Trump dismisses Elon-Altman feud: ‘Just business’

A feud reignited between Elon Musk and Sam Altman clashed on X over Altman’s Stargate Project. The $500 billion AI initiative left Musk calling Altman a liar and accusing Stargate of lacking funds. The OpenAI CEO also fired back which escalated the matter online.

The Earth’s richest man holds a long enough story of drawing criticism towards Altman. He had alleged that OpenAI has drifted from its open-source, non-profit roots, now chasing profits under Altman’s leadership. Meanwhile, US President Trump dismissed Musk’s criticism by saying, “He hates one of the people in the deal.”

Trump defends AI initiative amid drama

Elon Musk publicly critiqued Sam Altman over the last few days due to his lack of trust in him. When asked about this, Donald Trump responded in a pretty non-emotional way, signaling that it was just about business and nothing personal.

As per a report, Trump said “No, he hates one of the people,” referencing Altman. He highlighted that he has spoken to Elon but has spoken to all of them. Trump added, “Elon hates someone in the deal, that’s fine, I’ve got certain hatred for other people too.” He then decided to squash all the drama and focus on other questions.

The US President announced the massive AI infrastructure investment between Altman’s OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank. Musk commented that “they don’t actually have the money” and added, “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”

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.

— Sam Altman (@sama) January 22, 2025

Trump replied to the comment, stating, “I don’t know if they do, but you know, they’re putting up the money.” He suggested that the government is not putting up anything, and the involved parties will have to pay up.

Trump pushes for US AI dominance

President Trump’s $500 billion Stargate AI Project is looking to back US AI development. It will be gaining support from OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, Nvidia, and Microsoft. Its first milestone will be a massive data center in Texas. The organizations will be investing $100 billion initially and then scaling it to $500 billion over four years to expand the nation’s computing power and maintain its AI edge globally.

He has already signed an executive order on Thursday that will push US dominance in the artificial intelligence sector. It is aiming to outpace China in the AI race. The policy demands an interagency strategy within six months after replacing Biden-era safety and transparency rules.

Incoming AI and crypto czar David Sacks has even declared the agency’s goal to make the US “the world capital in artificial intelligence.” The crypto market is already booming over the fresh decisions taken under the Trump administration.

The cumulative crypto market cap jumped by over 4% in the last 24 hours and is approaching the $4 trillion mark. The biggest cryptos, like Bitcoin and XRP, gained a lot even before Trump took over the White House. BTC’s price surged by 57% in the last 90 days, while XRP spiked by a massive 520%.