Rama Krishna Sangem
Billionaire Elon Musk has doubts over availability of huge funds – 500 billion US dollars – for the new pet project of President Donald Trump. But, he is countered by another Tech giant Sam Altman on this issue. Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman engaged in an online feud over Stargate, a $500 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project announced by US President Donald Trump.
The initiative, which Trump described as “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential”, will be funded through a collaboration between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. It is set to kick off with an initial $100 billion private investment led by Masayoshi Son, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and Altman.
Despite the high-profile backing, Musk, a key Trump advisor and leader of the government cost-cutting programme DOGE, voiced his doubts shortly after the announcement. Responding to an OpenAI post on X about deploying the initial $100 billion, Musk claimed, “They don’t actually have the money.” He later added, “SoftBank has well under $10 billion secured. I have that on good authority.”
Altman respects Musk, but..
Altman initially took a measured approach, tweeting, “I genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time.” However, his tone shifted when addressing Musk’s criticism of Stargate’s funding.
“Wrong, as you surely know. Want to come visit the first site already under way? This is great for the country. I realise 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 United States] first,” Altman replied.
Musk remained defiant, retweeting an image of a crack pipe with the caption, “Leaked image of the research tool OpenAI used to come up with their $500 billion number for Stargate.”
This dispute marks a rare public disagreement between Musk and the White House, where he serves as one of Trump’s closest advisors.
Satya Nadella avoids row
Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose company partners with OpenAI, also weighed in. During a CNBC interview, he was asked about the feud and remarked, “All I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion. I’m going to spend $80 billion building out Azure.”
The Stargate controversy adds another chapter to the ongoing rivalry between Musk and Altman. The two co-founded OpenAI, but Musk left in 2018 over disagreements about the organisation’s direction. He later sued OpenAI, accusing it of abandoning its nonprofit mission for profit-driven goals. A federal court hearing on Musk’s claims is scheduled for February.
This controversy only shows that Musk, though a close confidant of President Trump, will not keep quiet on issues on which he has a different opinion. We need to see, how Trump will take this open expression of doubts from Musk on an important project like Stargate AI.
