--- title: "Elon Musk Blasts Donald Trump’s Huge AI Infrastructure Deal" description: "Elon Musk isn't convinced of the Stargate project; late on Tuesday evening, he mocked the AI infrastructure plans on X." date: "2025-01-22" modified: "2025-01-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-blasts-donald-trump-ai-infrastructure-deal" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "data center" - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "OpenAI" - "stargate" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Blasts Donald Trump’s Huge AI Infrastructure Deal ![Elon Musk isn't convinced of the Stargate project; late on Tuesday evening, he mocked the AI infrastructure plans on X.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Funding Not Secured Multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk has broken stride with his tight confidante Donald Trump — lobbing criticism at Trump's [lucrative $500 billion AI infrastructure project](), seemingly because he was left out of the deal. Earlier this week, OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and UAE-backed investor MGX pledged to pour up to $500 billion into building AI data centers in the United States as part of an initiative dubbed "Stargate." There's a lot we don't know about the joint venture and whether it has any chance of ever being realized. And Musk, strikingly isn't convinced; late on Tuesday evening, he took to his social network X-formerly-Twitter to mock the plans. "They don’t actually have the money," he [tweeted]() just hours after the project was announced, tagging OpenAI. "SoftBank has well under $10B secured," Musk wrote in a [followup]() an hour later. "I have that on good authority." The comments mark yet another early sign that a storm may be brewing between the mercurial entrepreneur and Trump. Experts have [long suggested]() that it's only a matter of time until disagreements between the two could snowball into an all-out fight. Two astronomically-sized and power-hungry egos in the same room are bound to result in some friction — and before their current alliance, the two were [bitter sparring partners](). ## Trouble in Paradise Musk's animosity towards the project is also likely symptomatic of his antipathy toward OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Musk cofounded the ChatGPT maker in late 2015 alongside Altman. But in 2019 [Musk quit](), citing disagreements over the group's direction. Since then, we've found out that Musk attempted to [take over the former nonprofit](). In March, [Musk sued OpenAI and Altman](), accusing the company of hiding its AI models' secrets from the world. That's despite advocating in 2017 to have OpenAI be turned into a for-profit entity, as [emails published by OpenAI following the lawsuit revealed](). Could Musk's animosity toward Altman explain his latest comments? Or does he indeed know more about the amount of cash the companies are able to scrounge up for Stargate? Musk also runs his own AI company, xAI, which doesn't appear to be linked to Stargate in any way. The latest tweets signal that Musk isn't afraid to question Trump's actions publicly, even after [swearing fealty to him]() and [agreeing to lead]() a so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" in a [building that's a short walk from the White House](). It's also not the first [sign of tension between the two](). In November, Musk floated that Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick should be treasury secretary in the Trump administration. Trump ended up [ignoring his suggestion](), picking economic advisor and longtime investor Scott Bessent instead. The disagreement eventually [sparked a "massive blowup" fight]() between Musk and Trump's lawyer Boris Epshteyn at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in November. **More on Stargate:** *[Elon Musk Sues OpenAI for Doing For-Profit AI, Which He's Also Doing]()* ## 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]()