Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft’s AI division, recently took to social media to post a new update. This pertained to the construction of the company’s upcoming data center in Atlanta. In the post he shared on X, Suleyman appeared to boast about the long labor hours it has been taking for Microsoft AI to set up the data center. With over 184k views, the post has indeed become viral on social media. In fact, it also caught the attention of the CEO of xAI, Elon Musk.
The Tesla chief executive did not miss the opportunity to share his piece of mind regarding Suleyman’s perspective of the labor hours invested to construct the data center in Atlanta. Elon Musk responded to the X post with a witty question, and that garnered over 450k views in a brief period of time. Many users shared the same opinion with the SpaceX CEO and posted memes and comments on corporate labor.
Elon Musk slams Microsoft AI CEO for bragging about long labor hours
On November 16, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman took to his X account to share a rather enthusiastic post. It expressed the duration of time it has been taking for Microsoft AI to build their Fairwater data center in Atlanta. In fact, the chief executive compare it to the labor hours taken to construct the Empire State building.
Are you sure you’re doing it right?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2025
Suleyman’s X post read, “Already our Fairwater datacenter in Atlanta has taken over 15 million labor hours to build – even more once it’s fully finished. For comparison the Empire State building took 7 million!” Now, the post features a comment that has garnered almost thrice the number of its views. Elon Musk reacted to Mustafa Suleyman’s post by replying to it with a question. The Tesla CEO asked, “Are you sure you’re doing it right?” Besides the humorous connotations associated with the post, Musk’s question is worth considering.
The Microsoft AI CEO boasting about the long labor hours to construct the data center at Atlanta may suggest the extent of the financial capital used to invest in it. Nevertheless, the post could also be interpreted from a counter productive lens. Investing long hours in building a data center may not be the sole indicator of a successful endeavor. Thus, Elon Musk’s skepticism can be considered justified.
Related: World’s Richest Man Elon Musk Gets Candid About the Vacation Homes He Owns
Netizens react to Elon Musk Slamming Microsoft AI CEO
After Elon Musk posted his query in response to Mustafa Suleyman’s post on X, many users flocked in the former’s comment section to express a similar line of thought. Most of the users in that thread also seemed to share Musk’s skepticism.
Exactly, taking long work hours to accomplish something is not a flex 😅
— Cyberstruck (@sebthebjork) November 16, 2025
Some users also chose to mock the long hours that has been committed to the construction of the Fairwater data center.
They are taking Friedman to heart. pic.twitter.com/efH9tcNNpa
— heiner (@HeinrichKuttler) November 16, 2025
14 million hours of consultation 😒
— @rickymakesbadvideos (@rickymakescrap) November 17, 2025
Among the commenters, there were some who chose to defend the “15 million labor hours” claim Suleyman made in his X post.
Heres an alarming stat about construction: The labour productivity fell 30% since the 1970s while the rest of the economy doubled in productivity. The Empire state building only took 14 months to build.
— Dhyay Bhatt (@Dhyay777) November 16, 2025
This is why @AurexisAI exists, one of the most overlooked problems today
Irrespective of the reasons why the data center at Atlanta requires millions of labor hours to be completed, concerns pertaining to labor ethics and welfare as well as productivity of an entrepreneurial endeavor will inadvertently rise in greater numbers.
