Musk and Altman exchange jabs on social media following ChatGPT co-creator's White House visit.

 Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, stood by Trump as the president unveiled the AI "Stargate" initiative.

Elon Musk; Sam Altman.

Jan. 24, 2025, 2:31 AM GMT+6 / Updated Jan. 24, 2025, 3:33 AM GMT+6

A heated war of words erupted on social media Thursday between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, two of tech's most influential figures, as they clashed over their competing AI projects. The latest chapter began when OpenAI, led by Altman, was identified as a key player in Stargate, a new AI infrastructure initiative that President Donald Trump unveiled this week, which is backed by a significant investment. Musk took to his platform, X, to criticize the venture, claiming, "They don’t actually have the money." While it wasn't clear who Musk was initially referencing, he quickly followed up by accusing SoftBank, Stargate’s primary financial supporter, of having insufficient funds. "SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority," Musk said, without offering further details. Neither Musk nor Tesla have made any formal announcements linking them to the initiative.

Altman responded with a mix of praise and correction, writing, "I genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time," but refuting Musk’s claim about SoftBank’s financial situation. He added, "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 [America] first," using an American flag emoji.

Trump weighed in on the dispute during a press briefing, without suggesting that Altman or OpenAI’s involvement in the Stargate project was at risk. While he didn’t mention Altman by name, he referenced Musk in the context of "one of the people he happens to hate." "But I have certain hatreds of people, too," Trump remarked.

The feud between Musk and Altman stems from an ongoing lawsuit Musk filed over control of OpenAI, a company he co-founded, and it reignited following Trump’s announcement that OpenAI would play a role in the $500 billion Stargate project designed to position the U.S. as a leader in AI. As the day wore on, Musk continued to target Altman, repeatedly citing posts from Altman’s 2016 campaign statements where he appeared to criticize Trump. By evening, Altman responded, expressing a shift in his views: "Watching @potus more carefully recently has really changed my perspective on him (I wish I had done more of my own thinking)," Altman wrote. "I’m not going to agree with him on everything, but I think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!"

The back-and-forth continued Thursday morning, with Altman quipping in response to Musk, "Just one more mean tweet and then maybe you’ll love yourself…"

This exchange highlights the growing influence of AI in the tech world and the power struggle to align with Trump, as well as Musk’s dual role as a prominent adviser to the president and a major tech mogul. Musk is also heavily involved in AI through his own project, X, which launched Grok in November as a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The feud between Musk and Altman has been simmering for years, predating both Musk’s rise as a political figure and the rapid advancement of AI technology. With tech companies rushing to invest in AI, this space has quickly become a central driver of U.S. economic growth. A Goldman Sachs report from June, before the Stargate project was announced, estimated that AI-related capital expenditure could exceed $1 trillion.