Elon Musk, Sam Altman trade barbs as Tesla mogul shades OpenAI over $500B Stargate project

Elon Musk, Sam Altman trade barbs as Tesla mogul shades OpenAI over $500B Stargate project

Elon Musk and Sam Altman traded barbs on social media Wednesday after the OpenAI boss took center stage at the White House to unveil his ambitious $500 billion “Stargate” AI infrastructure project.

Appearing alongside Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, Altman discussed a joint venture to build advanced data centers in Texas that will power advanced AI systems during a Oval office press conference on Tuesday.

However, Musk immediately dished dirt on the project — even as President Trump called the plans, which purportedly include an initial investment of $100 billion that could grow to five times that amount, “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential.” 

Sam Altman said Stargate would power rapid advancements in AI. Getty Images

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote on X in response to an OpenAI post.

“SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority,” Musk added, without providing further detail.

Altman fired back, replying on X that Musk’s claim was off base.

“Wrong, as you surely know,” Altman said. “Want 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.”

OpenAI declined to comment. Oracle and Softbank did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.

A source close to Softbank refuted Musk’s claims, noting that the investment giant had $24 billion in cash on its balance sheet as of last September and another $140 billion in liquid securities that could be accessed to fund projects as necessary.

The social media spat was the latest in long-running feud between the two billionaires, who run rival AI companies and are jockeying with each other to influence efforts to regulate the fledgling technology.

Trump has recently relied on Musk as a key adviser and appointed to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. 

Elon Musk is currently suing Altman-led OpenAI. AFP via Getty Images

Asked in December about Musk’s increasingly close relationship with Trump, Altman said it “would be profoundly un-American to use political power, to the degree that Elon has it, to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses.”

The OpenAI CEO made his own attempt to cozy up to Trump during the White House event on Tuesday, telling the president that the three companies “wouldn’t be able to do this without you.” Altman said Stargate could “create hundreds of thousands of jobs” in the US.

“We will see diseases get cured at an unprecedented rate. We will be amazed at how quickly we’re curing this cancer and that one — and heart disease,” said Altman, repeating that AI would “cure the diseases at a rapid, rapid rate.”

President Trump invited officials from OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle to the White House on Tuesday. AARON SCHWARTZ/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Meanwhile, Musk is currently suing Altman, OpenAI, Microsoft and billionaire Reid Hoffman in a bid to stop the ChatGPT creator’s plans to become a for-profit entity.

As The Post reported, Musk recently secured a key win in the legal battle after the Justice Department and FTC sided with one of his lawsuit’s key arguments.

Musk cofounded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015 but later fell out with its leadership after disagreements with Altman how it should be structured.

Elsewhere, Musk is also at the center of ongoing wrangling over the future of China-owned TikTok.

Trump has appointed Elon Musk to lead DOGE. Getty Images

The app was briefly banned over the weekend as Congress’s law requiring its Chinese parent ByteDance took effect, but Trump issued a 75-day executive order delaying enforcement so that TikTok could seek an American buyer.

On Tuesday, Trump said he’s open to Musk or Oracle’s Ellison buying TikTok. Musk already owns the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I would be if [Musk] wanted to buy it, yes,” Trump told reporters. “I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives pointed to Musk and Ellison as likely frontrunners as part of a growing field of investors who could buy TikTok.

Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison is pictured. Getty Images

Ellison-led Oracle was notably part of a joint bid with Walmart to buy the app during a previous effort to ban it in 2020, but the deal ultimately fell through. Oracle is also a cloud computing partner for TikTok.

Trump has called for the US to own 50% of TikTok as part of a joint venture meant to alleviate national security concerns about China’s ownership of the app. However, the exact details of his proposal remain unclear.

For now, TikTok is still unavailable in app stores run by Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. Service providers face massive fines under Congress’s law if they allow access to the app.



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