Elon Musk Doubles Down On OpenAI-Softbank Stargate Doubts—Says 'They Simply Don't' Have Money For The $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Push

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has renewed his skepticism over the ambitious Stargate project—a $500 billion AI infrastructure venture between OpenAI and SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBF) (OTC:SFTBY)—saying the plan lacks actual financial backing.

What Happened: On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the high-profile Stargate project, announced at the White House six months ago, has stalled.

Despite initial promises of pouring in $100 billion “immediately,” the initiative has not secured a single major data center deal.

Instead, the effort has been scaled down to focus on building a smaller facility in Ohio by the end of the year. Disagreements between OpenAI and SoftBank over the structure and control of the partnership have further slowed progress, the report said.

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Following the update, Musk posted on X, formerly Twitter, reinforcing a comment he made in January. "They simply don't," he wrote, responding to a user who resurfaced his earlier remark—"They don't actually have the money."

Why It's Important: Musk, whose AI startup xAI is building a large data center in Memphis, has long voiced doubts about the financial and logistical feasibility of Stargate.

The project was initially intended to significantly boost America's AI infrastructure and was led by SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and OpenAI's Sam Altman.

Meanwhile, OpenAI appears to be moving ahead with alternative plans. The company has reportedly secured a $30 billion deal with Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) to expand its computational capacity.

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Photo Courtesy: Frederic Legrand – COMEO on Shutterstock.com

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.