‘They don’t have the money’ — Elon Musk taunts OpenAI over $500bn AI project

Elon Musk, the owner of X, has taken a jab at OpenAI, following the company’s announcement of a $500 billion Stargate Project.

The project intends to solidify the United States’ dominance in artificial intelligence (AI).

The project was initially unveiled at the White House by US President Donald Trump.

Trump had said the $500 billion project would be a joint venture with Oracle, the Texas-based tech firm; Japan’s SoftBank, and OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker.

He also described the initiative as the largest AI infrastructure project in history.

On Wednesday, OpenAI announced the Stargate Project via X and detailed its mission to strengthen US AI capabilities.

The company said it has committed an initial investment of $100 billion, with the remaining amount to be deployed over the next four years.

Open AI added that the initiative would create thousands of jobs and bolster national security.

“The Stargate Project is a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States,” Open AI wrote.

“We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world.”

Commenting on the post, Musk ridiculed the announcement, saying the company cannot fund the project.

“They don’t actually have the money,” he wrote.

In response, rather than engaging in a combative exchange, Sam Altman, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Open AI, acknowledged Musk’s achievements, describing him as “the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time”.

Musk co-founded OpenAI before departing and openly criticising its shift to a “for-profit model”.

In December 2024, he filed a court injunction against the company, alleging its transition to a for-profit entity betrayed its nonprofit roots.

The tech billionaire argued that the shift created unfair competition for rivals like xAI, his own AI venture.