President Donald Trump has announced a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle to invest $500 billion over the next four years in new U.S. AI infrastructure.
Known as Stargate, Trump called the venture the “largest AI infrastructure project in history,” but with OpenAI at the project’s helm, tensions have already arisen with Trump’s number one tech ally, Elon Musk.
The Tesla boss has long criticized OpenAI for its growing hold on the market and argued that it already has too much power in the AI sector.
However, Stargate’s announcement seems to signal that President Trump is ready for the ChatGPT-maker to expand its influence further, with or without Musk’s approval.
Following the project’s announcement, Tesla boss Musk took to X to fire back at OpenAI with claims that they would not be able to afford the project.
“We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately,” OpenAI said in its announcement . “This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world.”
In response to the post, Musk wrote: “They don’t actually have the money,” suggesting to his millions of followers that OpenAI’s financial capacity was not up to scratch.
The move follows Musk’s relentless criticism against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, mainly due to the AI firm’s transition into a for-profit company.
After successfully launching the OpenAI in 2015, Musk left the company three years later, citing a conflict of interest with his AI work at Tesla.
Since his departure, Musk has been a critic of almost every move made by the AI firm under Altman’s leadership.
Musk’s most recent lawsuit, which was first filed in August 2024, accused OpenAI and Altman of violating original contract provisions by putting profits ahead of humanity.
“Never before has a corporation gone from tax-exempt charity to a $157bn for-profit, market-paralyzing gorgon – and in just eight years,” the lawsuit filing read.
The Stargate project has already been complicated by the complex relationships between Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and OpenAI.
Trump’s endorsement of OpenAI’s infrastructure initiative positions him in direct support of a company Musk is publicly opposing.
Musk has become an incredibly close ally to the President, becoming one of his biggest political backers and gaining a seat in the White House by heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump’s decision to associate himself with a project that represents a direct competitor to Musk’s AI ambitions—particularly as Musk is building his own AI company, xAI—could strain their rapport.
In November, Musk expanded his lawsuit against OpenAI to include its biggest backer, Microsoft, as a defendant.
Musk’s amended lawsuit claimed Microsoft and OpenAI illegally sought to monopolize the market.
With Microsoft as a key technology partner in Stargate, they will likely receive a further boost in the U.S. AI development market.
On Tuesday, Sarah Friar, the chief financial officer of OpenAI, accused Musk of “resorting to using law and lawfare tactics to compete.”
In November, Musk expanded his lawsuit against OpenAI to include its biggest backer, Microsoft, as a defendant. Musk’s amended lawsuit claimed Microsoft and OpenAI illegally sought to monopolize the market.
The Stargate venture, with its massive scale and significant backing from the U.S. government and private investors, is poised to further bolster OpenAI and Microsoft’s position in the competitive AI landscape while working alongside other major tech companies.
Trump’s backing of Stargate directly conflicts with Musk’s criticism that OpenAI and Microsoft are forcing AI capabilities into a few dominant players.
The Stargate Project aims to invest up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure across the U.S. by 2029, led by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX.
The collaboration includes key technology partners such as Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI and is expected to create over 100,000 jobs in the U.S.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will serve as the company’s chairman. SoftBank will assume financial responsibility, and OpenAI will handle operational aspects.
“What we want to do is we want to keep it in this country,” Trump said in his announcement.
“China is a competitor, others are competitors. We want to be in this country, and we’re making it available,” he added. “I’m gonna help a lot through emergency declarations, because we have an emergency, we have to get this stuff built.”
Trump said he would ensure the tech giants have everything they need to complete this “production easily.”