Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, criticized a $500 billion Artificial Intelligence initiative unveiled by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, claiming that the funds pledged for the investment were not available.
The remarks were a rare schism between Trump and Musk, who played a critical role in bringing the newly inaugurated President to office and spent $270 million on the election campaign.
Trump announced on Tuesday a massive investment in AI infrastructure, headed by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
Trump stated that the Stargate partnership “will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States.”
However, in a post on his social media network X, Musk stated that the primary investors “don’t actually have the money.”
“SoftBank has well under $10 billion secured. “I have that on good authority,” Musk wrote in a subsequent post.Musk’s swipe could be aimed specifically at OpenAI, the world’s leading AI startup, which he helped build before departing in 2018.
The Tesla CEO and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who was present at the White House on Tuesday, have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry, with Musk filing multiple lawsuits against the firm behind ChatGPT.
“Wrong, as you undoubtedly know. Would you like to come to the first site, which is already underway?” Altman responded to Musk on X.
“This is excellent for the country. I understand that what is best for the country is not always what is best for your businesses, but in your new capacity, I hope you would prioritize (country) first,” he continued.
OpenAI, one of the world’s most valuable firms, loses money on the high cost of turning out its expensive technology.
According to the Wall Street Journal, cloud giant Oracle is also engaged and has over $11 billion in cash and securities. SoftBank has approximately $30 billion in cash on hand.
“The American people should believe the statements of President Trump and those CEOs. These investments are coming to our wonderful country, and they will bring with them American employment,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
The Stargate project has committed to investing an initial $100 billion on the project, with a potential $500 billion over the next four years.
The project will also be funded by Abu Dhabi’s AI-focused state fund MGX and Oracle, with technological partners including SoftBank-owned Arm, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
According to the companies, the effort is initially developing a database centre in Texas.
Before entering office, Trump announced last month a $20 billion Emirati investment in US data centers, in addition to an earlier investment pledge from SoftBank.
SoftBank, led by flamboyant Japanese businessman Masayoshi Son, declined to comment on Tuesday’s announcement of Stargate alongside Trump, Altman, and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
The Japanese investment company announced on Tuesday that it would “begin deploying $100 billion immediately” for the project.
The company’s shares were up around 6% on Thursday, after rising more than 10% on Wednesday.
According to Bloomberg News, SoftBank and OpenAI aim to invest $19 billion in Stargate.
According to the Information, both corporations would hold 40% of it.
It stated that Oracle and MGX would each invest $7 billion, with the remainder coming from limited partners and debt finance.
Son, 67, launched SoftBank in his twenties. He made stunningly profitable early bets on Yahoo! and Alibaba, as well as some terrible investments in WeWork.
During Trump’s first term, the rags-to-riches investor pledged that SoftBank will invest $50 billion in the US and generate 50,000 jobs.
Son, who spoke beside Trump in December 2024, stated that he would now “double down” with $100 billion and create 100,000 jobs for Americans.
