Elon Musk's relationship with the Biden administration got even more complicated this week, when the White House proposed a ban on Chinese software and hardware in advanced vehicles.
The big picture: This rule could benefit Tesla Motors in the short-term by keeping Chinese EVs out of the U.S. — but also could boomerang if China responds in kind.
Catch up quick: The Commerce Department rule is rooted in national security fears of a future in which Beijing could gather information on, or even take control of, vehicles operating on U.S. roads.
Now, X’s lawyers said the company had done exactly what Mr. Musk vowed not to: take down accounts that a Brazilian justice ordered removed because the judge said they threatened Brazil’s democracy. X also complied with the justice’s other demands, including paying fines and naming a new formal representative in the country, the lawyers said.
Vinod Khosla demand apology from Elon Musk for Sharing 'Fake' Photo of X 'No Plebs Allowed' Sign on Beach
Vinod Khosla:
Hard for me to support someone with no values, lies, cheats, rapes, demeans women, hates immigrants like me. He may cut my taxes or reduce some regulation but that is no reason to accept depravity in his personal values. Do you want President who will set back climate by a decade in his first year? Do you want his example for your kids as values?
Musk initially resisted calls to delete or reword the post, before ultimately taking it down on Monday. He later said the post was a joke.The White House criticized Musk's post, calling it irresponsible rhetoric.
Threatening the president or vice president is a felony that could result in up to five years in prison.
"Can't wait to see the Swifties at the polls!" Vivian Wilson wrote on social media.“Also, yes, I saw ‘the tweet,’” she added. “Heinous incel nonsense is in fact heinous incel nonsense. I don’t really have anything to add to it, it’s just abhorrent. That much is obvious and if you don’t see how then you’re part of the problem. I would just like to say to my audience members, don’t let people talk to you like that. It’s disgusting, it’s belittling and incredibly sexist. You deserve better.”
Elon Musk snubbed from TIME's 'Most Influential People in AI' list
Some of the names on the list are the biggest in tech and AI development. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google,are all included on the list.
heir fast-evolving political friendship has become a potential minefield, as Mr. Musk’s sprawling businesses may present conflicts of interest if 'Old Donald' is elected in November.Notably, Mr. Musk’s rocket maker, SpaceX, and his electric automaker, Tesla, have received billions of dollars in federal contracts and subsidies. Mr. Musk and some of his companies are also under scrutiny for various infractions from federal agencies including the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Specifically, this is about the 8VC Opportunities Fund II. On the fund's website, Denis Aven and Jack Moszkowicz are listed in the staff section. They are the sons of oligarchs Petr Aven and Vadim Moszkowicz. Petr Aven, a Russian billionaire and founder of Alfa Group, is described as "one of Putin's main portfolios." He is subject to sanctions imposed on Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
- Bill Ackman, Saudi Prince Alwaleed, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, and Fidelity are among the list of owners of X.
An A.I.-powered version of Mr. Musk has appeared in thousands of inauthentic ads, contributing to billions in fraud.Mr. Musk’s mouth movements are edited with lip-synching technology, which tweaks how someone speaks. Scammers will add an A.I. voice using voice-cloning tools, which copies any voice from sample clips.
The final ad, which can include fake graphics mimicking news organizations, can be quite convincing for casual internet users.
Trump praised Musk as 'the greatest cutter' for firing workers who strike, which the UAW says is 'disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable.'The UAW filed an unfair labor practice charge against Donald Trump and Elon Musk, alleging that the pair attempted to "threaten and intimidate workers" during an interview on X.
“Economic Terrorism”: Teamsters President Finally Slams Trump.
It also reflected poorly on Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who became the first union leader to speak at the Republican National Convention last month.
The Teamsters are one of the only major unions that have not yet endorsed Kamala Harris for president, a surprising stance considering historic Democratic support for labor unions. Pressure is building against O’Brien from within the union’s rank-and-file members, as the Teamsters National Black Caucus voted unanimously to endorse Harris on Tuesday.
The both are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he said, adding that 'Old Donald' would be part of the investigation. “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”
An A.I.-powered version of Mr. Musk has appe ared in thousands of inauthentic ads, contributing to billions in fraud.YouTube said in a statement that it had removed more than 15.7 million channels and over 8.2 million videos for violating its guidelines from January to March of this year, with most of those violating its policies against spam.
The company in March made it a requirement that creators disclose when they use A.I. to create realistic content.
“There’s definitely a group of people who believe that the secret to wealth is being hidden from them,” said Molly White, a researcher who has studied crypto communities. They think that “if they can find the secret to it, then that’s all they need.”
"we'll meet the next time in Venezuela because it will be a far safer place to meet than our country."Trump made the statement after mentioning that “crime rates all over the world are going way down,” an odd statement to make before bringing up Venezuela, where postelection protests have left 23 dead and more than 2,000 people arrested, according to the United Nations.
The UK government hit back at Elon Musk after the tech billionaire made controversial comments about the far-right riots, fueled by online misinformation, gripping the country. "Civil war is inevitable" in the UK, Musk posted on his social media platform X.
“Use of language such as a ‘civil war’ is in no way acceptable,’’ Alexander told Times Radio. “We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly.’’
On Saturday morning, Musk posted on the platform, "Freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy. If the truth is suppressed, it is impossible to make an informed voting decision. The degree to which freedom of speech is being undermined around the world is extremely alarming."Cuban, the Shark Tank star and billionaire businessman, shared Musk's post and wrote on X, "'Truth' You do realize that YOU make the decisions on how 'Truths' are amplified or suppressed on this platform? That YOU create the most CHAOS when it comes to what is factual or not because YOUR posts get the most amplification?"
Republican presidential nominee 'Old Donald' has been tempering his strident opposition to EV in order to gain the endorsement of billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla."I'm for electric cars. I have to be, you know, because Elon Musk endorsed me very strongly," he said in comments shared widely throughout Musk's fan base by accounts like John Stringe's Tesla Owners Silicon Valley and blogsite Teslarati. 'So I have no choice.'
Likewise, Mark said he has 'No choice' but to shut X San Francisco office due to the ruling of Schools can’t be forced to tell parents when students are transgender, new law says
In response, California's Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X “You bent the knee,” along with a screenshot of a 2022 post from Donald Trump criticising the billionaire.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in Northern California, the Tesla founder is claiming that OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman have abandoned the company’s founding pledge to pioneer artificial intelligence to benefit humanity in favor of turning it into a multibillion-dollar commercial behemoth.“The perfidy and deceit is of Shakespearean proportions,” the suit adds.
Musk says OpenAI “flipped the script” after its technology approached Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a type of technology that matches or surpasses human capabilities.
White Dudes for Harris” has no affiliation with the Harris campaign, but was created to energize voters — in this case, White men — for Vice President Harris. It is part of a string of identity-focused groups, such as Black Women for Harris and White Women for Harris, that have been holding calls and fundraisers in earnest since President Biden dropped out of the race.“We scared @elonmusk and @DonaldJTrumpJr so much tonight they suspended our account and won’t let us back in,” Nellis wrote. “These guys are running scared of the success we’ve had tonight, but we’re not going to quit.” In a follow-up posted, he added, “I ask this question seriously… are we the first white dudes to ever get suspended by @elonmusk’s Twitter? I think we are.”
"This entire thing is completely made up and there's a reason for this. He doesn't know what I was like as a child because he quite simply wasn't there, and in the little time that he was I was relentlessly harassed for my femininity and queerness," she wrote.
E. Musk father of 12, denies volunteering his own sperm to help seed a colony on Mars
SpaceX employees are working on plans for a Martian city, including dome habitats, spacesuits and researching whether humans can procreate off Earth. Mr. Musk has volunteered his sperm to help seed a colony.
It started with conflicting reports that he was - or was not - donating $47m a month to 'Old Donald's campaign. It continued with Tesla's disappointing second quarter earnings which revealed a 45 percent drop in profits compared to 2023 - sending his net worth plummeting by $16bn. He then announced he was stalling investment in a Mexican plant until he sees if Trump, if elected, levies tariffs on Mexico.
On Tuesday he accused a 'woke mind virus' of killing his (estranged) transgender daughter. That same day Democrats accused him of restricting access to KamalaHQ on X, while a former Trump aide claimed his endorsement for Trump was a 'kiss of death.'
Elon Musk attends Netanyahu's congressional address as his guest
A day earlier, the tech billionaire announced that his Starlink internet service was now active in a Gaza hospital, with the support of Israel’s government.
So it's head-scratching that Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted an AI video that disrespects Chinese President Xi Jinping on the social media platform X-formerly-Twitter, which should drive other Tesla execs with any shred of common sense into a fit of worry.Musk hit back at Trump after "bulls't artist" comments, says it's time 'to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset'
Shortly after Biden officially backed out of the race, Khosla expressed his preference for an open convention to select the Democratic nominee in a post on X, the platform Musk owns.'Hard for me to support someone with no values, lies, cheats, rapes, demeans women, hates immigrants like me,' wrote Khosla, who grew up in India before earning graduate degrees from Carnegie Mellon and Stanford. 'He may cut taxes or reduce some regulation but that is no reason to accept depravity in his personal values.
A chorus of right-leaning tech and business leaders, led by X owner Elon Musk, used their online megaphones in the wake of Saturday's attack to criticize the Secret Service's diversity initiatives, condemn Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, and make unsubstantiated allegations about the shooting.
The claims by powerful business leaders with large online followings helped influence the direction of platform itself, as well as the storylines viewed by millions of people. Musk’s post endorsing Trump after the shooting received the most engagement of any post on X related to the attempted assassination, said Graham Brookie, the Atlantic Council's vice president for technology programs and strategy. The post received more than 118 million views and 332,000 retweets, surpassing a post from Barack Obama that said there was 'no place' for violence in democracy. By Saturday night, the terms 'Deep State' and 'antifa' were among the top trending topics across X, formerly known as Twitter.
Like Ackman, Musk supported Biden in 2020, and the shift from both men underscores how significantly the political landscape in business and tech has transformed in just a few short years.
Musk, turning to a familiar refrain of his, appeared to point the finger for the security breach at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts - amplifying a post that ridiculed the U.S. Secret Service's director for what it called 'diversity hires.' The argument is being made on many right-wing political accounts, which have also called out individual female secret service agents. Musk had previously directed that argument at the airline industry, drawing condemnation over the insinuation that diversity efforts left the skies less safe, news outlets reported.
In a post viewed by nearly 70 million users, Musk described the Secret Service's actions as 'incompetence or it was deliberate' and called on agency leaders to resign.
After Ackman issued his endorsement, Musk then reposted his message, as did Maguire, a venture capitalist with Sequoia Capital and friend of Musk, who praised 'people that are willing to change their minds as new data comes in.'
Maguire later posted - without providing evidence - that the shooter 'will almost certainly be discovered to be a member' of the left-wing group antifa.
The shooter, Crooks was registered as a Republican, according to Pennsylvania's voter status records.
The plaintiffs allege that Musk breached his fiduciary duty to Tesla by founding xAI and shifting resources from Tesla to the startup.
Elon Musk, the father of 11 children, thinks that declining population is a crisis and the world needs more babies—particularly those with his DNA—or there will be a catastrophe. For example, he recently proclaimed: “Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.”“I would love to see, you know, a trillion humans living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have at any given time a thousand Mozarts and a thousand Einsteins.… Our solar system would be full of life and intelligence and energy.”