Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon slammed Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday, calling him out for his criticism of President Trump’s newly announced infrastructure project for artificial intelligence (AI).
Bannon told Politico Musk “brought in his own personal vendetta” after the tech billionaire publicly voiced his doubts about the Stargate Project, which will invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years.
“I’ve never seen action like this in my life,” Bannon said, adding White House chief of staff Susie Wiles should “sit him down” and “sort it out immediately,” Politico reported.
A day after Trump announced the Stargate project alongside other leading technology companies, Musk claimed on social media that the companies behind the project do not have the money they promised.
OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank are the initial equity investors for the project.
Musk claimed SoftBank has “well under $10 billion secured,” after pledging to give $100 billion to the project.
A source familiar with the Stargate project pushed back on this, stating SoftBank is prepared to immediately deploy $100 billion, citing the company’s equity from founding partners, co-investors, third-party debt and other sources.
Bannon has repeatedly clashed with Musk in the public eye, often criticizing the Tesla CEO and other leading technology executives who have come closer into Trump’s orbit in recent months.
Earlier this week, Bannon called the technology leaders at Trump’s inauguration “oligarchs in Silicon Valley,” stating they “have a very different view of how people should govern themselves.”
“I call it techno-feudalism. They don’t believe in the underlying tenets of self-governance,” the right-wing firebrand said.
OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman also fiercely rebuked Musk’s claims, writing on X, “[W]rong, as you surely know. want to come visit the first site already under way? this is great for the country. i realize what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies, but in your new role i hope you’ll mostly put [the U.S.] first.”
