaking over the next four years. So where does Lutnick stand on AI? ARI is out with a new blog highlighting four questions the Senate should ask Lutnick at this week’s confirmation hearing.
Trump is open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok (The Verge)
AI defense company Anduril plans $1 billion Ohio factory (Anduril)
OpenAI partners with Axios to launch four new local news markets (TechCrunch)
Comments on EU’s AI draft from OpenAI’s former policy head (Miles Brundage)
YouTubers are selling unpublished video to train AI at $4 a minute (Bloomberg)
“She Is in Love With ChatGPT” (The New York Times)
UK PM Keir Starmer’s op-ed on the future of AI regulation (The Financial Times)
TikTok is still online, but not yet back in US app stores (Reuters)
Crypto execs fear backlash over Trump, Melania memecoins (The Financial Times)
DOGE targeted by lawsuits minutes after Trump takes office (Politico)
OpenAI vs The New York Times goes to court over copyright (NPR)
Mark Zuckerberg “loves” viral AI slop on Facebook (404 Media)