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 is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a U.S. government advisory commission recommending deep cuts to federal agencies. DOGE, first announced last year, was made more official Monday by President Donald Trump’s executive order — but the commission faces a series 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, declined to weigh in. “All I know is, I’m good for my $80 billion,” he said, referring to Microsoft’s recent pledge to spend a record amount on AI data centers this year.
