First support Biden then vote for Trump—Elon Musk's wavering stance, seemingly allies but actually on different sides—U.S. capitalists' internal struggle intensifies

inter1359 · January 24, 2025, 1:52pm

In January 22, Trump announced the “Stargate” artificial intelligence infrastructure investment plan, involving up to 500 billion USD, while Elon Musk, the largest financial supporter of Trump during the US election, not only refused to participate in the investment plan but also “damped the enthusiasm,” questioning whether OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank involved in the plan had enough funds to fulfill their commitments, claiming “SoftBank can at most contribute 10 billion.” Musk also praised his own X AI, which actually reflects the increasingly fierce competition within the monopolistic bourgeoisie.

In 2015, Musk had invested in OpenAI to acquire their technology, but by 2022, OpenAI colluded with Microsoft, forcing Musk to develop his own AI to compete, and cut off OpenAI’s access to data from X (formerly Twitter), using that data exclusively for X AI, established in 2023. Also in 2023, citing that AI would lead to “more than human brains, smarter than human brains, ultimately replacing and淘汰 us,” he and other bourgeoisie figures jointly called for a halt to the development of AI more advanced than GPT-4. In reality, the so-called knowledge of AI fundamentally comes from human practice, and Musk’s alarmist rhetoric is actually pressure on the US government to introduce so-called regulations to ensure AI “safety,” slowing down OpenAI’s development so that X AI and other AI industry capitalists can catch up.

In 2024, X AI raised 12 billion USD in financing, once surpassing OpenAI. But Trump does not only represent Musk’s interests. Monopolistic capitalists from emerging sectors like Microsoft, Apple, and Meta (formerly Facebook) have gradually met with Trump and provided funding after Harris’s defeat. Therefore, when Musk saw Trump supporting OpenAI and Microsoft, he sought to obstruct them. Musk and Trump have had conflicts before; previously, Musk opposed Trump’s withdrawal from the climate accord to protect his interests in electric vehicles. However, the Biden administration also marginalized Tesla without a union, favoring monopolies like Ford under pressure from the UAW, and Musk’s attempts to enter the emerging internet AI sector were also restricted (even SpaceX was limited for absurd reasons related to impact on dolphins). Thus, Musk shifted to support Trump. It is evident that capitalists support whichever president aligns with their economic interests.

luanma · January 24, 2025, 5:12pm

Biden represents the interests of the old-established monopoly capital in the U.S. internet sector. These monopolies, in order to suppress Musk and prevent him from joining the internet sector to share profits, use the power of the U.S. government to make things difficult for Musk’s companies. For example, the Biden administration claims that debris from Musk’s rocket launches could hit marine life in nearby waters, and the noise from rocket launches could affect dolphins, among other bizarre reasons, to block SpaceX’s rocket launches. While some of these claims, such as rocket debris causing ocean pollution, are factual, accusations like rocket noise causing seals pain are purely deliberate troublemaking. It is clear that the purpose of the Biden administration is not genuinely to protect the environment or wildlife, but to use these pretexts to suppress Musk.

luanma · January 24, 2025, 5:30pm

Elon Musk, en realidad, al igual que Trump, son dos caras de la misma moneda, pragmatistas sin principios. Hoy pueden decir una cosa por su propio interés, y mañana decir exactamente lo contrario por el mismo motivo. Por ejemplo, Trump anteriormente dijo que se opondría a la inmigración, pero luego, cuando los grandes granjeros del sur de Estados Unidos necesitaban mano de obra barata mexicana, emitió una gran cantidad de visas de inmigrante.

前进Advance · February 3, 2025, 5:27pm

Isn’t the Democratic Party supporting new industries? They are aggressively pushing things like carbon taxes and also providing a lot of subsidies, so it seems they support new industries more.

luanma · February 3, 2025, 6:44pm

It’s not this meaning, but rather that in departments related to the internet, Microsoft, Apple, and others were among the earliest capital, while Musk is a newcomer.