Just hours after US President Donald Trump announced a USD 500 billion investment in AI infrastructure through a new company, Stargate, which is being created in partnership with Oracle, SoftBank and Open AI, close confidant Elon Musk publicly trolled it.
Musk — a tech billionaire and the world’s richest man — interestingly, has been kept out of the mega project. While that may have irked him, the presence of Open AI head Sam Altman in the Stargate project cannot be ruled out.
Apparently, the two tech billionaires don’t get along well and have engaged in spat publicly for some time now. If there was any doubt, Musk blew the cover on that.
Replying directly to a tweet from OpenAI about Stargate, Musk, Trump’s DOGE head, wrote: “They don’t actually have the money.”
He didn’t stop at that. Later, he took a swipe at SoftBank, doubting its ability to invest in the half a trillion-dollar project.
“SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority,” Musk’s reply read.
SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
Musk’s stance on the issue also contradicts Trump’s announcement, who on Tuesday at a White House news conference along with Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son and Open AI CEO Sam Altman, said, “That’s a massive group of talent and money. Together, these world-leading technology giants are announcing the formation of Stargate.”
“So, put that name down in your books because I think you’re going to hear a lot about it in the future, a new American company that will invest USD 500 billion at least in AI infrastructure in the United States and very, very quickly, moving very rapidly, creating over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately,” the US President said.
“It will ensure the future of technology. What we want to do is keep it in this country. China is a competitor and others are competitors,” he added.
Altman-Musk rivalry
Musk, in the recent past has been critical of both Sam Altman and OpenAI. He even claimed that the OpenAI case is a “textbook tale of altruism versus greed”.
The Tesla boss, who now owns social media platform X, co-founded OpenAI nearly a decade ago. Musk has said that he was manipulated from the very beginning by both the company and Altman and was ‘lured’ into co-founding the ChatGPT makers.
Late last year, Musk was also vocal about a probe into former OpenAI employee of Indian-origin, Suchir Balaji’s suspicious death. While initial probe ruled it as a suicide, Balaji’s mother took to social media to share that the family suspected foulplay and urged a fresh probe, which received support from Musk.
Now, it’ll be interesting to see how Trump manages both camp as the Altman-Musk rivalry is not showing signs of slowing down any time sooner.
