Tech billionaire Elon Musk has expressed doubts about President Trump's newly announced artificial intelligence infrastructure plan, saying the technology companies backing the effort still don't have the $500 billion pledged for the project. he claimed.
President Trump on Tuesday announced Stargate, a joint project to invest up to $500 billion over the next four years to build infrastructure to support artificial intelligence (AI) development. OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank are the project's initial investors.
“They don't actually have the funding,” Musk wrote in response to OpenAI's statement about the project on his social platform X.
“SoftBank has secured well under $10 billion, which I have on good authority,” he added.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday praised the Tesla CEO for Musk's comments.
”[I] I really admire your work and think you are the most inspirational entrepreneur of our time. ” Altman wrote.
Less than an hour later, Mr. Altman delivered an even stronger rebuke, inviting Mr. Musk to review the clear progress already being made.
”[Wrong, as you surely know. want to come visit the first site already under way? this is great for the country. i realize what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies, but in your new role i hope you’ll mostly put [the U.S.] beginning. “
Musk's comments marked a marked shift from President Trump's optimistic tone on Tuesday. The tech billionaire heads Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is expected to focus on cutting government spending and regulation, and has already secured a White House email address.
President Trump was joined at the White House announcement by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Altman and Oracle Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison.
In December, Son joined Trump at his Mar-a-Lago mansion and announced that his company plans to invest $100 billion in the United States over the next four years. At the time, Trump pressured SoftBank leaders to double the investment to $200 billion on the spot. Masayoshi laughed and said, “I will try to make it happen.''
“Now I'm back with $500,” Son said Tuesday at the White House.
Sources familiar with the Stargate project told The Hill that SoftBank is prepared to immediately inject $100 billion in capital from founding partners, co-investors, third-party debt and other sources. spoke.
According to Softbank Financial results for the second quarter of last year, At the end of September last year, the company had about $24.3 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
The joint venture also includes Middle East AI fund MGX, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Arm.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was asked Wednesday about Musk's response. He told CNBC's “Squawk Box.” “Look, all I know is that $80 billion is OK.”
The president called it “the largest AI infrastructure project in history,” a nod to the foreign competition the United States faces on emerging technologies.
New AI technologies, like OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbots, require enormous amounts of power to build and maintain. The Department of Energy estimated last month that energy demand for U.S. data centers has tripled in the past decade and is expected to double or triple by 2028.
“We're excited to be able to do this in the United States,” Altman said, adding that companies wouldn't be able to do it without Trump.
President Trump called Altman a “guru” in AI and described the group of technology leaders as “a huge group of talent and money.”
Musk, who owns the AI company xAI, has had a rocky relationship with Altman in recent years. He is currently suing Altman and OpenAI, alleging that the AI company Musk helped found in 2015 has abandoned its original mission.
The Hill has reached out to the White House, OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle for further comment.
Updated at 12:23 PM ET.
