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OpenAI hit back at Elon Musk's criticism of Stargate, the brand new $500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure project hailed by Donald Trump as a “stunning statement of confidence in America's potential under a brand new president.”
In a rare break with Trump, Musk poured cold water on the project on Tuesday evening, writing: “They don't even have the cash.” He added that he had “based on a reliable source” that SoftBank was value lower than $10 billion -Dollars secured.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded Wednesday that Musk's claim was “false, as I'm sure .”
“I realize that what’s great for the country is just not all the time what’s best in your company, but I hope that for essentially the most part in your latest role you’ll put (the US) first,” he wrote X
While Stargate's founding investors – SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX, Abu Dhabi's state-owned AI fund – will put a few of their very own capital into the corporate, a big portion of the initial $100 billion was expected to come back from latest ones Investors who’ve done so haven’t yet been identified, an individual involved within the project said.
improper, as you most likely know.
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This is great for the country. I realize that what's great for the country isn't all the time what's best in your company, but I hope that in your latest role you'll put 🇺🇸 first.
– Sam Altman (@sama) January 22, 2025
Another person involved said the financing can be a mix of equity from the founding partners and co-investors in addition to debt, but added: “We are able to deploy $100 billion immediately.”
Musk, co-chair of the newly formed Ministry of Government Efficiency, has long been in a feud with OpenAI, Altman and the startup's biggest backer, Microsoft. Musk co-founded OpenAI but left the board in 2018 after a conflict with Altman.
The Tesla boss has filed lawsuits against the 2 corporations and Altman, claiming they jeopardized their mission to develop widely useful AI models by prioritizing profits as a substitute.
Their dispute threatens to create some tension in Musk's relationship with the brand new president, who portrayed the project as an early victory in his plans to spice up investment within the U.S. through low taxes and deregulation.
Trump unveiled Stargate on the White House on Tuesday, flanked by Altman, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
The president suggested that Stargate would create 100,000 jobs, marking a victory over China and helping to preserve the “way forward for technology” within the United States. He also said he would use “emergency declarations” to hurry up the country’s access to the large amounts of electricity it is going to need.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company planned $80 billion in capital spending this yr, separate from Stargate. “All I do know is that I’m good for my $80 billion.”
The group later said: “Microsoft supports the Stargate project and any statements about our $80 billion infrastructure commitment are intended to speak what we’re committed to and will not be a response to anything or anyone else.”
Shares of Japan's SoftBank rose greater than 10 percent on Wednesday after Trump unveiled the three way partnership, which plans to speculate $100 billion in tech infrastructure and grow to $500 billion over the subsequent 4 years.
Other listed corporations involved in Stargate also recorded price increases. Oracle rose 6.8 percent, while Arm, Nvidia and Microsoft – technology partners within the project – rose 15.9 percent, 4.4 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. OpenAI, which is able to operate the project, is just not publicly traded.
SoftBank and OpenAI declined to comment. MGX and Oracle didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
