TNB Tech Minute: Musk Questions Trump-Backed Stargate AI Project
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This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news there. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise. Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, January 22nd. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal.

Elon Musk has raised questions about the Stargate AI joint venture announced at a White House ceremony with President Trump yesterday. The leaders of tech companies, including OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, pledged up to $500 billion to build AI infrastructure in the country. Musk wrote on X that two of the companies behind the project don't have enough money to follow through on the pledges. The companies didn't respond to requests for comment about Musk's social media posts.

In an interview with Fox News, a Trump spokeswoman said the president was excited about yesterday's announcement and said that Americans should, quote, take President Trump and those CEOs' words for it. The companies behind Stargate didn't disclose how much cash each partner would contribute or precisely where all the funds would come from. Stargate plans to bring on additional equity investors.

The main partners have constraints on their cash. OpenAI has raised large sums but still loses money. Oracle has about $11 billion in cash and marketable securities, but more in debt. SoftBank has roughly $30 billion of cash on hand.

South Carolina is looking to restart construction on a nuclear project amid growing AI demand. Santee Cooper, the state's big power provider, announced today that it's seeking proposals for buyers to complete the project at South Carolina's VC Summer Nuclear Station.

Santee Cooper will likely look to tap a consortium that could include a construction firm, a tech company that will use the power, and an additional partner for capital. That's according to people familiar with the matter. It's also looking for another power company partner because it doesn't plan to own or operate the units once they are up and running. And...

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says he plans to put forward a package of three measures to rein in social media at the next EU Council meeting. He discussed the measures at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which include replacing anonymity of users on social media platforms with an EU digital identity wallet, enabling enforcement agencies to link users with nicknames to their real identity if they commit any crimes, overriding the need for social media.

opening up social media algorithms, and fully enforcing the EU Digital Economy Act. Sanchez said CEOs should be held personally accountable for non-compliance. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Thursday's Tech News Briefing podcast. ADP imagines a world of work where smart machines become too smart. Copier, I need 15 copies of this. Printing. By the way, irregardless, not a word, Janet. Yeah, I know.

Page six should be regardless of or irrespective of. Just print them, please. If it were a word, Janet, it would mean without irregard, which is... Copier! Switch to silent mode. Let's put a pin in it. Anything can change the world of work. From HR to payroll, ADP helps businesses take on the next anything.