--- title: "Sam Altman Heaps Praise on Donald Trump" description: "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is gushing over president Donald Trump's mammoth $500 billion AI infrastructure project, dubbed Stargate." date: "2025-06-18" modified: "2025-06-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/sam-altman-heaps-praise-donald-trump" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "sam altman" - "stargate" --- # Sam Altman Heaps Praise on Donald Trump ![OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is gushing over president Donald Trump's mammoth $500 billion AI infrastructure project, dubbed Stargate.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is gushing over president Donald Trump's mammoth [$500 billion AI infrastructure project](), dubbed Stargate. The buzzy initiative [made headlines in January](), with the likes of OpenAI, Japanese investment group SoftBank, and the software giant Oracle pledging a combined $100 billion to build enormous data centers to run extremely power-hungry AI models. Altman, who has an enormous vested interest in the project, is heaping praise on the Trump administration's priorities. "President Trump has been very good, very clear about the need for policy to let people build data centers and power quickly," Altman said at a recent tech conference in Manhattan, as [quoted by *Bloomberg*](). "The speed with which the crew building there right now is going, it’s just extraordinary," he added, referring to an enormous Stargate data center, which is [currently being built in Abilene, Texas](). In short, it's exactly the kind of groveling and rehashing we'd expect from the CEO of one of the leading AI companies. OpenAI has benefited greatly from an administration that has looked very kindly on the AI industry. In January, Trump [signed an executive order]() that revoked existing Biden-era AI policies, in a purported effort to remove "barriers to American leadership" in AI. Last month, Republican lawmakers also [slipped language]() into the Budget Reconciliation Bill that would ban states outright from introducing AI regulations or laws. Trump's Stargate project, in particular, has had investor funds flowing, with [contractors landing nine-figure credit lines]() to build out data centers. Altman personally [appeared in the White House]() alongside Trump during the January announcement. And with the dollar signs figuratively popping up in his eyes, the CEO kissed the ring. "Watching POTUS more carefully recently has really changed my perspective on him," he [tweeted]() at the time. "I'm not going to agree with him on everything, but I think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!" Complicating matters is that the relationship has angered billionaire and AI rival Elon Musk, who cofounded OpenAI alongside Altman in 2015, but [rage quit in 2019](). Things got so heated that Trump reportedly [adjusted the schedule]() of a recent trip to the Middle East and canceled a public announcement of a new OpenAI deal to calm a scorchingly jealous Musk down. The two billionaires have butted heads on a number of occasions. In February, Altman [excoriated the richest man in the world](). "I feel for the guy," he [told *Bloomberg*]() at the time. "I don't think he's like a happy person. I do feel for him." Considering the [spectacular implosion]() of Musk's relationship with the president, Altman appears to have had the last laugh. With Stargate data center buildouts well on the way, the CEO is set to cash in in a big way as the AI hype cycle continues. **More on Sam Altman:** *[Sam Altman Says "Significant Fraction" of Earth's Total Electricity Should Go to Running AI]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()