It sure seems like we’re witnessing the beginning of a very messy, very dramatic breakup between Donald Trump and his “First Buddy,” Elon Musk, after the president refuted Musk’s claims about the ambitious U.S.-backed A.I. project, Stargate.
I feel like every time the words “A.I.” and “Elon Musk” pop up in the same sentence, I lose a dozen or so brain cells. Alas, it’s 2025, and considering that we’re less than a week into Trump’s second term in office, it’s no wonder things are dipping even further into uncanny valley territory. America has officially exited the Paris Agreement and the World Heath Organization, begging the question, “What could possibly happen next?”
Well, the answer might be—as many commentators have predicted since day one of his endorsement—a Musk-Trump split. You see, the Tesla CEO doesn’t seem overly happy about Trump backing Stargate, a $500 billion A.I. initiative kick-started by three major tech giants. Why? Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, is in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit against CEO Sam Altman for supposedly pivoting the platform to a for-profit organization when it was initially designed for the “benefit of humanity,” apparently.
During a showy press conference held earlier this week, Trump announced the new project alongside Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison. In light of the fact that Los Angeles is still on fire, groceries are more expensive than ever, and inflation is leaving Americans penniless, it’s safe to say that the internet wasn’t exactly warm to the idea—and neither was Musk.
Trump is actually telling Musk…no? In what sure feels like a parent disciplining his child, recent remarks from the president imply that he has no interest in picking sides when it comes to getting this new A.I. infrastructure project off the ground. It all goes back to Tuesday, when Musk took to X to write in response to the Stargate announcement: “They don’t actually have the money,” adding in a follow-up tweet, “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
Over the next few days, Musk and Altman went back-and-forth online, all leading to an awkward moment where Trump was grilled by a journalist about his thoughts on Musk’s response to Stargate. When asked if he really believed that OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank had the money to properly fund the project, Trump said: “I don’t know if they do, but you know they’re putting up the money. Elon doesn’t like one of those people, so…”
So far, we’ve seen Musk be little more than a bootlicker to Trump, but the cracks are already beginning to show in their so-called “friendship.” Insider sources revealed back in November that Musk was “overstaying his welcome at Mar-a-Lago” ahead of Election Day, and that Trump’s inner circle was supposedly irritated by Musk’s behavior. Yes, Trump absolutely paid back his IOU by giving Musk a new position in the Department of Government Efficiency (a.k.a. DOGE), but now that he’s back in office, does Musk really have any use anymore? And is he truly “calling out” one of his biggest donors?
If there’s one thing Trump hates, it’s people telling him he’s wrong. So while Musk’s tirade against Altman and Stargate only seems to have gotten him a slap on the wrist, if anything, I suspect this is just the start of what will be a very long and theatric series of spats between these two power-hungry men.
Published: Jan 26, 2025 12:31 am