Elon Musk Is Already Playing Spoiler to Trump's AI Plans

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced Stargate, a new entity that plans to invest $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure with the goal of making advancements in industries like health care and positioning the U.S. as the leader in AI.

But within hours of the announcement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had already started taking shots at Trump's highly touted project.

Newsweek reached out to SpaceX and a White House spokesperson for comment via email on Wednesday.

Why It Matters

Musk ingratiated himself in Trump's inner circle after spending more than $100 million to help get him elected in November and has become a fixture at Trump's side in the months since the election.

However, Musk's criticism of Stargate, a major White House technology initiative, likely won't go over well with Trump, who tapped Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

What To Know

Stargate is a collaborative effort between top technology companies, including SoftBank Group, OpenAI, Oracle Corp. and MGX. The project will be backed by a $500 billion investment over four years, with an initial $100 billion ready to be immediately deployed.

SoftBank is shouldering the financial cost of the massive project, while Sam Altman's OpenAI will spearhead executing on the operation. Masayoshi Son, the chairman of SoftBank, will serve as Stargate's chairman.

Within hours of Trump announcing the initiative, Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize Stargate and its funding.

"They don't actually have the money," Musk wrote on X late Tuesday. "SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority."

The SpaceX CEO's griping isn't all that surprising; Musk is currently suing OpenAI and Altman, accusing the company of abandoning its original mission of being a nonprofit and putting profits ahead of the public interest.

"Sam is a swindler," Musk, who cofounded OpenAI in 2015, wrote in response to one X user Wednesday afternoon.

"That was another big lie," he wrote in response to an X post featuring a clip in which Altman said he had no equity in OpenAI and ran the company because he loves it.

Another user shared a clip of Musk criticizing OpenAI, saying, "The 'open' in OpenAI is supposed to mean open source and it was created as a nonprofit open source. And now it is a closed source for maximum profit."

"Yeah," Musk wrote on Wednesday, responding to the clip.

The SpaceX founder also amplified a post alleging that the $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure that was announced is a "ridiculous number and no one should take it seriously."

Altman, for his part, appeared to try to ease tensions between himself and Musk amid the DOGE chief's online tirade.

"[I] genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time," the OpenAI chief executive posted on X, replying to one of Musk's posts.

When Musk suggested SoftBank has less than $10 billion of funding secured, Altman replied: "[W]rong, as you surely know. [W]ant to come visit the first site already under way 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."

What People Are Saying

Former White House chief strategist and staunch Trump ally Steve Bannon tore into Musk for criticizing Stargate, telling reporters: "He should not reverse what the president's already talked about. It's unacceptable and unsatisfactory. You've seen how out of control he is."