OpenAI's new "backer"? Media: Trump spoke with Altman about AI infrastructure before taking office

In addition to Microsoft, the number one "financial backer," OpenAI may have found a new "supporter"—Trump.

On January 22nd, Eastern Time, CNBC reported that Trump had a phone call with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman before being sworn in as President of the United States, discussing artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. During the call last Friday, the two spoke for a long time about the potential of AI and the necessity of developing AI technology in the U.S.

Coincidentally, just a few days after the call with Altman, Trump announced at the White House on Tuesday evening that OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle would jointly establish a company called "Stargate," which will invest a total of $500 billion in AI technology infrastructure, creating 100,000 new jobs in the U.S. At that time, Altman stood alongside Trump with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.

Altman praised Stargate that evening, calling it "the most important project of this era." Masayoshi Son stated that Stargate would "immediately" invest $100 billion, aiming to increase investments in AI projects to "at least" $500 billion, including data centers and physical campuses. Ellison mentioned that the first data center project of Stargate, covering 1 million square feet, has already begun construction on the first 10 data centers in Texas.

OpenAI later released a statement on social media platform X, stating that Stargate plans to invest $500 billion over the next four years, with the first round of $100 billion "immediately starting deployment." SoftBank and OpenAI will be the main partners of Stargate, with Masayoshi Son serving as the chairman, SoftBank taking on financial responsibilities, and OpenAI handling operational responsibilities.

However, Musk poured cold water on Stargate in a post on X, commenting that the companies supporting OpenAI's commitments to Stargate "actually have no money," and claimed he has reliable evidence that SoftBank's available funds "are far less than $10 billion."

Dario Amodei, CEO of OpenAI's competitor Anthropic, also raised doubts about whether Stargate could secure the $500 billion financing, describing the planned project as "a bit chaotic," stating that "it is still unclear how much actual funding is involved," and it is also unclear how the Trump administration will participate in the project.

Many netizens also expressed skepticism. Other users questioned the massive investment required for the project and its production capacity. Their main concerns included whether the investors could afford such a large sum, whether chip production capacity could keep up, and whether OpenAI's status as a "non-profit organization" supports its involvement in the project, among other issues Altman replied to Musk on X on Wednesday, stating that his remarks were "incorrect," and implied that Musk was unhappy because the Stargate agreement might compete with his own AI projects.

Musk launched several legal battles against OpenAI last year, seeking to prevent OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit organization, and also called on the Attorneys General of California and Delaware to urge law enforcement in those states to force OpenAI to auction off a significant portion of the company's shares, allowing external investors to indirectly control OpenAI's business. CNBC reported that the back-and-forth between Musk and Altman has escalated the intense legal disputes into the public eye.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated on Wednesday to CNBC, "All I know is that my $80 billion is fine." The $80 billion Nadella referred to is Microsoft's announcement earlier this year that it would spend $80 billion on AI data centers for the fiscal year ending June 2025, to build data centers capable of handling AI workloads