Top line
It took less than two days for Elon Musk to express his displeasure with President Donald Trump, as the world’s richest man questioned perhaps Trump’s biggest business announcement to date , a $500 billion deal boosting Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company.
Trump, left, and Musk in November.
Key facts
Musk used his social media platform and Oracle, Japanese company SoftBank and Emirati company MGX. investment companies.
The project was describe by Trump as a “monumental undertaking and a “resounding statement of confidence in America’s potential under a new president” and received $100 billion in initial funding with a total of $500 billion in investments planned over the course of for the next four years, Trump said Tuesday during a news conference. while being flanked by billionaires OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
But Musk later claimed on “.
A person familiar with Stargate’s funding refuted Musk’s claim, noting to Forbes that the project has $100 billion ready to invest via equity from its four founding partners and other co-investors, as well as from external sources, including debt fundraising.
Altman hit back at Musk on Wednesday, saying Musk’s funding allegations were “false, as I’m sure you know” and that “what’s great for the country is not always what’s optimal for your companies, but in your new role, I hope you will.” most of the time, put 🇺🇸 first,” referring to Musk’s advisory role to Trump, nominally head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” commission.
According to Altman, Musk’s harsh criticism of Trump’s major announcement was highly unusual for someone so close to the president – MSNBC contributor Sam Stein. describe a “senior White House official publicly declaring that the president’s big announcement the day before was some kind of ruse” as “certainly a first” of this type of reaction in Stein’s memory.
Crucial quote
Stargate was a major win for OpenAI as it competes with xAI and other big tech names in its quest for artificial general intelligence (AGI), UBS analyst Karl Keirstead said in a note addressed to customers on Wednesday: “OpenAI is in a race against Elon Musk. supported xAI, Google, Meta and Anthropic (funded by Amazon) among others” and “This puts OpenAI in a better long-term position to win the model wars,” Keirstead wrote.
Key context
Musk’s rejection of Stargate likely dates back to his bitter feud with Altman and generative AI powerhouse ChatGPT OpenAI, which Musk co-founded as a nonprofit in 2015 before. exit in 2018, finally launching a direct competitor to OpenAI in his startup xAI and pursue OpenAI last year following company dispute change towards profit taking. Billionaire AI executives have resorted to public name-calling in their feud with Musk. denouncing Altman as ‘someone who is not trustworthy’ in October interview with Tucker Carlson and Altman accusing Musk for being “clearly a bully in a December interview with the Free Press.” Musk’s xAI was recently valued at $50 billion in a private funding round, about a third of OpenAI’s $150 billion-plus valuation.
Surprising fact
Musk’s criticism of Stargate comes despite the involvement of his close ally, mentor and former Tesla board member, Ellison. “Larry Ellison is awesome,” Musk springs in November, responding to a video in which Ellison described Musk as his “friend.”
Stargate-related stocks rise
Shares of companies involved in the AI project rebounded on Wednesday. SoftBank stock rose 11% in Tokyo trading, while Oracle gained 7% and Stargate technology partners Nvidia and Arm Holdings (majority owned by SoftBank) jumped 5% and 15%, respectively, in mid afternoon.
Forbes Ratings
The Stargate feud involves some of the richest people on the planet. Musk is the richest person ($430 billion net worth), Ellison the third ($231 billion), Son the 52nd ($34 billion), Trump the 540th ($6 billion), and Altman the 2nd. 548th ($1.1 billion). billion).
Further reading
