OpenAI offers to help countries build AI systems

The OpenAI for Countries initiative was launched under the auspices of a Stargate drive.

OpenAI on Wednesday announced an initiative to help countries build their own artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructures, with the U.S. government a partner in projects.

The San Francisco tech firm's move to put its technology at the heart of national AI platforms around the world comes as it faces competition from Chinese rival DeepSeek.

DeepSeek's success in delivering powerful AI models at a lower cost has rattled Silicon Valley and multiplied calls for U.S. big tech to protect its dominance of the emerging technology.

"It's clear to everyone now that this kind of infrastructure is going to be the backbone of future economic growth and national development," OpenAI said in a blog post.

"This is a moment when we need to act to support countries around the world that would prefer to build on democratic AI rails, and provide a clear alternative to authoritarian versions of AI that would deploy it to consolidate power."

The OpenAI for Countries initiative was launched under the auspices of a Stargate drive announced by U.S. President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States.

"We've heard from many countries asking for help in building out similar AI infrastructure," OpenAI said.