Elon Musk and Sam Altman, two of the most influential men in technology, intensified their verbal battle on social media Thursday over their competing artificial intelligence projects.
The most recent discussion started when it was disclosed that Altman’s company, OpenAI, was a major participant in Stargate, the AI infrastructure initiative that President Donald Trump unveiled this week and that will receive a significant investment push.
In a lengthy post announcing the new business on his social media platform, X, Musk stated that they don’t really have the funds. At first, it was unclear to whom Musk was talking, but he quickly clarified by citing SoftBank, Stargate’s primary financial backer.
SoftBank has secured well under $10 billion. Without further explanation, he stated, “I have that on good authority.” No official connections have been made public by Musk or his electric vehicle company, Tesla.
In response, Altman praised Musk. Although he deemed his SoftBank claim incorrect, he said on X, “I truly respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time.”
Using an American flag emoji, he said, “I hope you’ll primarily put [America] first in your new role. I realize what’s great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies.”
Trump offered his thoughts on the conflict in talks to reporters on Thursday, but he made no mention of Altman’s or OpenAI’s position on the project being in jeopardy.
Trump referred to Musk as “one of the people he happens to hate” without specifically naming Altman.
“But I have certain hatreds of people, too,” he continued.
The dispute stems from a lawsuit Musk, an OpenAI co-founder, is currently pursuing over control of the firm. It was reignited this week when Trump said that OpenAI will be included in the $500 billion Stargate plan, which aims to position the US as a global leader in artificial intelligence.
Musk persisted in attacking Altman late on Wednesday and into Thursday, bringing up posts from Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in which Altman seemed to criticize Trump.
By 8:30 p.m., Altman shared that he had recently altered his mind about the president: “Partially, I wish I had done more of my own thinking, but watching @potus more closely recently has really changed my perspective on him.” Although I may not share all of his opinions, I believe he will be fantastic for the nation in many respects!
In response to Musk, Altman wrote on Thursday morning: “Maybe you’ll love yourself after one more cruel tweet.”
The competition between Musk and Altman is indicative of the tech community’s effort to win over Trump as well as how the AI race is fueling the drive for tech supremacy. If releasing new, user-friendly gadgets was once the path to success for a tech business, the competition to develop the most sophisticated AI has essentially taken over.
The circumstance also highlights the conflict in Musk’s dual roles as one of the most influential and aggressive corporate magnates in the world and a prominent Trump advisor. Through the X, which unveiled Grok, a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, in November, Musk demonstrated his own interest in artificial intelligence.
The long-simmering conflict between Altman and Musk predates both the recent boom of artificial intelligence technology and Musk’s rise to prominence in American politics. Businesses have hurried to invest in AI development and infrastructure, to the point that it has contributed significantly to recent economic growth in the United States. Long before the Stargate project was announced, in June, a Goldman Sachs report predicted that capital expenditures for AI may reach $1 trillion.
Although it faces fierce competition from other startups and the majority of large tech companies who are thought to have closed the gap, OpenAI was once widely regarded as the leader in AI development. Due in large part to the significant hardware and energy requirements needed to refine the models at the heart of sophisticated AI, this rivalry has made securing financing and collaborations even more crucial.