Athia Sethu
Kochi, 27 January 2025
US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk share a strong relationship. Even before taking the office, he entrusted this big responsibility to Musk, and after becoming president, he initiated an initiative to keep the US ahead in the AI race. He planned a $500 billion investment to further the capabilities of AI, which Musk claimed was an uprising.
The program, developed in conjunction with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, is called ‘Stargate.’ The promise is to create over 100,000 jobs as part of that process to increase America’s capabilities to compete better against the growing tech influence of China.
Musk’s Disapproval: Musk, an informal advisor to Trump, was displeased with the initiative and criticized it on X, a social media platform. He raised questions over the viability of the project, suggesting that tech companies do not have the required money. Musk further pointed out that one of the major investors, SoftBank, has less than $10 billion in secured funds.
The controversy surrounding the project: Musk further targeted a harsh criticism towards Sam Altman with whom he founded OpenAI but is now embroiled in a lawsuit. Trump’s declaration of the project with so much excitement has turned controversial because of the objections by Musk.
In reaction to the criticism from Musk, Trump told the media that all issues had been addressed. He surmised that Musk was angry because the anger was personal, adding, “I have no problem with it. The people involved in the deal are very smart.’
