By Hadas Gold, CNN
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, left, and US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP
Shortly after President Donald Trump announced a new massive AI infrastructure investment from the White House, "First Buddy" Elon Musk tried to tear it down.
"They don't actually have the money," Musk wrote on his social media platform X. "SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority."
Trump said the investment will create a new company, called Stargate, to grow artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. The leaders of SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle stood alongside Trump during the announcement.
Their respective companies will invest US$100 billion (NZ$176b) in total for the project to start, with plans to pour up to US$500 billion (NZ$880b) into Stargate in the coming years.
The comments are a notable takedown of a major White House project from someone that is in Trump's innermost circle. As a sign of how involved Musk is in the first days of the administration, Musk said he was in the Oval Office on Tuesday as Trump signed a pardon for Ross William Ulbricht, founder of the dark web marketplace SilkRoad.
Musk had also dispatched a top staffer from his SpaceX and X companies to help ensure the release of convicted 6 January rioters after Trump signed a blanket pardon.
US President Donald Trump gestures towards OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, during the announcement about the AI project at the White House, on 21 January, 2025. Photo: AFP / Jim Watson
But perhaps it should not be a surprise that Musk is going after an OpenAI initiative. Musk is in an ongoing lawsuit with OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, who was at the White House for the announcement.
Musk, who has said he "doesn't trust" Altman, claims in the lawsuit the ChatGPT has abandoned its original nonprofit mission by reserving some of its most advanced AI technology for private customers.
The companies involved in Stargate have not publicly disclosed how they will contribute the funds, but they don't necessarily need the money in the bank to support it - they could raise debt or sign on other equity investors.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday rebuffed Musk's comments, saying in a Fox News interview, "the American people should take President Trump and those CEOs' words for it."
"President Trump is very excited about this infrastructure announcement in the field of AI, which is obviously growing, and something the United States of America needs to capitalise on, because our adversaries, such as China, are very advanced in this field," Leavitt said.
"So, 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."
Altman replied directly to Musk's claim on X, writing "wrong, as you surely know. want to come visit the first site already under way? this is great for the country. i realize [sic] 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."
A source familiar with Stargate said Musk's assertion was not true.
Softbank, the source pointed out, has $24.3b of cash on its balance sheet per its latest earnings and that it was comfortable taking on more debt to help fund the project, the wherewithal to access more capital.
The source pointed out that MGX has $100b in capital commitments, Oracle has $11b in cash on its balance sheet and OpenAI recently announced it has more than $10b from its recent round of venture capital.
Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, which is working with OpenAI on Stargate, said on CNBC on Wednesday "all I know is I'm good for my $80 billion."
DJ Judd contributed to this report.
- CNN
