Shortly after US President Donald Trump announced a new massive artificial intelligence infrastructure investment from the White House, "first buddy" Elon Musk tried to tear it down.Trump said the investment would create a new company, called Stargate, to grow AI infrastructure in the US. "They don't actually have the money," Musk wrote on his social media platform X.Â
Donald Trump reiterated his calls for the US to annex Greenland in his first appearance in the Oval Office. (AP)"SoftBank has well under $10B ($15.9 billion) secured. I have that on good authority."The leaders of SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle stood alongside Trump during the announcement. Their respective companies will invest $US100 billion ($159.4 billion) in total for the project to start, with plans to pour up to $US500 billion ($797.1 billion) into Stargate in the coming years.The comments are a notable takedown of a major White House project from someone that is in Trump's innermost circle. As a sign of how involved Musk is in the first days of the administration, Musk said he was in the Oval Office on Tuesday as Trump signed a pardon for Ross William Ulbricht, founder of the dark web marketplace SilkRoad. Musk had also dispatched a top staffer from his SpaceX and X companies to help ensure the release of convicted January 6 rioters after Trump signed a blanket pardon.But perhaps it should not be a surprise that Musk is going after an OpenAI initiative.
Elon Musk arrives before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP) (AP)Musk is in an ongoing lawsuit with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, who was at the White House for the announcement. Musk, who has said he "doesn't trust" Altman, claims in the lawsuit the ChatGPT has abandoned its original nonprofit mission by reserving some of its most advanced AI technology for private customers.The companies involved in Stargate have not publicly disclosed how they will contribute the funds, but they don't necessarily need the money in the bank to support it — they could raise debt or sign on other equity investors.SoftBank and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Pictures: Everything Trump did on his first full day in the White HouseView Gallery
