Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, reportedly attempted to thwart a major artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project between OpenAI and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after his AI company, xAI, was excluded from the initiative.
According to CNBC, earlier this month, OpenAI, Oracle Corporation, NVIDIA, Cisco, and UAE-based G42 announced plans to collaborate on building the Stargate AI campus in the UAE. Musk reportedly objected to OpenAI’s participation, led by his rival, Sam Altman.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Musk tried to intervene by claiming President Trump would not approve the agreement. This intervention allegedly delayed the announcement by several days, suggesting Musk’s intent to obstruct the deal.
While Musk was not present in the UAE during the agreement’s signing, he was visiting Saudi Arabia with President Trump. A senior White House official disclosed that Musk expressed concerns about fair treatment for all AI companies.
Musk and Altman are widely recognized as prominent rivals in the tech industry. They co-founded OpenAI as a research lab in 2015, but Musk later publicly distanced himself from the project. He has since criticized OpenAI’s close ties with Microsoft (MS) and even filed a lawsuit to prevent OpenAI’s transition to a commercial entity.
Furthermore, Musk has voiced criticism of the Stargate project. Announced by President Trump in January, the project aims to invest 500 billion USD over four years to develop AI infrastructure in the U.S., involving partnerships with OpenAI, Oracle Corporation, and SoftBank. However, Musk has challenged the project, claiming that the proposed funding has not been secured.