Elon Musk questions Donald Trump’s $US500 billion AI policy, taking nasty spat with OpenAI’s Sam Altman public

Cracks may already be forming in the Trump White House with billionaire buddy Elon Musk openly calling into question the viability of the President’s $US500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure plan.

The eccentric tech tycoon, now a key Trump adviser and head of the new Department of Government Efficiency took to his social media platform X to cast doubt on the venture, dubbed Stargate, hours after Mr Trump announced it.

The President was joined at the White House on Tuesday, local time, by three CEOs of the companies funding the program — Masayoshi Son (SoftBank Group), Sam Altman (OpenAI), and Larry Ellison (Oracle).

They said Stargate would require an initial $US100 billion ($159 billion) to construct data centres and physical campuses in Texas, with plans to eventually spend $US500 billion on the project.

But just hours later, Mr Musk questioned whether the companies could follow through on the multi-billion dollar promise.

“They don’t actually have the money,” the 53-year-old wrote on X.

“SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”

Mr Altman hit back at Mr Musk’s “wrong” claims on Wednesday, suggesting the SpaceX and Tesla owner was upset because the deal could rival his own AI networks.

The OpenAI CEO offered Mr Musk the chance to “visit the first site already under way”.

“This is great for the country,” he continued in his post.

“I realise 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, symbolised with an emoji of the American flag) first.”

The public war of words over Stargate is the latest episode in a years-long dispute between Mr Musk and Mr Altman that began with a bitter battle over who should run OpenAI, the company both men helped found.

Last year, Mr Musk sued OpenAI — which he was an early investor in and a board member — alleging it had betrayed its founding aims of being a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.

He has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s planned conversion into a for-profit business, ABC News reports. A hearing in a California federal court is set for February.

Musk has also started his own rival AI company, xAI, that is building a data centre in Memphis, Tennessee. He claims it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft — which has supplied Mr Altman’s company with computing resources needed to build AI systems, such as ChatGPT.

Tech news outlet The Information first reported on an OpenAI data centre project called Stargate in March 2024, indicating this announcement has been in the works long before Trump announced it.

SoftBank Group CEO, Mr Son, had already announced plans for a $US100 billion US investment in AI at an event with Trump in December at Mar-a-Lago. Stargate is expected to draw from that pot, Bloomberg reports.

According to Bloomberg, SoftBank doesn’t have enough money to deliver the pledge, with only 3.8 trillion Yen ($40 billion) in “cash cash and equivalents” reported on its balance sheet at the end of September.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella responded to Musk’s doubts about Stargate’s funding in an interview with CNBC, saying: “Look, all I know is, I’m good for my $US80 billion.”

Microsoft had announced plans to spend $US80 billion on AI data centres this financial year. The group later stated its support for the Stargate project but said any statements regarding its commitment “is intended to communicate what we have committed to”.