Elon Musk Undercuts Trump’s AI Project Announcement
(AP Photo)
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close advisor to President Donald Trump, cast doubt on the financial backing of Trump’s highly publicized AI infrastructure project, Stargate. Musk’s remarks contrasted sharply with the tone of triumph projected at Tuesday’s White House press conference, where Trump unveiled the ambitious initiative alongside prominent tech leaders.
Joined by Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Larry Ellison of Oracle, Trump praised the project as a landmark achievement for his administration. “It’s big money and high-quality people,” he said, calling it “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential.”
The Stargate project, which began under former President Joe Biden in 2024, aims to build massive data centers and electricity generation facilities in Texas to power the next era of artificial intelligence. According to the White House, the initiative’s initial investment is expected to reach $100 billion, with the potential to quintuple over time.
“This will be the most important project of this era,” Altman declared. Meanwhile, Ellison highlighted the project’s potential to revolutionize healthcare, noting that the data centers could support advanced digital health records and the development of customized vaccines for diseases like cancer.
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 American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world. This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.
The initial equity funders in Stargate are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. SoftBank and OpenAI are the lead partners for Stargate, with SoftBank having financial responsibility and OpenAI having operational responsibility. Masayoshi Son will be the chairman.
Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners. The buildout is currently underway, starting in Texas, and we are evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses as we finalize definitive agreements.
As part of Stargate, Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system. This builds on a deep collaboration between OpenAI and NVIDIA going back to 2016 and a newer partnership between OpenAI and Oracle. This also builds on the existing OpenAI partnership with Microsoft.
OpenAI will continue to increase its consumption of Azure as OpenAI continues its work with Microsoft with this additional compute to train leading models and deliver great products and services. All of us look forward to continuing to build and develop AI—and in particular AGI—for the benefit of all of humanity. We believe that this new step is critical on the path, and will enable creative people to figure out how to use AI to elevate humanity.
However, Musk appeared to dampen the excitement, responding critically to OpenAI’s social media statement about Stargate. “They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote, later adding, “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
Musk’s comments suggest fundraising efforts are still ongoing, despite the project being framed as fully funded and underway. His remarks stand in stark contrast to Trump’s presentation, which celebrated Stargate as a nearly completed success.
Construction on 10 data centers has reportedly begun, but Musk’s skepticism raises questions about the project’s financial readiness. His statements underscore the potential gap between the project’s lofty ambitions and its current realities.
While it remains unclear whether Musk intended to disrupt the announcement or provide transparency, his critique highlights the challenges of securing massive investments for such groundbreaking initiatives. For now, his remarks inject a note of uncertainty into a project Trump described as a defining achievement of his administration.
