A nasty back-and-forth between tech CEOs Elon Musk and Sam Altman, which placed one of Trump’s most prominent lieutenants against a major player in a $500 billion AI project he launched Tuesday, was dismissed by President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Musk undermined Trump’s announcement on Tuesday about Oval Office AI, raising questions on his social media platform X about whether any of the partnering companies had the financial capacity to support it. However, Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Musk’s remarks were not a criticism of the feasibility of the agreement he had announced, but rather a case of bad blood since he “hates one of the people in the deal.”
Trump reportedly referred to Altman when he stated, “No, he hates one of the people.” “I’ve talked to Elon, but I’ve actually talked to everyone. The individuals involved in the transaction are extremely intelligent, with the exception of Elon, whom he despises. However, I also have some animosities towards people.
“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk said on his social media platform X shortly after Trump announced the new, enormous investment in AI infrastructure between Softbank, Oracle, and Altman’s OpenAI. SoftBank has secured well under $10 billion. I have strong authority to say that.
“I don’t know if they do, but you know, they’re putting up the money—the government’s not putting up anything, they’re putting up money,” Trump said in response to questions about Musk’s remarks on Thursday. Since they are extremely wealthy, I hope they do.
In order to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US, Trump had declared that the investment will establish a new business named Stargate. During the announcement, Trump was accompanied by the executives of SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle. The project will begin with a $100 billion investment from each of their corporations, with plans to invest up to $500 billion in Stargate over the next several years.
After the post, Altman and Musk engaged in a back-and-forth on the platform. Musk, who is currently facing legal action from OpenAI, shared Altman’s earlier anti-Trump remarks on his own X page.
In a follow-up conversation on Thursday, Trump was asked if he was annoyed by Musk’s highly visible criticism of the AI unveiling that he assisted in arranging, but he declined.
Anger
Musk’s jabs marked a significant blow to a significant White House initiative from a member of Trump’s closest inner circle. Musk claimed to have been in the Oval Office on Tuesday when Trump signed a pardon for Ross William Ulbricht, the creator of the dark web marketplace SilkRoad, demonstrating his level of involvement in the early days of the administration. Following Trump’s sweeping pardon, Musk also sent a senior employee from his SpaceX and X businesses to assist in securing the release of convicted January 6 rioters.
However, Musk’s pursuit of an OpenAI project may not come as a surprise. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, who attended the White House for the announcement, is currently facing legal action from Musk. In the complaint, Musk, who has stated that he “doesn’t trust” Altman, alleges that ChatGPT has renounced its initial charitable purpose by keeping some of its most cutting-edge AI technology for private clients.
Although the corporations interested in Stargate have not made their contributions to the fund publicly known, they might raise financing or enlist additional equity investors to finance the project without necessarily needing the money in the bank.
In a Fox News interview on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Musk’s remarks, stating that “the American people should take President Trump and those CEOs’ words for it.”
