In a rare disagreement, Elon Musk criticized Donald Trump's $500 billion Stargate AI megaproject, highlighting key funding shortfalls. Musk's remarks questioned SoftBank's financial readiness, sparking debate over the ambitious initiative led by OpenAI and Nvidia.
Elon Musk, a tech mogul, threw doubt on Wednesday on US President Trump's announcement of a US$500 billion artificial intelligence project, claiming that the funding for the venture was false.
Despite Musk's pivotal role in the incoming administration-he spent $270 million on the election campaign-his remarks represented an unusual example of discord between the world's wealthiest man and Trump.
On Tuesday-his first official day in office-Trump proposed a massive investment to construct an AI infrastructure, with the help of Japanese behemoth SoftBank and OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT.
According to Trump, the Stargate partnership will put at least US$500 billion into American artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The principal backers, however, do not possess the capital, according to Musk's social media post. In his next post, the CEO of Tesla reiterated that he had information from reliable sources indicating that SoftBank has less than $10 billion in the bank.
Musk may be taking aim at OpenAI, the top artificial intelligence startup in the world, which he co-founded before departing in 2018.
Attendees at Tuesday's White House events included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who have been embroiled in a bitter spat due to Musk's multiple litigation against OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT.
"Wrong, as you surely know. Want to come visit the first site already under way?" Altman responded to Musk's social media post. "This is great for the country. 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 [country] first," he continued.
Despite being one of the most valuable startups in the world, OpenAI is losing money due to the exorbitant costs of producing its pricey technology.
The Wall Street Journal reports that cloud computing behemoth Oracle has assets and cash totaling over $11 billion. SoftBank's current cash on hand is around $30 billion. Over the following four years, the Stargate project is expected to receive investments of up to US$500 billion, including an initial investment of US$100 billion.
Project backers include Oracle and Abu Dhabi's AI-focused state fund MGX; technological partners include Nvidia, Microsoft, and Arm, which is owned by SoftBank.
The corporations claim that the proposal is mostly about constructing a data center in Texas, where work is already underway.
This month, Trump revealed a US$20 billion investment in US data centers from the Emiratis, building on a prior investment promise from SoftBank, just before becoming office.
