• Investing
  • Stock
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Economy
The Significant Deals
Investing

Elon Musk and Sam Altman spar over Trump’s Stargate AI investment announcement

by January 25, 2025
written by January 25, 2025

A war of words between Elon Musk and Sam Altman escalated on social media Thursday, as two of the most powerful men in tech sparred over their rival artificial intelligence initiatives. 

The latest exchange began after OpenAI, where Altman is CEO, was revealed as a key player in Stargate, the AI infrastructure project President Donald Trump announced this week that is coming with a massive investment push.

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote in a long post on his social platform, X, about the new venture. It was not immediately clear whom Musk was initially referring to, but he soon followed up, naming SoftBank, Stargate’s main financial backer.

“SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority,” he said, without elaborating. Neither Musk nor his electronic car company Tesla have publicized any formal links.   

Altman responded praising Musk — “I genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time,” he wrote on X — but he called his SoftBank claim wrong. 

“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,” he added, using an American flag emoji.

In remarks to reporters Thursday, Trump weighed in on the dispute but gave no indication that Altman’s or OpenAI’s status on the project were threatened.

Without mentioning Altman by name, Trump mentioned Musk while referring to ‘one of the people he happens to hate.’

‘But I have certain hatreds of people, too,’ he said.

The spat has its roots in a pending lawsuit filed by Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, over control of the company; it was rekindled after Trump’s announcement this week that OpenAI would be part of the $500 billion Stargate initiative designed to make the United States a world leader in AI.

Late Wednesday and into Thursday, Musk continued to hammer Altman, repeatedly citing posts during Trump’s 2016 presidential run in which Altman appeared to denounce Trump. 

By 8:30 p.m., Altman posted that he’d recently had a change of heart about the president: “watching @potus more carefully recently has really changed my perspective on him (i wish i had done more of my own thinking” he said in part. “i’m not going to agree with him on everything, but i think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!”

On Thursday morning, Altman posted, responding to Musk: “just one more mean tweet and then maybe you’ll love yourself…”

The tit-for-tat between Musk and Altman is a sign of both the struggle within the tech community to curry favor with Trump and how the AI race is driving the push for tech dominance. If putting out new, consumer-friendly devices was once the way for a tech company to gain power, the struggle to create the most advanced form of AI has almost completely taken over.   

The situation also points to the tension of Musk’s role as both a top Trump adviser and one of the world’s most powerful — and combative — business moguls. Musk has his own interest in AI through the X, which debuted Grok, its rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in November.

The simmering Altman-Musk feud goes back years, well before Musk’s emergence in the U.S. political scene and even before the recent explosion of artificial intelligence technology. Companies have rushed to invest in AI infrastructure and development, so much so that it has accounted for a significant part of recent U.S. economic growth. A Goldman Sachs paper published in June, well before the announcement of the Stargate project, projected that AI capital expenditure could top $1 trillion.

OpenAI had generally been considered the leader in AI development, though it faces major competition from other startups, as well as most major tech giants that are believed to have closed the gap. That competition has made securing investments and partnerships all the more important in large part because of the sizable hardware and energy needs required to hone the models at the core of advanced AI.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
UnitedHealth confirms 190 million Americans affected by hack at tech unit, TechCrunch reports
next post
Exclusive-FTC chairman says COVID is long over, get back to the office

You may also like

Divided Fed proposes rule to ease capital requirements...

June 26, 2025

Women’s Tennis Association extends media rights deal with...

June 26, 2025

Bumble shares jump 26% as dating company plans...

June 26, 2025

Small-business AI use is lagging, but one firm...

June 25, 2025

Nvidia CEO Huang sells $15 million worth of...

June 25, 2025

How Fanatics is teaching business acumen to pro...

June 24, 2025

Walmart to pay $10 million to settle lawsuit...

June 23, 2025

Apple sued by shareholders who allege it overstated...

June 23, 2025

Tesla agrees to first deal to build China’s...

June 21, 2025

Oil prices rise more than 1% as Israel...

June 20, 2025
Fill Out & Get More Relevant News








    Stay ahead of the market and unlock exclusive trading insights & timely news. We value your privacy - your information is secure, and you can unsubscribe anytime. Gain an edge with hand-picked trading opportunities, stay informed with market-moving updates, and learn from expert tips & strategies.

    Recent Posts

    • Divided Fed proposes rule to ease capital requirements for big Wall Street banks

      June 26, 2025
    • Women’s Tennis Association extends media rights deal with Tennis Channel through 2032

      June 26, 2025
    • Bumble shares jump 26% as dating company plans to axe 30% of workforce

      June 26, 2025
    • Small-business AI use is lagging, but one firm is channeling Sherlock Holmes and knocking out ‘grunt work’

      June 25, 2025

    Categories

    • Economy (245)
    • Editor's Pick (3,646)
    • Investing (534)
    • Stock (6,426)

    Latest News

    • Divided Fed proposes rule to ease capital requirements for big Wall Street banks
    • Women’s Tennis Association extends media rights deal with Tennis Channel through 2032

    Popular News

    • US job openings rise in October, layoffs decrease
    • UBS conference comments boosts PYPL shares

    About The Significant deals

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Copyright © 2025 thesignificantdeals.com | All Rights Reserved

    The Significant Deals
    • Investing
    • Stock
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Economy