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OpenAI and Microsoft responded to Elon Musk's criticism of Stargate, the new $500 billion AI infrastructure project that Donald Trump hailed as a “resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential under a new president.”
In a rare disagreement with Trump… Musk On Tuesday evening, he poured cold water on the project, writing: “They don’t actually have the money.” He added that he had “credibly” determined that SoftBank received less than $10 billion.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, responded on Wednesday that Musk's claim is “false, as you certainly know.”
“I realize that what is great for the country is not always what is best for your companies, but in your new role, I hope you will put (the United States) first,” he wrote.
While Stargate's founding investors — SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX, the Abu Dhabi government's artificial intelligence fund — will put some of their own capital to work on the company, a significant portion of the initial $100 billion is expected to come from new investors they have and have yet to be determined. His identity is yet to be determined, according to one of the people involved in the project.
Wrong, as you surely know.
Would you like to visit the first site already underway?
This is great for the country. I realize that what's great for the country isn't always what's best for your companies, but in your new role, I hope you put 🇺🇸 first.
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 22, 2025
Another person involved said the funding would be a mix of equity from institutional partners and co-investors, as well as debt, but added: “We are ready to deploy $100 billion immediately.”
Musk, who co-chairs the government's newly formed Ministry of Efficiency, has been in a long-running dispute with OpenAI, Altman and the startup's biggest backer, Microsoft. Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI, but left the board in 2018 after falling out with Altman.
Tesla's CEO has launched a number of lawsuits against the two companies and Altman, claiming they have harmed their mission of creating widely useful AI models by prioritizing profits instead.
Their rift now threatens to inject a degree of tension into Musk's relationship with the new president, who has presented the project as an early win in his plans to drive investment in the United States through lower taxes and deregulation.
Trump unveiled Stargate on Tuesday at the White House, flanked by Altman, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
The president suggested that Stargate would create 100,000 jobs, which would represent a victory over China, helping to preserve the “future of technology” in the United States. He also said he would use “emergency declarations” to speed up their access to the massive amounts of electricity they will need.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company has $80 billion in capital expenditures planned this year, separate from Stargate. “All I know is that I'm good for my $80 billion,” he said.
Japanese SoftBank shares jumped more than 10 percent on Wednesday after Trump unveiled the joint venture, which plans to spend $100 billion on technology infrastructure, rising to $500 billion over the next four years.
Other public companies involved in Stargate also saw their stock prices rise. Oracle added 7 percent, while shares of ARM, Nvidia and Microsoft – technology partners in the project – rose 17 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively. OpenAI, which will run the project, is not publicly traded.
SoftBank and OpenAI declined to comment. MGX and Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
