Donald Trump Dismisses Elon Musk's Criticism Of $500 Billion AI Project: 'He Hates One Of The People In The Deal'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump brushed aside criticism from Tesla CEO Elon Musk about the recently announced $500 billion artificial intelligence project,“Stargate”. Speaking at a White House press conference on January 23, Trump dismissed Musk's remarks, saying:“It doesn't. He hates one of the people in the deal. People in the deal are very, very smart people. But, Elon, one of the people he happens to hate. I have certain hatreds of people, too.”

AI project announcement

The Stargate initiative, unveiled on January 21, is a collaboration between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The project is expected to build data centres and create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison joined Trump at the White House to launch the venture.

Musk's scepticism

Elon Musk , the world's richest man and a close adviser to Donald Trump , raised doubts about the project's funding in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on January 22. Musk, who is involved in an ongoing lawsuit with OpenAI and has a strained relationship with its CEO, Sam Altman, claimed:“They don't actually have the money. SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”

Altman responds

Sam Altman swiftly countered Musk 's scepticism, defending the project's progress and goals. In a direct reply, he tweeted:

“Wrong, as you surely know. Want to come visit the first site already under way? This is great for the country. 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 🇺🇸 first.”

MENAFN24012025007365015876ID1109126006