Elon Musk’s war of words with Sam Altman intensified this week as the owner of X raised questions about the financial viability of Stargate, the AI joint venture involving OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank Group.
Announced by President Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration, the initiative is designed to ramp up AI infrastructure across the US through an initial $100 billion investment by the three companies, which could grow to $500 billion over the next four years.
Musk, however, took to X to voice his concerns about the project.
“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk stated, adding SoftBank had less than $10 billion secured for the project. “I have that on good authority”, he added.
OpenAI CEO Altman fired back, calling Stargate “great for the country,” and invited Musk to tour the first data centre site already under construction in Texas. He further retorted: “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 America first.”
Feud
This dispute is the latest in a long-standing history between the two tech moguls. Musk is an OpenAI co-founder, but departed the company over clashes with Altman.
Since then, Musk has taken issue with the ChatGPT-maker for straying from its nonprofit origins as the company bids to incorporate a for-profit business model.
Earlier this month, Musk urged lawmakers to consider an auction of Open AI’s assets in a competitive bidding process, criticising the company’s restructure.
Musk’s move to speak out against Stargate also marks a rare occasion the billionaire has seemingly taken issue with a Trump-backed initiative in recent times.
Musk was a big backer of Trump during the election campaign and he has been tasked by the President to head up a new department focused on improving efficiency within government.
Source: Mobile World Live
