OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar explains how AI is taking center stage at Davos, what the Stargate project means for the macro economy, and details new products for key customers.
OpenAI's CFO is setting the record straight on where funding is for President Donald Trump's groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) project.
“I'm close to this deal, I've been working on it. If I look tired, this deal does it for me. And I feel really good about where we are,” said Sarah Friar. “Morning with Mary” Thursday's interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“I think about Elon, look, he's a competitor,” she added, “but I want us to compete for the right things.”
On Tuesday, President Trump announced a massive $500 billion infrastructure project called Stargate. Major names including Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle plan to join forces to build data centers in the US to further develop AI, which promises to increase productivity through job automation.
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The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and may reach five times that amount. Microsoft, NVIDIA, investor MGX and chip manufacturer Arm are also partners in the project.
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar defends the company's position that it has financial backing to fund the Stargate AI project. (Getty Images)
But Tesla and SpaceX CEO — and now co-chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency — Elon Musk attended X express doubts about OpenAI's ability to financially support Stargate.
“They don't really have money,” Musk wrote on X in response to OpenAI's post praising Stargate. “SoftBank is well under $10 billion secured. I have good authority for that.”
Friar supported OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's claim that Musk was “wrong” and encouraged Musk to support Trump's AI plans despite Musk-Altman broke off the relationship.
President Trump made a major announcement on infrastructure on his second day in office.
“Let's compete to get great results for consumers and businesses. Let's compete to get investment and jobs in the United States as well as for our allies. And let's compete to get the right results for security as well,” the CFO said Thursday.
“And Elon knows that,” Friar urged, “because we're at the tip of the iceberg after all. We're just scratching the surface of what's to come. This is the era of artificial intelligence. And so we're going to let ourselves be distracted. I just feel like it's going to slow down the larger outcome, which we all seek.”
A source familiar with Stargate told FOX Business that Stargate is ready to deploy $100 billion immediately and that the companies in the business are well positioned to invest.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anduril Industries Co-Founder and CEO Brian Schimpf discuss the future of artificial intelligence and the ethical use of technology on “Making Money.”
Seeking to ease any tension, Friar argued that Musk agrees with OpenAI on the industry's three core needs: “amazing people” and computer and data power.
“That's why it's incredibly important for us to be mission controlled, isn't it?” stated the CFO. “We want to make sure we have access to all of them, and we'll continue to run the company in the way we think is best to achieve that outcome.”
Michael Dorgan of FOX Business contributed to this report.
