- Sam Altman’s new AI joint venture, Stargate, has drawn criticism from Elon Musk.
- Musk said at X that Stargate didn’t have the funds to build the AI infrastructure. Altman has responded.
- The exchange between the pair is another chapter in their long feud.
Elon Musk took to X to post a jab at Sam Altman after President Donald Trump announced a new joint venture that Altman’s OpenAI is following with SoftBank and Oracle.
On Tuesday, Trump announced Stargate, a $500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure investment project that would join forces with the three companies. Altman said Stargate would allow AGI, or artificial general intelligence, to be built in the US.
But Musk thought otherwise.
“They actually have no money,” Musk wrote in an X post on Tuesday night.
Musk was responding to a post from OpenAI that said the company would “start distributing $100 billion immediately” as part of Stargate.
“SoftBank has under $10 billion secured. I have this on good authority,” Musk added in a follow-up post without providing evidence to support his claim.
Altman: Musk is wrong about Stargate
Altman began Wednesday by extending an olive branch to Musk.
“I truly respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time,” Altman wrote in response to Musk’s post Tuesday night.
But just over an hour later, Altman said in a separate tweet that he thought Musk was wrong about Stargate’s financial capital. He also invited Musk to visit the first site of the Stargate infrastructure.
“I understand that what is great for the country is not always what is optimal for your companies, but in your new role I hope you will mostly put America first,” Altman wrote.
Musk did not directly respond to Altman’s comments. Instead, the Tesla CEO shared an X-post by Altman from December 2021 in which Altman thanked LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, saying he helped stop Trump from re-election in 2020.
Very few people realize how much @reidhoffman did and spent to prevent Trump’s re-election – it seems quite likely to me that Trump would still be in office without his efforts. Thanks, Reid!
– Sam Altman (@sama) December 15, 2021
Altman was at Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and has taken a more conciliatory tone toward the Trump administration. On Wednesday night, Altman said in an X post that he changed his mind about Trump after seeing the president “more carefully lately.”
“I’m not going to agree with him on everything, but I think he’s going to be incredible for the country in so many ways!” Altman wrote in X.
watching @potus more carefully lately has really changed my perspective on him (wish i had done more of my own thinking and definitely fallen into the npc trap).
I won’t agree with him on everything, but I think he will be incredible for the country in so many ways!
– Sam Altman (@sama) January 23, 2025
Musk and Altman did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk vs. Altman
The exchanges between Musk and Altman on Stargate are not surprising, given their strained relationship.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015. He stepped down from OpenAI’s board in 2018.
Musk is now a vocal critic of ChatGPT’s creator. He has also worked on his own AI ventures, both at Tesla and his own AI startup, xAI.
In February, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing it of violating its nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft. The lawsuit was withdrawn in June, but Musk refiled it in August.
In November, Musk’s lawyers filed an injunction against OpenAI to stop it from converting into a for-profit entity. An OpenAI spokesperson told Business Insider that Musk’s order was “totally without merit.”
So far, Altman has been largely diplomatic when commenting on Musk. This despite Musk’s nickname: “Swindly Sam”.
“I don’t think he’s a nice person or treats us fairly, but you have to respect the guy and he pushes us all to be more ambitious,” Altman wrote in an X post on Wednesday.