OpenAI Announces $500 Billion AI Project, Musk Says 'They Don't Actually Have The Money'

According to OpenAI, the buildout for the project is currently underway and they are evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses.

New Delhi: As Sam Altman-run OpenAI announced the Stargate Project which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure in the US — with SoftBank, Oracle and MGX — Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday said “they don’t actually have the money”.

According to an OpenAI statement, they will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. “This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world. This project will not only support the re-industrialisation of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” said the ChatGPT maker.

The initial equity funders in Stargate are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and OpenAI are the lead partners for Stargate, with SoftBank having financial responsibility and OpenAI having operational responsibility. Masayoshi Son will be the chairman. Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners.

Reacting to this move, the xAI owner Musk said they don’t have this kind of money to build such a massive product. In another post, Musk supported an X user who wrote that ‘OpenAI and Microsoft are done’. “Seems to be the case,” said the world’s richest man.

According to OpenAI, the buildout is currently underway, starting in Texas, and “we are evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses as we finalise definitive agreements”.

“As part of Stargate, Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system. This builds on a deep collaboration between OpenAI and NVIDIA going back to 2016 and a newer partnership between OpenAI and Oracle,” the company posted on X.

The companies made the announcement during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday, where President Donald Trump spoke about plans for investment in US infrastructure.