- Trump staffers are reportedly angry with Elon Musk for publicly undermining the $500 billion Stargate Project. Musk has questioned the finances behind the AI infrastructure project and used his social media influence to attack one of the project's leaders.
Some Donald Trump staffers are reportedly fuming with "first buddy" Elon Musk after the billionaire publicly undermined the president's multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure announcement.
One Trump ally told Politico that Musk had abused his closeness to the president in a series of social media posts where he questioned the finances behind the $500 billion Stargate Project. Another Republican close to the White House told the news outlet Trump's staff was "furious" over Musk's use of his social media influence to attack the high-profile project.
“The problem is the president doesn’t have any leverage over him and Elon gives zero f---s," the Trump ally said.
Trump, for his part, has denied he's upset with Musk over the posts.
"No, it doesn't," Trump said in response to a reporter asking whether Musk's criticism bothered him. "He hates one of the people in the deal," he added, seemingly referring to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Representatives for the Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment made by Fortune outside normal working hours.
Trump announced the Stargate Project during his first full day in office alongside Musk rival Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The three companies, along with Abu Dhabi–based investment partner MGX, are the initial equity funders in Stargate. Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI are set to be the project’s key initial technology partners.
In the announcement, Trump hailed the project as “tremendous” and “monumental," calling it "the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history" and saying it would help keep "the future of technology" in the U.S.
But Musk—who is now a senior White House advisor—was quick to attack the OpenAI- and SoftBank-led project on social media, claiming that he had it on “good authority” that SoftBank “has well under $10B secured" and exchanging a series of heated posts with Altman. Such fierce criticism of a presidential-backed project from a White House official so close to the administration is unusual and has upset some in Trump's camp.
Musk's posts caused a social media storm, with Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella both responding to the billionaire's claims. Nadella told a reporter he was "good for [his] $80 billion," while Altman called Musk's comment about Stargate's finances "wrong."
OpenAI and SoftBank have reportedly committed $19 billion each to the venture. The Information reported that Altman had told colleagues that OpenAI would hold a 40% interest in Stargate and would act as an extension of OpenAI.
“This is great for the country,” Altman said in a post responding to Musk. “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 [the U.S.] first.”
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order officially creating the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting initiative that will be chaired by Musk. The billionaire is expected to cut back government regulations and dismiss unneeded workers in an attempt to slash U.S. spending.
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment made by Fortune.
