Elon Musk, the billionaire tech CEO turned government adviser for President Donald Trump, openly questioned a new artificial intelligence initiative hours after the president announced it.
Musk claimed on Tuesday that the new AI initiative, called Stargate, did not have the funding necessary to fulfill its goal of investing $500 billion in building AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years.
“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk said in response to the announcement on X.
The quick rebuke from Musk was noteworthy given his presence in the Trump world. Musk has been a vocal backer of the president and made his presence known throughout Trump’s inauguration.
The initiative is a collaboration between OpenAI, an AI research company that Musk co-founded before a falling out with Sam Altman, SoftBank and Oracle.
In their announcement, the companies said they would immediately deploy $100 billion toward the initiative. They hope to build data centers across the U.S. – warehouses filled with powerful servers that provide computing power to develop and advance AI.
But hours after the announcement, Musk threw cold water on it, claiming he had “on good authority” that SoftBank “has well under $10B secured.”
To further his point, on Wednesday, he responded to a tweet mocking the $500 billion initiative announcement with a crying-laughing emoji.
They don’t actually have the money
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
Musk has become one of Trump’s closest advisers over the last year. He has been entrusted to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency, the advisory board tasked to cut federal spending, and has been part of Trump’s transition process.
The split is particularly eye-catching given Trump has a long history of valuing loyalty among his team. There are hardly any members of Trump’s first administration who have been brought back for his second term because of prior conflicts.
Musk also has a public feud with Altman, his former colleague and the CEO of OpenAI.
The two once sought to “save humanity” from the dangers of AI through OpenAI. A dispute over the direction of the company and an internal power struggle led to their falling out. Musk ultimately left the company in 2018 and since started his own AI initiative.
😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
Musk has filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Altman and used his platform on X to mock the company and CEO.
Altman responded to Musk’s accusation on X and backed the $500 billion idea.
“Wrong, as you surely know,” Altman wrote. “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 [America] first.”
Altman invited Musk to visit the first data site, which he said was underway. OpenAI has been working on the so-called Stargate for months and has long-saught government financing to support its goal of advancing AI in the U.S.
Altman added, “i genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time.”