MGX stock is soaring Wednesday on the heels of the company’s involvement with OpenAI and SoftBank’s (SFTBY+10.10%) new Stargate project. There’s just one minor problem — it’s the stock ticker for the wrong MGX.
MGX represents shares of Metagenomi Inc., a biotechnology company focused on leveraging genome editing tools. Last week, the company said it is working on bringing its experimental treatment for hemophilia A to clinical trials in 2026.
Investors were likely confused by a press release announcing that MGX would be among the initial equity funders in the Stargate Project, which seeks to invest $500 billion over the next four years in new artificial intelligence infrastructure for OpenAI. The MGX referenced there is a technology fund based in the United Arab Emirates.
The likely misunderstanding propelled Metagenomi stock up by as much as 33% on Wednesday before gains were pared back down to a 25% increase. Shares are down 67% for the last 12 months and 24% over the last six months.
As for Stargate, the project is expected to be a major boost to the U.S. economy and OpenAI, according to the people backing it. President Donald Trump, who was joined by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, and Oracle’s (ORCL+6.26%) Larry Ellison at the White House — said it would generate more than 100,000 jobs.
The group’s first project, a one-million-square-foot data project, is already underway in Texas. Although the backers plan to eventually spend $500 billion, the companies said they would deploy $100 billion “immediately.”
Stargate will be chaired by Son, whose SoftBank will have financial responsibility for the company, while OpenAI handles the operations. Those companies, along with Oracle and MGX, are the initial equity backers. SoftBank-backed Arm, Microsoft (MSFT+3.09%), and Nvidia (NVDA+3.53%) will work with Oracle and OpenAI on the technology.
However, not everyone is fully on board with Stargate.
Atreides Management Chief Investment Office Gavin Baker, who also noted the MGX mix-up, called the $500 billion “a ridiculous number” that “no one should take seriously” unless SoftBank sold their Arm and Alibaba (BABA+0.21%) stock.
“And I say all of this as someone who is really optimistic about AI in every way,” Baker added in a post on X. “Stargate is fiction wrapped around a much less impressive reality.”
Tesla (TSLA-0.20%) CEO Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump’s with his own federal task force, agrees. In a series of posts late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday morning, Musk said he has it on “good authority” that SoftBank has less than $10 billion secured.
“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote on X, replying to an OpenAI post announcing Stargate.
Musk, an OpenAI co-founder who left the startup and has a longstanding feud with Altman and the startup, also has his own AI company, xAI. His firm raised $6 billion at a $50 billion valuation. That cash is expected to help xAI expand its Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, which it developed with Nvidia chips.
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