Faster, Please!

Faster, Please!

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Faster, Please!
Faster, Please!
🎇 Stargate isn't enough. Save the NSF

🎇 Stargate isn't enough. Save the NSF

America's 21st century technological supremacy depends on government efforts like the National Science Foundation, not just Silicon Valley

James Pethokoukis's avatar
James Pethokoukis
Feb 08, 2025
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Faster, Please!
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🎇 Stargate isn't enough. Save the NSF
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My fellow pro-growth Up Wingers,

Stargate is back on! Time to build!

OK, I’m being a bit facetious here. Stargate — a $500 billion (or at least $100 billion) venture among SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle to construct artificial-intelligence computing infrastructure and data centers — wasn’t canceled. Yet the project (whose name I use as shorthand in this piece for Silicon Valley's broader AI infrastructure expansion) faced fresh scrutiny in recent weeks.

The source of concern was the DeepSeek Effect. The Chinese startup’s AI new model demonstrates capabilities comparable to those of American firms while apparently consuming fewer chips and capital. This apparent fantastic feat of frugality has raised awkward questions about whether the extensive infrastructure investments planned by America's technology giants were truly prerequisite for the development of artificial general intelligence.

Downgrading the DeepSeek Effect

Recently, however, three things have happened to dispel that initial hot-take about DeepSeek:

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