As 2024 was drawing to a close, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman faced two major problems.
He wasn’t getting enough server capacity from Microsoft, his company’s biggest backer, to stay ahead of rivals developing artificial intelligence. And he was facing a legal challenge from one of his biggest foes, Elon Musk, who had forged a close bond with incoming President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Altman engineered a blockbuster data center deal that could solve both issues. The $100 billion Stargate venture put him next to the president—literally, as they stood together for the announcement—and could give OpenAI more computing power than other AI developers. It also crystallized tensions that have been brewing with Microsoft for months, as Altman has grown closer to Larry Ellison’s Oracle.