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Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and a key player in the Trump administration 2.0, has just axed the budding excitement around the Stargate project with a few choice words.
BREAKING:
President Trump officially announces a $500 billion "minimum" American AI investment initiative, dubbed "Stargate."
Key partners include OpenAI, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and ARM.pic.twitter.com/FMZekPGlt7
— The AI Investor (@The_AI_Investor) January 21, 2025
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, President Trump formally announced the Stargate project yesterday, envisaging at least $500 billion invested in the US over the next four years to build out the requisite AI infrastructure.
Announcing The Stargate Project
The Stargate Project is a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. This infrastructure will secure…
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 21, 2025
While a number of key tech companies are collaborating on the Stargate project, Oracle, OpenAI, SoftBank, and MGX will act as its key nodes. Oracle, of course, is one of the leading names in the data center sphere, while OpenAI is known far and wide for its efforts to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The Japanese giant, SoftBank, will act as the major financier for this project.
This brings us to the crux of the matter. OpenAI noted in its Stargate-related X post:
"We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately."
Elon Musk, however, appears to have taken an exception to this declaration.
They don’t actually have the money
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
To wit, while replying to OpenAI's post, Elon Musk declared that "they [Stargate participants] don't actually have the money." Musk went on to note:
"SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority."
Of course, there is no love lost between Elon Musk and OpenAI. The two are not only competitors in the LLM sphere but Musk has also sued OpenAI for transitioning to a for-profit structure.
Donald Trump negotiates on Live TV with the CEO of SoftBank Japan, Masayoshi Son — and just like that, $100 Billion will be injected into the US Economy and Create 100k New Jobs
Trump goes even further by twisting his arm in front of cameras for $200 billion.. and Masayoshi… pic.twitter.com/PjGUXTUqVD
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 16, 2024
Coming back, SoftBank's Masayoshi Son had pledged in December 2024 to invest $100 billion in the US to create 100,000 jobs. Now it seems that SoftBank has redirected its relatively vague funding pledge towards the Stargate project.
*TRUMP CONFIRMS TO REPORTERS THAT ELON MUSK WILL RECEIVE AN OFFICE IN THE WEST WING FOR A STAFF OF ABOUT 20 PEOPLE FOR DEPT. OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY (DOGE)
— Stock Talk (@stocktalkweekly) January 21, 2025
Even so, Elon Musk's abrupt concession to a lack of funding for the Stargate project strikes a patently discordant tone. Is this going to be the norm over the next four years?
Update: OpenAI's Sam Altman And Microsoft's Satya Nadella Cast Doubts On Elon Musk's Assertions Regarding The Funding For The Stargate Project
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
In what amounts to a genuine escalation in the brewing one upmanship between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, the latter just termed the Tesla CEO's assertions regarding the funding deficit for the Stargate project as "wrong," throwing the following volley in this melee of sorts:
"I realize what is great for the country isn't always what's optimal for your companies ..."
🚨🚨🚨BREAKING:
Microsoft CEO was just asked about @elonmusk saying Project Stargate doesn't have the money to invest
“All I know is, I’m good for my $80 Billion”
LMFAOOO pic.twitter.com/dvKvltDZ3M
— NIK (@ns123abc) January 22, 2025
Meanwhile, Satya Nadella has also just declared that Microsoft is investing $80 billion in Stargate.
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