Billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are fighting on X about Stargate, the enormous infrastructure project to build data centers for OpenAI across the U.S.
Stargate, announced Tuesday during a press conference at the White House, would funnel as much as $500 billion from investors including SoftBank and Middle East AI fund MGX into data centers to support OpenAI’s AI workloads. Partners in Stargate have initially pledged $100 billion, some of which is being put toward a data center under construction in Abilene, Texas.
Elon Musk claims that Stargate doesn’t have the money it says it does.
“The don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote in a series of posts on X on Tuesday. “SoftBank has well under $10 billion secured. I have that on good authority.”
SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
Musk, of course, is not a neutral party. He has his own AI company, xAI, that competes — and is currently embroiled in a lawsuit — with OpenAI. In the suit, xAI and Musk accuse OpenAI of anticompetitive practices, including discouraging investors in OpenAI from backing AI rivals.
Altman fired back at Musk in an X post Wednesday — and called his bluff.
“Wrong, as you surely know,” Altman said, responding to Musk’s allegation that SoftBank was short of capital. “[Stargate] is great for the country. I realize 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.”
wrong, as you surely know.
want to come visit the first site already under way?
this is great for the country. i realize 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 ?? first.
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 22, 2025
Musk was recently appointed the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory commission recommending deep cuts to federal agencies. DOGE was made more official Monday by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, but the commission faces a number of legal challenges.
xAI, like OpenAI, is hungry for infrastructure to develop its AI systems. Musk’s company is estimated to have spent $12 billion on its single data center in Memphis, Tennessee, and could spend billions more upgrading the facility.
Asked about Musk’s X posts during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, a close OpenAI collaborator and investor, refused to weigh in. “All I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion,” he said, referring to Microsoft’s recent pledge to spend $80 billion on AI data centers this year.
