Will this be the shortest male friendship in US politics? It took Musk less than two days to publicly and loudly express his dissatisfaction with one of the new president's decisions. What is it about?
Donald Trump proudly presented the mega-deal "Stargate" for the development of artificial intelligence worth billions of dollars. According to Musk, however, this is a "fake" project, and OpenAI director Sam Altman is a "fraud." According to the richest man in the world, the project does not have enough funding. Musk also complained about the CEO of SoftBank - the other investor in the project, who, according to him, had provided just under ten billion dollars for the project. Musk claims to know all this from a "secure source". Altman has already reacted and called Musk's accusations false.
In addition to OpenAI and SoftBank, investors in "Stargate" are also the American company Oracle, as well as the state-owned artificial intelligence fund from Abu Dhabi MGX, ARD writes. At a press conference earlier this week, Trump announced that investments of $ 500 billion will support the development of the project over the next four years. And in the first stage, investments of $ 100 billion are planned.
Where will these $ 500 billion come from?
For now, however, it is not at all clear who will provide this financing. The companies that are part of the project are currently refraining from specific comments. So far, only rumors remain on the market. The magazine "The Information" reports that OpenAI and SoftBank wanted to invest $19 billion each in "Stargate". But where will the remaining $62 billion, needed to reach the initial $100 billion, come from? And the remaining $400 billion that must be invested in the project in the long term?
A person connected to the project commented to "Financial Times" that a large part of the initial $100 billion should come from new investors. It is not yet clear who they are, writes ARD. Meanwhile, another person familiar with the Stargate financing dismissed Musk's criticism, telling Forbes that the $100 billion for the project was secured through equity from the four founding partners and other co-investors, as well as from external sources, including debt.
Is this just jealousy?
It's not yet clear whether Musk's behavior is a sign of jealousy. But why is the richest man in the world attacking his "best friend" Trump's project so fiercely? After all, he is effectively part of the president's administration.
A post by Sam Altman on the social network X suggests that Musk has personal motives. "I understand that what is ideal for our country may not always work optimally for your company, but I hope that in your new position you will put America first", Altman wrote in X. This exchange raises the question of whether Musk is simply jealous that he was not included in Trump's mega-project on artificial intelligence.
The fact is that Altman and Musk have had a long-standing conflict. Musk has said that Altman should not be trusted, and the CEO of OpenAI called the richest man in the world a "tyrant". Musk has his own artificial intelligence company - xAI, which is a direct competitor to OpenAI. Last year, he even sued Altman's company, accusing it of abandoning its original non-profit mission and practically becoming a for-profit company.
Clear and transparent commitments are needed
Beyond personal motives, Musk may also have business interests at stake, writes ARD. Carl Kiersted, an analyst at UBS, notes that Musk is in direct competition with OpenAI. The new "Stargate" project puts Altman's company in a very good position in the long term.
Ultimately, Musk's criticism cannot be dismissed lightly, writes ARD. There are still many things about the "Stargate" project that are completely unclear - especially regarding long-term financing. It would probably be a good idea for the companies involved to quickly make concrete, binding commitments and ensure transparency.
This is the only way to counter criticism that there are still financial holes in the project that need to be filled. The fact that Musk's criticism is certainly dictated by both personal and business interests is another matter.
Author: Angela Göpfert (ARD)