Musk undercuts Trump’s Stargate AI investment announcement

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Musk undercuts Trump’s Stargate AI investment announcement

The logo of OpenAI is shown on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen displaying the photographs of Sam Altman, left, and Elon Musk, March 14, 2024.

Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu | Getty Images

Elon Musk claimed overnight Tuesday that tech giants OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank don’t have enough money to fulfill their high-profile pledge to invest $500 billion in U.S. AI infrastructure.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the comment just hours after President Donald Trump unveiled the massive project at the White House on his first full day in office.

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote in response to an OpenAI post on his social platform X about the new venture, dubbed the Stargate project.

“SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority,” Musk added.

On Wednesday morning, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman replied directly to Musk.

“I genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time,” wrote Altman. He did not address Musk’s accusation about Stargate’s funding.

Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Musk’s claim.

Musk’s comments undermined Trump’s announcement Tuesday afternoon that Stargate “will invest $500 billion at least” and create “over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately.”

“I think it’s going to be something that’s very special. It’ll lead to something that could be the biggest of all,” said Trump.

As he spoke, Trump was flanked by Altman, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son.

Ellison said at that event that 10 data centers, each 500,000 square feet in size, were already under construction in Abilene, Texas, and that 10 more are in the works.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison (R), and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (2nd-R), speaks during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. 

Andrew Harnik | Getty Images

Musk, who leads Trump’s new government efficiency advisory board,

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, has a tense relationship with Altman.

In March, Musk and his AI startup, xAI, sued OpenAI, alleging breach-of-contract. Musk later dropped that suit and sued Altman in federal court.

Altman’s response on X matches the tone he has previously taken toward Musk in public.

“I may turn out to be wrong, but I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing,” Altman said in December, when asked if he was concerned about how Musk might wield his White House influence.

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OpenAI said in Tuesday’s X statement that Stargate “will begin deploying $100 billion immediately.”

Son will be the chairman of the new company, whose initial equity funders are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and the UAE-based lender MGX, according to the post.

News of the infrastructure initiative sent Oracle shares 7% higher on Tuesday.

OpenAI’s post also listed

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as one of its key initial technology partners in Stargate. The company said earlier this month that it plans to invest $80 billion in the next fiscal year on AI-capable data centers.

Asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday about Stargate,

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CEO Satya Nadella said, “I’m not particularly in the details on what they’re investing.”

When asked about Musk’s posts questioning Stargate’s funding, Nadella replied, “Look, all I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion.”

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