Musk attacks mega AI project announced by President Trump

(Patria) - Tech titan Elon Musk on Wednesday cast doubt on a $500 billion AI project announced by US President Donald Trump, AFP reported. The comments marked a rare instance of divergence between the world's richest man and Trump, with Musk playing a key role in the newly appointed administration after spending $270 million on the election campaign.

In his first full day in the White House, Trump announced on Tuesday a major investment to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

Trump said he would "invest at least $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States" in the venture, dubbed Stargate.

But in a post on his X social network, Musk said the main investors "don't actually have the money".

"SoftBank has secured less than ten billion dollars," Musk added in a subsequent post.

Altman: That's wrong

Musk's move could be particularly aimed at OpenAI, the world's leading AI startup, which Musk helped found before leaving in 2018. Tesla boss and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who was present at the White House on Tuesday, is embroiled in a serious feud with Musk, who has launched repeated lawsuits against the company behind ChatGPT.

"Wrong, as you surely know. Do you want to visit the first facility that is already under construction?" Altman replied to Musk on the X social network.

"This is great for the country. I understand that what is good for the country is not always what is optimal for your companies, but I hope that in your new role (country) you will mostly put it first," he added.

OpenAI is one of the most valued startups in the world, but it is losing money due to the high cost of producing its expensive technology.

According to the Wall Street Journal, cloud technology giant Oracle, which is also involved, has about $11 billion in cash and securities. SoftBank has about $30 billion in cash available.

"The American people should take the words of President Trump and these CEOs. These investments are coming to our great country and American jobs are coming with them," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

The Stargate project started with an initial investment of $100 billion, and up to $500 billion will be reached in the next four years.

The state fund from Abu Dhabi MGX and AI-focused Oracle are also providing funds for the project, while Arm, Microsoft, and Nvidia, owned by SoftBank, will be technology partners.

According to the companies, the project is initially the construction of a data center in Texas, where construction is already underway.

Before taking office, Trump this month presented $20 billion in investments from the United Arab Emirates in US data centers, as well as a previous SoftBank investment commitment.