Sam Altman Blasts Elon Musk for Defying Donald Trump's AI Deal

AI tech leaders are stumbling over themselves to kiss the ring of newly-minted president Donald Trump.

Earlier this week, Trump announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure deal, a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and UAE-backed investor MGX.

The companies involved in the project, dubbed "Stargate," are committing a combined $100 billion, with the plan to ratchet that up to a full half trillion over the next four years.

Noticeably absent from the ranks is xAI, which was started by Trump's tight confidante Elon Musk, who subsequently blasted the participants for not "actually" having the money to invest.

OpenAI Sam Altman, however, has since shot back, prolonging a years-long feud between the two dramatic billionaires.

"Wrong, as you surely know," Altman wrote. "Want to come visit the first site already under way?"

"This is great for the country," he added. "I realize 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] first."

It doesn't take much reading between the lines to suggest Musk is feeling left out by the deal. He and Altman have been caught up in a bitter rivalry that started years after they cofounded OpenAI together, with Musk later departing the project under a dark cloud.

Could the latest kerfuffle be a sign of what's still to come? How will Trump contain the "Succession"-like squabbling between the two tech billionaires while fuelling his latest infrastructure project? Where does Stargate leave his own close relationship with Musk?

Earlier this week, OpenAI hailed the project as an important step forward in the development of generative AI.

"More compute leads to better models, better models enable us to build better products," OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil told the Wall Street Journal in Davos, Switzerland.

How exactly OpenAI will be involved in the construction of AI infrastructure in the US remains unclear, and Weil refused to rule out the possibility of the company entering the AI chipmaking industry.

"This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world," OpenAI boasted in a statement on X-formerly-Twitter. "This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies."

Regardless of whether generative AI will turn out to be a major source of profit, a lot of money is at stake. Stargate is a massive bet that could lead to either a major windfall for AI companies, or huge losses.

But Altman's intrusion into Trump's affairs has clearly rattled Musk, an entrepreneur who launched his own competing venture, called xAI, in 2023.

And now that one of his closest confidantes is striking deals with one of his oldest nemeses isn't sitting well with him.

Despite his snide remarks, Altman pulled some punches.

"I genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time," he wrote.

More on OpenAI: Rumors Swirl That OpenAI Is About to Reveal a "PhD-Level" Human-Tier Intelligence

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