Bannon Berates Musk Over His Attacks on Trump’s AI Infrastructure Project

“I’ve never seen action like this in my life,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s one-time chief strategist, said.

Steve Bannon, in particular, has been sharply critical of Elon Musk. | Yuki Iwamura/AP

By Dasha Burns

01/22/2025 07:51 PM EST

Some conservatives and MAGA faithful are livid over Elon Musk’s daylong public meltdown over Donald Trump’s AI infrastructure project, saying the president’s staff needs to get control of the tech titan.

Steve Bannon, in an interview with POLITICO, said Musk “brought in his own personal vendetta” when the world’s richest man began railing against Trump’s announcement of a $500 billion dollar investment in AI infrastructure from tech giants OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank.

“I’ve never seen action like this in my life,” Bannon, Trump’s one-time chief strategist, said. He also called on White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to “sit him down” and “sort it out immediately.”

The rift marks another break between some of Trump’s MAGA supporters and Musk, who launched himself into Trump’s orbit and has served as his social media hype-man and adviser on tech and other issues. Bannon, in particular, has been sharply critical of Musk, previously taunting the billionaire over what he said was a lack of actual power among the president’s inner circle. Besides leading the president’s effort to make the government more efficient with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has reportedly secured himself workspace at the White House, though it’s unclear exactly what this will entail.

At the same time, Musk has caused a stir with some of Trump’s allies over H-1B visas. Many Trump supporters advocate for stricter immigration measures, while Silicon Valley tech companies and others use H-B1 visas to attract skilled foreign workers. In December, Musk publicly waded into the immigration debate by advocating for H-1B visas, posting on social media that “If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE.” Trump, though, has seemingly praised the program to bring high-skilled workers to the country.

Musk this week picked a new fight over the president’s effort to build up America’s AI infrastructure. He responded to the OpenAI post on X announcing the president’s project, dubbed “Stargate,” by saying, “They don’t actually have the money.” He later added: “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”

Part of the fight is likely due to Musk’s long conflict with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who joined Trump in the Roosevelt room Tuesday to announce Stargate.

“There’s something fundamentally wrong here about the structure and about his understanding of the structure.” Bannon said. “This is not Silicon Valley. This is not tech bros.”

Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

He’s not alone. Conservative radio host Erick Erickson called for an “intervention” for Musk, posting a clip from his show Wednesday on Musk’s own platform, X. “I think he’s becoming Icarus.”

But the strongest criticism came from Bannon, who left the White House early in Trump’s first term but still commands a massive “America First” audience. Bannon claims that he supports Musk’s efforts to make the government more efficient, but at the same time denounces the tech billionaire.

“I’ve never seen someone on another aspect of the government that has been deputized by the president himself come in and openly criticize him,” he said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Wednesday that Trump “is very excited about this infrastructure announcement.” She did not mention Musk.