**Topline** In less than 48 hours, Elon Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump, questioning the significance of Trump's substantial $500 billion announcement that supports Musk's artificial intelligence firm. **Key Facts** **Tangent** Musk's critical response to Trump's major declaration was notably atypical for someone who has such close ties to the president. MSNBC contributor Sam Stein referred to it as “definitely a first” to have a “SENIOR official in the White House publicly declare that the president's big announcement is somewhat of a ruse. ” **Crucial Quote** According to UBS analyst Karl Keirstead in a note to clients, Stargate represents a significant achievement for OpenAI as it competes with xAI and other tech giants in the quest for artificial general intelligence (AGI). Keirstead stated, "OpenAI is in a race against Elon Musk-backed xAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic (funded by Amazon), among others, " adding that “this positions OpenAI more favorably in the long run to excel in the model war. ” **Key Background** Musk's dissent regarding Stargate likely stems from his longstanding rivalry with Sam Altman and the generative AI powerhouse OpenAI, which Musk co-founded as a non-profit in 2015 but left in 2018. He subsequently established xAI as a direct competitor and filed a lawsuit against OpenAI last year over disagreements related to the company's shift toward profit. The conflict between these billionaire AI figures has led to public exchanges, with Musk labeling Altman as "someone who is not trustworthy" during an October interview with Tucker Carlson, while Altman dismissed Musk as “clearly a bully” in a December interview with the Free Press.

Musk's xAI was most recently valued at $50 billion in a private funding round, roughly one-third of OpenAI's valuation exceeding $150 billion. **Surprising Fact** Musk's criticism of Stargate occurs despite the involvement of his close associate and former Tesla board member, Larry Ellison. In November, Musk expressed admiration for Ellison, tweeting in response to a video in which Ellison referred to Musk as his “friend. ” **Stargate Linked Stocks Surge** Stocks of companies associated with the AI initiative experienced gains on Wednesday. SoftBank's stock increased by 11% in Tokyo trading, Oracle's rose by 7%, while tech partners Nvidia and Arm Holdings (majority owned by SoftBank) surged by 5% and 15%, respectively, by mid-afternoon. **Forbes Valuations** The Stargate dispute features some of the wealthiest individuals globally. Musk is the richest, with a net worth of $430 billion, followed by Ellison at $231 billion, Son at $34 billion, Trump at $6 billion, and Altman at $1. 1 billion, ranked as the 2, 548th richest. **Further Reading**