The White House broke its days-long silence about SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Friday, as questions swirled about whether Musk had rankled President Donald Trump when he publicly bashed Stargate, the Trump administration's first major tech initiative.
Why It Matters
Musk's comments about Stargate put him at odds not only with Trump but with Trump's staunchest allies, including former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who earlier this week called Musk "out of control" and said the Tesla CEO shouldn't "reverse what the president's already talked about."
What To Know
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary opened up about Trump's and Musk's relationship on Friday, telling reporters, "It's fascinating how much interest the media has in this fake news about Elon Musk versus Donald Trump."
"I was in the Oval Office with Elon Musk and Donald Trump two days ago and everything was dandy," Leavitt added, according to the Washington Post's Matt Viser.
Stargate is a joint venture between SoftBank Group, OpenAI, Oracle Corp. and MGX that will invest $500 billion over the next four years to build AI infrastructure, with an initial $100 billion already in the books.
Trump first announced the creation of Stargate on Tuesday while flanked by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son and Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison.
Within hours of the announcement, Musk, head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, had already started taking shots at Trump's highly touted project.
The SpaceX CEO repeatedly attacked Altman on X, formerly Twitter. Musk, who cofounded OpenAI, also accused Altman of putting profits ahead of public interest and of being insincere in his newfound support for Trump as a Stargate partner.
"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."
"Sam is a swindler," he wrote Wednesday afternoon. Musk also amplified a post alleging that the announced $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure is a "ridiculous number and no one should take it seriously."
What People Are Saying
Son said during Tuesday's White House briefing announcing Stargate: "This will help people's lives. This will help solve many, many issues ... with the help of AI."
When Musk suggested SoftBank has less than $10 billion in funding secured, Altman responded on X: "[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 Happens Next
Stargate will be based in Texas, where construction on 10 new data centers has already begun.
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