Major tech moguls were hissing at each other on Wednesday as rivals announced huge bets to invest in AI. Donald Trump naked third
Trump announced Stargate, a $500bn project jointly funded by OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank on Tuesday. By the announcement the president of those companies was packed by the princes; Sam AltmanLarry Ellison and Masayoshi’s son, respectively. The fact that the son was slain is the seat of the matter. All three are multibillionaires. Absent from the photo op was a representative of MGX, the state of Abu Dhabi, AI’s treasurer, another major investor.
The company is dedicated to building essential data centers and computing infrastructure for the development of artificial intelligence. While the initial investment is substantial, some opinions have already indicated that the development of AI will cost a lot.
Another notable absence was Elon Musk — CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and xAI; the richest world; and a Trump ally — who reportedly has a job in the White House. The evening after the news, Stargate announced a financial shock.
when OpenAI wrote on X – Musk’s social network – to “start arranging $100bn immediately”, Musk replied: “They don’t have the money” and followed with another tweet: “SoftBank has won well under $10B. I have the authority.”
Musk, who has a net worth of some $430bn, tweets very often every day about a bunch of eye-popping topics. usually hyping up his own companies, and Trump. Even with his bias toward the station, his Stargate tweets represent nothing more than hot air announcing an extraordinary break with the White House, where he is one of Trump’s closest and most senior advisers.
Trump has yet to respond to Musk’s broadside. On Social Truth, the president of his own social network, is intent on wishing his wife Melania a happy anniversary.
Musk still came. He retweeted the image of the cracked pipe with the tweet: “Leaked image of OpenAI research tool comes up with its $500 billion number for Stargate.” He spent much of Wednesday afternoon sniping at the Stargate.
Altman tried to strike a first chord with his softer response: “I really respect your business and I think you are an entrepreneur of our time.”
Then at least one glove came off when Altman snidely wrote of Musk’s Softbank: “You’re wrong, as I’m sure you know. do you want to come to the first place already under the road to visit? this is great for the country. I understand what is important in the country, not always in companies that are the best, but in your new role I hope you will put me first.
Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, a less aggressive than Altman’s public, and certainly than Musk, was asked about the space in an interview on CNBC. He quipped: “I know everyone, I’m good at $80bn. I’ll get $80bn blue from the building,” referring to Microsoft’s cloud computing business.
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Unlike Musk and Altman, Nadella did not sit in the stands next to Trump at the president’s inauguration on Monday, when the company gave $1m to the inaugural campaign. Nadella’s net worth is estimated to be more than $1bn thanks to the rewards payments from his employer and his recent stellar performance.
The feud stems in part from a longstanding disagreement between Musk and Altman. Musk founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015, but it was later split by a younger man. In March 2024, Musk sued the company over its plan to transition to a for-profit business model, then withdrew the suit in July, then sued again in August, alleging “a scam of Shakespearean proportions.”
The other two heads of the Stargate company, Ellison and Son, are involved in the commentary.