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Elon Musk is taking another public swipe at Sam Altman, this time as fresh reports suggest OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate project may be hitting turbulence.
On Sunday, Musk responded to a media report about delays and internal friction surrounding the planned $500 billion AI data center initiative with a pointed remark on X.
“Hardware is hard,” he wrote. In a follow-up post, he added, “Those who have tried to do so at scale will understand.”
The comments landed just hours after The Information reported that Stargate, a joint venture involving OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle, has run into roadblocks. According to the report, tensions have surfaced between OpenAI and SoftBank over how and where to build key data centers, slowing progress on what was billed as one of the largest AI infrastructure projects ever conceived.
When Stargate was unveiled in January 2025, it was pitched as a sweeping effort to build a vast network of AI focused data centers across the United States. At the time, Altman spoke confidently about raising enormous sums to support the buildout. Musk, who co founded OpenAI in 2015 but later split from the company, was openly skeptical.
“They don’t actually have the money,” he posted back then.
The latest report appears to reinforce his long running doubts. The Information said the Stargate venture has not meaningfully staffed up and is not currently building OpenAI’s data centers at the pace initially expected. SoftBank is developing large data center projects in Texas, but disagreements reportedly emerged over who would control the sites.
OpenAI had hoped one of the Texas facilities would become its first self built data center. SoftBank, however, wanted to retain control. After months of negotiations, the companies reached a compromise: OpenAI would sign a long term lease and oversee the facility’s design, while SoftBank’s energy arm would develop and own it.
At the same time, OpenAI has been expanding outside the Stargate framework. The company signed a reported $30 billion per year deal with Oracle and has strengthened ties with cloud provider CoreWeave. According to the report, OpenAI no longer sees building and owning its own data centers as an immediate priority.
There are also signs of recalibration on spending. CNBC reported that OpenAI is now telling investors it expects to spend about $600 billion on AI infrastructure through 2030. That figure is significantly lower than the $1.4 trillion Altman had floated publicly just months earlier.
The shift comes as investors grow more cautious about the scale of AI capital expenditure across the tech sector. Massive spending plans from cloud giants have fueled concerns about whether returns will justify the outlays, contributing to volatility in tech stocks.
The Musk Altman rivalry has only intensified against that backdrop. Musk has sued OpenAI, accusing it of straying from its original nonprofit mission and engaging in anticompetitive behavior. Altman, for his part, has dismissed some of Musk’s ideas, recently calling his proposal to build data centers in space “ridiculous.”
Now, with Stargate reportedly facing early growing pains, Musk appears content to underline a simpler point. Building cutting edge AI models may be difficult. Building the physical infrastructure to power them, at global scale, may be even harder.
