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Agence France-Presse

Tech titan Elon Musk cast doubt on Wednesday on a US$500 billion AI project announced by US President Donald Trump, saying the money promised for the investment actually was not there.
The comments marked a rare instance of a split between the world’s richest man and Trump, with Musk playing a key role in the newly installed administration after spending US$270 million on the election campaign.
In his first full day in the White House, Trump on Tuesday announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
Trump said the venture, called Stargate, “will invest US$500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States”.

But in a post on social media, Musk said the main investors “don’t actually have the money”.
“SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority,” Musk added in a subsequent post.
Musk’s sideswipe could be particularly targeted at OpenAI, the world’s leading AI start-up that Musk helped found, before leaving in 2018.
The Tesla boss and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, who was present at the White House on Tuesday, have been mired in a serious feud, with Musk opening repeated lawsuits against the company behind ChatGPT.
“Wrong, as you surely know. Want to come visit the first site already under way?” Altman replied to Musk on social media.
“This is great for the country. I realise 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 [country] first,” he added.




OpenAI is one of the world’s highest valued start-ups, but loses money on the high costs of turning out its expensive technology.
According to The Wall Street Journal, cloud giant Oracle, which is also involved, has about US$11 billion in cash and securities. SoftBank has roughly US$30 billion of cash on hand.
“The American people should take President Trump and those CEOs words for it. These investments are coming to our great country and American jobs are coming along with them,” Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
The Stargate project is committed to invest an initial US$100 billion in the project, and up to US$500 billion over the next four years.
Abu Dhabi’s AI-focused state fund MGX and Oracle are also providing funding for the project, while SoftBank-owned Arm, Microsoft and Nvidia will be technology partners.
According to the companies, the project is initially building a data centre operation in Texas, where construction is already under way.
Ahead of taking office, Trump this month unveiled a US$20 billion Emirati investment in US data centres as well as a previous investment pledge from SoftBank.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Donald Trump

Musk questions Trump-backed US$500 billion AI megaproject with SoftBank and OpenAI

Elon Musk is clashing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure project touted by President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

Elon Musk at a rally in Washington on Monday. Photo: Reuters

US President Trump and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. Photo: AFP

Tech titans join Trump for US$100 billion AI boost ‘to beat China’ in Day 2 pledge

US President Donald Trump announces the US$100 billion artificial intelligence venture at the White House on Tuesday. Looking on are (from left) Masayoshi Son from SoftBank Group, Oracle Corporation’s Larry Ellison, and Sam Altman, the OpenAI CEO. Photo: AP

Donald Trump says he’s open to Elon Musk buying TikTok ‘if he wanted to’

US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists about TikTok as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Elon Musk causes stir with hand gesture at Trump inauguration

Musk took the Capital One Arena stage in Washington to huge cheers, pumping his arms. Photo: AFP

Elon Musk works the crowd at the Capitol One Arena. Photo: EPA-EFE

Gamers get under Elon Musk’s skin in feud over Tesla chief’s playing skills

Elon Musk’s gaming skills invited scrutiny from seasoned players. Photo: AP

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World’s richest man Musk clashes with OpenAI CEO Altman over Trump-supported Stargate AI data centre project


World’s richest man Musk clashes with OpenAI CEO Altman over Trump-supported Stargate AI data centre project.
