Washington DC:
With the blessings of Donald Trump, a new era in artificial intelligence has begun in the United States. In their quest for global dominance in AI, three technology giants have united for a good cause: creating the world's largest AI project. It will be called 'Stargate'. The announcement was made by Donald Trump during a special press conference at the White House. However, Elon Musk has expressed his doubts about the mega project.
The team that will lead the ambitious project includes Sam Altman, founder of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Nvidia is also reportedly in talks about a possible collaboration on the project, but there has been no confirmation from their side yet.
STARGATE LAUNCH AT WHITE HOUSE
The CEOs of the three companies joined President Donald Trump at the White House to officially launch the Stargate project. At the announcement, President Trump said this will be “the largest AI infrastructure project in history,” with an investment of “at least $500 billion,” with the first tranche amounting to $100 billion. The president further said the project will create more than 100,000 jobs in the US.
Stargate, he said, will “build the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI.” In addition, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said Stargate's first million-square-foot data center is already under construction in Texas.
ELON MUSK'S 'FOMO' MOMENT?
Interestingly, one of Donald Trump's biggest supporters and confidante, Elon Musk, has been left out of the project. Shortly after the White House press conference ended, Elon Musk made a snide comment on his social media platform
Announcing the Stargate Project
The Stargate Project is a new company that plans to invest $500 billion over the next four years to build new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. We will immediately begin deploying $100 billion. This infrastructure will provide…
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 21, 2025
Elon Musk responded directly to OpenAI's post on X about Stargate, writing, “They don't actually have the money ($500 billion).” In another post he said: “SoftBank has secured over $10 billion. I got that from a good source.”
SoftBank has secured more than $10 billion. I have that on good authority.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2025
He also engaged with X users who mocked the project. “OpenAI and Microsoft are done,” one user wrote, suggesting a conflict between the two technology partners, to which Elon Musk replied, “Seems to be the case.”
The chairman of Tesla, SpaceX, X, who has his own AI company 'xAI', competes directly with Sam Altman's OpenAI.
ELON MUSK vs. SAM ALTMAN – FROM CO-FOUNDERS OF OPEN-AI TO AI-NEMESIS
It is also interesting to note that Elon Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI when it launched in 2015. Since it was a non-profit organization, when it needed funding, Elon Musk had even funded the project. But Musk left OpenAi in 2018.
In recent times, the relationship between Elon Musk and Sam Altman/OpenAI has soured in a big way, with the richest person in the world suing the ChatGPT creator. Musk has filed multiple lawsuits against OpenAI and Sam Altman, claiming the ChatGPT maker is violating licensing agreements and antitrust laws.
In one of his lawsuits, Elon Musk has even claimed that OpenAI and Sam Altman manipulated him from the very beginning – when they 'lured' him into co-founding the company.
In his latest lawsuit against technology partner and archrival Sam Altman, Musk claims the OpenAI case is a “textbook story of altruism versus greed.” Musk further alleged that Sam Altman and his partners betrayed Musk by turning the company from a nonprofit into a largely profitable venture. “The betrayal and deception are of Shakespearean proportions,” Musk said in his lawsuit.
OpenAI has denied these accusations, but it is a fact that OpenAI recently stated that it will evolve from a 'non-profit' to a 'for-profit' organization – a move that has been met with much criticism.
SAM ALTMAN'S THANKS PRESIDENT TRUMP
Sam Altman has now stated that Stargate will cement America's position as the world leader in AI technology. Thanking President Donald Trump at the White House news conference, Mr. Altman said, “I think this will be the most important project of this era, and we couldn't do it without you, Mr. President.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, cloud giant Oracle, one of the partners in Stargate, has about $11 billion in cash and securities. SoftBank, the third partner in the project, has about $30 billion. OpenAI, which has so far been running on borrowed money, is a loss-making organization. But during the press conference, the three companies pledged to invest an initial $100 billion in the Stargate project, and at least $500 billion over the next four years.