The decision of President-elect Donald Trump to announce a $500 Billion worth Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure initiative ‘Stargate’ Project involving OpenAI foundation has drawn ire from tech mogul Elon Musk and other netizens who questioned the massive spending of tax payers’ money.
The Stargate project will be led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, the cloud computing giant Oracle, and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, with a commitment to invest at least $500 billion in AI infrastructure.
OpenAI shared details about the project on its X platform (formerly known as Twitter), stating that it will be supported by the reindustrialization of the United States and will provide strategic capabilities to enhance national security.
It also said that OpenAI and SoftBank will be responsible for the financial aspects of the project, while OpenAI will handle its operational management. It further shared that MGX, a technology fund based in the United Arab Emirates, is also a fourth investor in this initiative. Key initial technology partners include Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI, which will build on the existing partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft.
In response to OpenAI’s announcement, Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of X Space, who has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, criticized the company in a tweet on X, claiming that it lacks sufficient funding.
Additionally, the fact that OpenAI was selected for the Stargate project by the U.S. government did not go down well with several netizens who pointed out that OpenAI is currently facing several lawsuits and is also under criticism for the mysterious death of their former employee turned whistleblower Suchir Balaji.
One user on X questioned the source of the funding, while another suggested that the project primarily benefits wealthy individuals like Sam Altman.
However, some of the users have expressed distrust in Sam Altman and a few have raised concerns about the number of jobs this AI project might create.
While 2025 is set to be a historic year when it comes to AI research and funding, however, the controversy around OpenAI switching to “for profit” refuses to die with Elon acting as a major hurdle in the foundation’s progress.
Also Read: Donald Trump Removes Biden’s Executive Order on AI Risks
