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16 May, 2023

Musk: U.S.-China tensions ‘should be a concern for everyone’

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Asked if he was concerned about “the growing belligerence” between the U.S. and China, Musk says that people should be concerned about tension between the two nations.

I think that should be a concern for everyone.

Musk believes China wants to take control of Taiwan – a country Tesla depends on for processors.

The official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated. One does not need to read between the lines…I think you should take their word seriously.

The Chinese economy and the rest of the global economy are like conjoined twins. It would be like trying to separate conjoined twins. That’s the severity of the situation. And it’s actually worse for a lot of other companies that it is for Tesla. I mean, I’m not sure where you’re going to get an iPhone, for example. There are some constraints on our ability to expand in China, and so we’re making as many cars as we can. It’s not a demand issue.

 

Nadella: Musk ‘not correct’ about Microsoft controlling OpenAI

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Nadella says Musk is “factually not correct” about Microsoft controlling OpenAI. Musk cofounded OpenAI in 2015, but left its board in 2018 over potential conflicts of interest. He is now a vocal critic of the company, at one point saying it is a “maximum profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft,” which is “not what I intended at all.” Musk later repeated his claim:

In effect, Microsoft has a very strong say, if not directly controls OpenAI at this point.

Nadella says he is wrong:

First of all, I have a lot of respect for Elon and all that he does. I would just say that’s factually not correct. The last time I checked, we are the only for-profit company that is comfortable with a nonprofit company and a board controlling technology, and I would welcome others to do that as well.

15 May, 2023

Musk: Virgin Islands Epstein subpoena ‘idiotic on so many levels’

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Musk responds to the U.S. Virgin Islands government’s subpoena for documents in its lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase involving Jeffrey Epstein, calling it “idiotic” and “absurd.”  and denying ever bsing advised by him. The government said its investigation revealed JPMorgan “knowingly, recklessly and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers through which Epstein’s recruiters and victims were paid.”

This is idiotic on so many levels:

1. That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever.

2. The notion that I would need or listen to financial advice from a dumb crook is absurd.

3. JPM let Tesla down ten years ago, despite having Tesla’s global commercial banking business, which we then withdrew. I have never forgiven them.

Musk to personally approve all Tesla hires

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Musk tells Tesla employees in an email that he wants to personally approve every new hire at the company (which hires about 30,000 people per year). He says that he wants to get a better understanding of hiring at Tesla.

No one can join Tesla, even as a contractor, until you receive my email approval.

13 May, 2023

Musk to Yglesias: ‘Did your brain fall out of your head?’

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Musk responds to Yglesias’ criticism of Twitter’s compliance with legal requests by the Turkish government to restrict access to some content in Turkey during a closely contested presidential election:

Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?

11 May, 2023

Musk: Twitter will not ‘shadow ban’ users

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Responding to concerns from some Twitter users, Musk says the company’s next CEO will not “shadow ban” users (or discretely limit the visibility of their posts).

That will not be the case

His response comes before publicly naming his replacement.

6 May, 2023

Musk responds to ‘wealthy background’ community note

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In response to a Twitter Community Note that says that ‘Musk was born into an extremely wealthy family’, Musk writes:

I grew up in a lower, transitioning to upper, middle income situation, but did not have a happy childhood. Haven’t inherited anything ever from anyone, nor has anyone given me a large financial gift. My father created a small electrical/mechanical engineering company that was successful for 20 to 30 years, but it fell on hard times. He has been essentially bankrupt for about 25 years, requiring financial support from my brother and me. That said, he does deserve credit for teaching me the fundamentals of physics, engineering and construction, which is more valuable than money, but did not support me financially after high school in any meaningful way. Our condition of providing him financial support was that he not engage in bad behavior. Unfortunately, he nonetheless did. There are young children involved, so we continued to provide financial support for their well-being. Regarding the so-called “emerald mine”, there is no objective evidence whatsoever that this mine ever existed. He told me that he owned a share in a mine in Zambia, and I believed him for a while, but nobody has ever seen the mine, nor are there any records of its existence. If this mine was real, he would not require financial support from my brother and me.

5 May, 2023

Musk: Chesky’s Twitter interaction is ‘awesome’

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After Chesky lists the top suggestions to improve Airbnb he received from Twitter users, Musk responds:

This kind of interaction with users is awesome. Other companies should take note.

Musk: Climate change threat ‘overblown’ in short term

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In response to a Twitter post that says ‘Global warming is the biggest scam in history’, Musk says:

Global warming risk is overblown in the short term, but significant in the long term

3 May, 2023

Musk: Kremlin drone attack ‘likely false flag’

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In response to a Twitter user’s post outlining what the user sees as a lack of evidence for the Kremlin drone attack being an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin by Ukraine, Musk says that the attack was likely a ‘false flag’ attack, meaning it could have been set up by Russia for the purpose of blaming Ukraine.

Strange days. Seems more likely a false flag than an actual (weak) assassination attempt, but either are possible.

Musk: Ford’s EV strategy is ‘smart’

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Musk calls Ford’s electric vehicle strategy “smart” despite continuing reports of losses from its EVs. Ford’s financials show its electric vehicle business to be generating 40% negative margins for the first time since separating its EV (Model e) business unit. Tesla leads the industry in EV margins, selling its vehicles at a 15-25% gross margin and ~10% net operating margin. Musk:

Always tough with margins for new vehicle lines, especially when there are major technology shifts. I think Ford’s overall strategy with EVs is smart. The electric F-150 (Lightning) has high demand.

30 Apr, 2023

Musk: First Starship launch ‘roughly what I expected’

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In an audio chat with SpaceX fans, Musk says Starship’s first test flight was successful, even though it exploded before reaching space, and says a new rocket can be ready for liftoff within six to eight weeks, along with repairs to the damaged launchpad.

The outcome was roughly in what I expected, and maybe slightly exceeding my expectations, but roughly what I expected, which is that we would get clear of the pad. [The launch was] obviously not a complete success, but still nonetheless successful.

Musk says he hadn’t expected a “rock tornado” to be generated under the booster at liftoff and said SpaceX “chose not to start” three of the 33 Raptor engines on the booster, because they were not “healthy enough to bring them to full thrust.” Musk also said the reason Starship slid off the launchpad while ascending was “because of the engine failures.” SpaceX “lost communications” with another Raptor about 27 seconds into the flight due to “some kind of energy event” that knocked the heat shields out of several other engines.

At about 85 seconds, “things really hit the fan” and SpaceX lost its ability to steer the rocket. Finally, Starship’s Automated Flight-Termination System was working too slowly, so it took about “40 seconds-ish” to self-destruct. Still, Musk downplayed the effects of the explosion as a whole, saying the (Boca Chica) “pad damage is actually quite small” and should “be repaired quickly.”

Despite the fact that debris from the explosion fell into the Gulf of Mexico and rained dust onto residents of Port Isabel (as well as their cars and homes), that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service called the explosion responsible for a 3.5-acre fire, the spread of debris over 365 acres of land, and throwing of “pulverized concrete” up to 6½ miles, Musk says:

To the best of our knowledge there has not been any meaningful damage to the environment that we’re aware of.

Musk believes, too, that the Starship program does not need $750 million in additional funding it had been set to raise, and will spend about $2 billion on the Starship program to attempt five launches. Musk says he expects success by the end of the year;

I will be surprised if we exit this year without getting to orbit.

29 Apr, 2023

Dorsey: ‘It all went south’ after Musk bought Twitter

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In a discussion started by Bluesky users, Dorsey criticizes Musk’s leadership of Twitter, saying he should have paid the penalty to back out of buying the platform.

I think he should have walked away and paid the $1b.

Asked whether he thinks Musk is the right leader for Twitter, Dorsey replied:

No. Nor do I think he acted right after realizing his timing was bad. Nor do I think the board should have forced the sale. It all went south.

Dorsey (still a Twitter shareholder) also said he is glad new platforms like Bluesky are appearing.

 

28 Apr, 2023

Twitter to take 10% cut of users’ content subscriptions

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As Twitter seeks more revenue streams, Musk says the platform will take a 10% cut of the money generated by users who sell subscriptions to their content (such as long-form text and video), but only after the first year. He also mentioned a drop in iOS and Android subscription fees:

We will keep 10% after 12 months, but iOS/Android subscription fees drop from 30% to 15% in year 2, so still a net gain to creators.

Twitter is trying to boost revenue following a drop in its advertising income just as it was being purchased by Musk.

23 Apr, 2023

Musk to King: ‘I’ve donated $100M to Ukraine, how much have you donated?’

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After King says that Musk should give the blue check fee he donated to King to a Ukraine charity:

I think Mr. Musk should give my blue check to charity. I recommend the Prytula Foundation, which provides lifesaving services in Ukraine. It’s only $8, so perhaps Mr. Musk could add a bit more.

Musk responds, saying he has donated $100 million to Ukraine, and asks King how much he has donated.

I’ve donated $100M to Ukraine, how much have you donated?

Musk links his tweet to an October 22, 2022, tweet from former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, thanking him for donating Starlink to Ukraine’s war effort.

Thanks @elonmusk. Before all the talks about funding, you confirmed to me that in any case you will ensure the work of Starlinks in Ukraine. This was critically important for Ukraine. We are grateful to you!

19 Apr, 2023

Microsoft removes Twitter from advertising platform

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Microsoft says it plans to remove Twitter from its corporate advertising platform, though other social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will still be available.

Starting on April 25, 2023, Smart Campaigns with Multi-platform will no longer support Twitter

This means that users of Microsoft’s free social media management tool will no longer be able to access their Twitter accounts through it. They will not be able to create new tweets, view past tweets, manage drafts, schedule posts, or manage engagement in any way. Microsoft does not provide a reason for the change.

Musk threatens Microsoft over Twitter data: ‘Lawsuit time’

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Musk threatens to sue Microsoft for using Twitter data without permission.

They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.

He does not elaborate any further or provide evidence to support his claim.

18 Apr, 2023

CBC: Twitter’s response not ‘serious’

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A spokesperson for CBC says Twitter’s labelling fo the corporation as “69% government funded” is not “serious.”

The real issue is that Twitter’s definition of government-funded media means open to editorial interference by government. As the Editor-in-Chief of CBC News has said the government has no — zero — involvement in our editorial content or journalism

Musk changes CBC label to ‘69% government funded’

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In reponse to complaints from CBC, Musk changes the label on their account to say the corporation is ‘69% government funded’.

Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label

17 Apr, 2023

CBC pauses ‘Twitter activities’

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CBC says it is pausing its activities on Twitter.

Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter. | Notre journalisme est impartial et indépendant. Prétendre le contraire est faux. C’est pourquoi nous suspendons nos activités sur @Twitter