Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is in a heated dispute with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the Stargate AI infrastructure project backed by President Donald Trump, which promises up to $500 billion in investment.
The initiative, involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aims to build crucial data centers and power infrastructure to accelerate the development of cutting-edge AI technology.
Trump called it “a powerful statement of confidence in America’s future” under his new administration, with an initial private investment of $100 billion that could grow fivefold.
However, Elon Musk, a close aide to Donald Trump who also helped fund his campaign and now leads a government cost-cutting initiative, raised doubts about the investment after the announcement.
In what appears to be a recent dig at Elon Musk on Wednesday (US time), Sam Altman criticised the frequent negativity on social media, tweeting, “Just one more mean tweet and then maybe you’ll love yourself.”
Earlier, Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X that the funds for the AI investment aren’t available, saying, “They don’t actually have the money. SoftBank has well under USD 10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
Sam Altman disagreed with Elon Musk’s comments, saying he was “wrong, as you surely know,” and invited him to visit the Texas construction site.
Altman added that the project is good for the country and urged Musk to prioritise America in his new role.
What’s behind the feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman?
The Stargate disagreement is part of a long-standing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, which began with a boardroom battle over leadership at OpenAI, the organisation they both co-founded, according to Associated Press.
Musk, an early investor and board member of OpenAI, sued Altman’s company last year, accusing it of betraying its nonprofit research goals and shifting focus to profit-making.
The conflict has escalated with Musk adding new claims and seeking a court order to halt OpenAI’s transition to a fully for-profit entity. A hearing is scheduled for early February in California federal court.
As the world’s richest man, Musk, who leads Tesla, SpaceX, and X, launched his own AI rival, xAI, last year, which is building a massive data center in Memphis, Tennessee.
