Big Tech Companies Dispute President Trump’s $500 Billion AI Investment Announcement, Involving Elon Musk

Major technology giants criticized their competitors following Donald Trump’s announcement of significant investments in AI the day before.

President Trump revealed Stargate, a $500 billion initiative funded by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. The announcement featured leaders from both companies: Sam Altman, Larry Ellison, and Masayoshi Son, with Son as the project chairman. A representative from Abu Dhabi’s state-run AI fund MGX, another major investor, was notably absent.

The partnership aims to establish data centers and computing infrastructure crucial for AI development. While the initial investment amount is substantial, estimates suggest that developing AI will require as much funding.

Notably missing from the event was Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, who is also the wealthiest person globally. Despite Musk’s close ties to Trump and rumored office in the White House, he dismissed Stargate as a financial sham the following night.

When OpenAI announced on X (Musk’s social network) that they would immediately deploy $100 billion, Musk countered, stating that they lacked the funds and criticizing SoftBank’s funding of less than $10 billion. Musk, with a net worth of about $430 billion, tweets prolifically on a variety of subjects.

President Trump has yet to respond to Musk’s comments, focusing instead on Melania’s anniversary on his social network, Truth Social.

Musk continued his criticism on Twitter, sharing a leaked image of a research tool supposedly used to calculate Stargate’s $500 billion cost. He spent much of Wednesday afternoon attacking the project.

Sam Altman initially praised Musk’s work but later questioned his motives for criticizing SoftBank. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, responded diplomatically when asked about the situation, emphasizing Microsoft’s plans to invest in Azure.

The tension between Musk and Altman dates back to their history at OpenAI, where Musk eventually parted ways with Altman. The heads of Oracle and SoftBank involved in Stargate have not yet spoken on the matter.