Tech entrepreneur and Trump-ally Elon Musk recently took to his social platform to criticize President Donald Trump’s AI infrastructure project, Stargate.
In a long-form post posted on X, Musk wrote that “they don’t actually have the money” for the project, claiming that Stargate sponsor SoftBank has less than $10B secured.
His comments came hours after OpenAI, helmed by CEO Sam Altman, was announced as a key partner in the project.
Musk has been involved in an ongoing lawsuit with OpenAI and Altman; after co-founding the company in 2015 and stepping down in 2018, the X CEO filed a lawsuit last year against the AI company and others, alleging that they abandoned their original mission with their focus on “maximizing profits for Microsoft” going the original agreement.
Musk, who in the past week has been called a “threat to democracy” by French Prime Minister Bayrou and has made the news for a gesture many are comparing to the Nazi salute, continued to take to social media late Wednesday, referencing Altman’s past tweets in 2016 which seem to denounce Trump.
They don’t actually have the money
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
Meanwhile, Altman himself took to X to respond to Musk’s tweets, calling his SoftBank claim incorrect.
“I realize what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies,” wrote Altman, “but in your new role I hope you’ll mostly put [America] first.”
Altman himself was seen alongside Trump, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison and Softbank Ceo Masayoshi Son at the announcement of the Stargate program in the White House.
The $500 billion initiative, which was being worked on before Trump was announced the winner of the 2024 Presidential Election, will reportedly focus on ensuring that the U.S. is the leader in AI technology by spending up to $100 billion annually on crafting infrastructure. The first data centers in Texas are currently being built as part of the project.
With the incoming project, researchers are predicting an increase in energy consumption, with rates shifting between 325 to 580 TWh by 2028, alongside an increased need for rare earth metals, often sourced through unjust labor in places such as the Congo and Southeast Asia.
“Its implementation will have implications beyond national competitiveness. Decisions made today will shape the environmental and societal wellbeing for decades to come,” wrote Stanford University lecturer Gerui Wang per Forbes. “Integrating sustainability into data center design, advancing energy-efficient technologies and promoting equitable access can enable more responsible AI infrastructure deployment for the greater benefit of society.”
