Musk: Tesla might ‘open source more code’
Musk says Tesla might open up some of its operating system code to other automakers. Responding to Ford CEO Jim Farley, he says Tesla would:
…be helpful on the software front…In the same way that maybe Android is helpful to the phone industry as sort of a general standard, like we could potentially open source more code.
Musk and Farley also hinted at other potential partnerships in the future, including in the supply chain, and when Farley questioned him about Tesla’s Corpus Christi lithium refining plant, Musk said he does not believe there are enough entrepreneurs in the U.S. digging into raw materials mining and processing. He wishes Tesla didn’t have to pick up the slack. With its nickel-based cathode refinery in Austin, Tesla might also have to get involved in anode manufacturing, but “hopefully not,” Musk says. He also believes that there will be a huge market for synthetic graphite (graphite is the main material in most lithium-ion anodes).
Musk: Starship will lift 300 tons expendable, 180 tons reusable
Responding to a Twitter user, Musk says SpaceX Starship with improved Raptor 3 engines should lift 300 tons in expendable mode, or 180 tons in reusable mode. This compares with two years ago, when Two years ago Musk estimated a Starship would lift 250 tons to orbit in expandable mode and 150 tons in reusable mode. For comparison, the International Space Station weighs 450 tons and took around 50 Space Shuttle launches to complete. An earlier, SpaceX concept, called the Interplanetary Transport System, was planned to carry 550 tons expendable, 300 tons reusable.
Starship payload is 250 to 300 tons to orbit in expendable mode. Improved thrust & Isp from Raptor will enable ~6000 ton liftoff mass.
Starship payload is 250 to 300 tons to orbit in expendable mode.
Improved thrust & Isp from Raptor will enable ~6000 ton liftoff mass.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2023
DeSantis declares White House run on glitchy Twitter space
DeSantis officially launches his 2024 presidential campaign with an hour-long discussion, hosted by Musk and Sacks on a Twitter Space. Initially, the event was hit with technical glitches and audio-drops, which meant that many people could not listen. Sacks:
I think we’re breaking the internet here.
Around 700,000 people logged in to hear the conversation, including Donald Trump’s former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, attorney Rudy Giuliani and legal adviser Jenna Ellis.
DeSantis says American democracy under attack by rising crime, out-of-touch liberal “woke” ideologies, out-of-control immigration at the southern border, and points to his track record as Florida governor as a blueprint for his plan in the White House. He says his achievements included the speed with which Florida opened up during the Covid pandemic, legislation restricting sex education in classrooms, and curbs on undocumented immigrants.
We know our country is going in the wrong direction. We see it with our eyes, and we feel it in our bones…Our president, well, he lacks vigour, flounders in the face of our nation’s challenges and he takes his cues from the woke mob. I don’t think it has to be this way. American decline isn’t inevitable. It is a choice.
We need the courage to lead and we must have the strength to win. If you nominate me, you can set your clock to January 20th, 2025, at high noon because on the west side of the US Capitol, I will be taking the oath of office as the 47th president.
Musk used the event to herald free speech and received praise from DeSantis and others for challenging mainstream platforms. Musk:
Twitter was expensive but free speech is priceless.
DeSantis’s team claims over $1m in campaign donations was raised in under an hour.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2023
Musk: Tesla will ‘strongly consider’ building Gigafactory in England
In an interview for The Wall Street Journal, Musk says Tesla is preparing to look for a location to build a new battery factory later this year and would assess England as an option.
I will strongly consider England for a future location of a gigafactory. We are not currently looking at new locations but we will probably towards the end of this year.
Tesla already operates several production facilities in Fremont, California, Austin, Texas, Berlin, Germany, and Shanghai, China. A factory in Mexico was announced in early 2023, but ground has not been broken yet.
Musk details succession plans
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Musk discusses his succession plans, including potential successors, how to handle ownership control of his companies, his plan for an educational institution to control his shares, and how he will not automatically give his children shares in his companies:
Succession is one of the toughest, age-old problems. It’s plagued countries, kings, prime ministers, presidents and CEOs, since the dawn of history. There is no obvious solution.
There are particular individuals that I’ve told the board, ‘Look, if something happens to me unexpectedly, this is my recommendation for who should take over.’ The board is aware who my recommendation is. It’s up to them of course.
I want to make sure the stewardship ultimately accrues the benefit of humanity. We’re not always successful in that, but that is aspirationally our goal. I have one idea that is partly in place, which is to create an education institution that would control most of my vote.
I am not of the school of automatically giving my kids some share of the companies, even if they have no interest, or inclination, or ability to manage the companies. I think that would be a mistake. It’s a very hard problem to solve.
Elon Musk on his succession plan: "There are particular individuals that I've told the board look If something happens to me unexpectedly, this is my recommendation for who should take over. The board is aware who my recommendation is. It's up to them of course." pic.twitter.com/uaDFXj5oQD
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 23, 2023
Starlink announces in-motion use
Starlink announces that its satellite broadband service can be used on vehicles and whilst in motion, with a tweet showing the antenna on an RV driving through the desert. The company is offering 220 Mbps download, starting at £247/month with a one-time hardware fee of £2,410. The company says School buses in Cocononino Country, Arizona are among the first to use the service, enabling students who ride the bus an hour to and from school each day to stay connected and complete their homework. Musk shares the announcement, adding:
And works almost everywhere on Earth with global roaming enabled!
And works almost everywhere on Earth with global roaming enabled! https://t.co/QmglKYRpDz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2023
Musk: AI could be ‘a danger’
Musk warns that AI could be a danger to humans, calling it “a double-edged sword” and saying it is not “necessary for anything we’re doing.”
If you have a genie that can grant you anything, that presents a danger…
He thinks AI advances the end of empires and expects governments to use it for weapons development before anything else.
There’s a little late-stage empire vibes right now…So just having more advanced weapons on the battlefield that can react faster than any human could is really what AI is capable of. Any future wars between advanced countries or at least countries with drone capability will be very much the drone wars.
On AI’s potential for peace, he says:
One way to achieve world peace is to take all the weapons away from the humans so they can no longer use them. I don’t think the AI is going to try to destroy all humanity but it might put us under strict controls
In terms of politics and the upcoming US presidential election, he says:
One of the first places you need to be careful of where AI is used is social media to manipulate public opinion. I think it’s something we need to be on the lookout for in the way of minimising the impact of AI manipulation. We’re certainly taking that seriously at Twitter and I think we’re putting in all the protections to detect large-scale manipulation of the system.
Musk Twitter buyout suit dismissed
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco dismisses a class-action lawsuit against Musk which accused him of cheating Twitter shareholders in the course of buying the company. (Heresniak v Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-03074)
According to the judge, the plaintiff lacked standing to sue because he challenged “wrongs associated with” Musk’s buyout, not the fairness of the buyout itself. Further, the judge says the plaintiff failed to show harm from Musk’s belated disclosure of a 9.2% Twitter stake (which the suit said let him buy more shares at lower prices before the buyout was announced) or from the late closing of the deal. The judge also finds no proof that Musk helped Dorsey and Silver Lake private equity firm managing partner Egon Durban breach their fiduciary duties by favoring their own and Musk’s interests – letting Dorsey roll his Twitter shares into an equity stake in the new company merely reduced the amount Musk paid at closing, it did not “improperly divert” money from other shareholders.
Musk ‘robot kiss’ images emerge
AI-generated pictures of Musk kissing female robots come to the media’s attention. The posts, which were originally released on May 16, show Musk kissing and dancing with four female humanoid robots.
Elon Musk announces the future wife, who is she? It is the first robot that has been manufactured specifically designed with artificial intelligence, with the personality and the characteristics of the female that he dreams of…which is not found in any normal person, because of course, there is no normal person that has all the required specifications.
The poster says the images were made to ‘clarify’ AI’s dangers:
This post is to clarify the dangers of AI (artificial intelligence) in the coming period, especially after Tesla Company released the first integrated robot “Optimus”.
Elon Musk announces the future wife who is she?
It is the first robot that has been manufactured specifically designed with artificial intelligence with the personality and the characteristics of the female that he dreams of…which is not found in any normal person, because of… pic.twitter.com/a2JdpTfwef— Daniel Marven (@danielmarven) May 16, 2023
Reynolds, Musk trade deepfake ad likes
In response to a deepfake ad of Reynolds promoting Tesla:
How much do you think it would cost to own a car that’s this f–kng awesome?!…Whose balls do I have to fondle to get a Tesla instead of a s–t Corolla?”
Musk says:
Nice
Nice
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2023
Reynolds, in turn, responds to a deepfake ad featuring Musk promoting his Aviator Gin brand.
Nice
Nice
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) May 18, 2023
Tesla releases promo video on Twitter
Tesla releases a two-minute Twitter video on its Tesla Asia account (which has only 172,000 followers, compared to its main account’s 21 million) called “Drive to believe.” The ad highlights Tesla’s Autopilot feature, infotainment system, the Tesla app, as well as featuring a Model 3 owner and mother of two children saying she was initially drawn to the vehicle because of its technology, but has grown to appreciate its safety measures as well.
I would say it’s one of the greatest gifts, that my kids can have, in terms of their future.
Drive to believe——why she chose Tesla? ❤️ pic.twitter.com/LXtGl15QUy
— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) May 19, 2023
Judge: Musk can be subpoenaed through Tesla
A federal judge rules that the U.S. Virgin Islands can serve Musk a subpoena through Tesla, as part of the government’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over its ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The ruling comes after lawyers for the Virgin Islands government said that it had not been able to serve Musk personally with the subpoena, as is the norm. Nor did a Musk lawyer reply to a request to accept the subpoena for his client. The judge authorizes the U.S. Virgin Islands to:
arrange alternative service of its Subpoena to Produce Documents by serving Elon Musk via service upon Tesla Inc.’s registered agent.
Musk: ‘Working from home ‘morally wrong’
During an interview with CNBC anchor David Faber, Musk criticises the hypocrisy of expecting service industry workers to go to work while others had the privilege of working from home, using a quote often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution.
There are some exceptions, but I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, ‘Let them eat cake’. It’s like, really, you’re going to work at home and you’re going to make the people who made your car come to the factory? You’ve got people who deliver your food, but they can’t work from home? The people that come fix your house, they can’t work from home, but you can? Does that seem morally right? It’s a productivity issue and a moral issue. Get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls**t. The laptop class is living in la-la land.
Musk says that he works seven days a week, but doesn’t expect others to do that.
I’m saying put 40 hours in.
"I'm a big believer that people are more productive when they're in person," Elon Musk said Tuesday on the work from home trend. "People should get off their goddamn moral high horse with their work-from-home b*******." https://t.co/W1BjwKobX8 pic.twitter.com/FWzVHtZFEH
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 16, 2023
Musk: Tesla will have a ‘ChatGPT moment’ with full self-driving cars
Comparing Tesla’s self-driving AI to OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, which came to sudden public attention at the end of 2022, Musk says that a similar situation will happen when Teslas are able to drive themselves without human intervention.
I think Tesla will have sort of a ChatGPT moment, maybe if not this year, I’d say no later than next year…Suddenly, three million cars will be able to drive with no-one [at the wheel].
Musk says he envisions a future where millions of Tesla cars would operate autonomously, gradually expanding to three million, five million, and eventually 10 million self-driving vehicles. When owners are not using the vehicles, they will be used as Robotaxis, licenced by Tesla.
Comparing Tesla’s self-driving capabilities to Google’s Waymo, Musk says that while Waymo has achieved limited success in a tightly-mapped geographic area, Tesla has a more advanced and generalized solution. Musk argues that if Microsoft, and Tesla was tasked with producing a large language model akin to ChatGPT, his company would emerge victorious.
Musk may rehire fired Twitter staff
During an interview with CNBC anchor David Faber, which is also broadcast as a Twitter space, Musk says he may rehire some of the staff he fired when he took over the company. At that time, Musk cut Twitter’s headcount by 80%, from 7,800 to about 1,500.
Some people who were let go probably shouldn’t have been. Desperate times call for desperate measures… Unfortunately, if you do it fast, there are some babies who will be thrown out.
Musk responds to Soros tweet criticism: ‘I’m a pro-semite’
During an interview with CNBC anchor David Faber, Musk is asked about his tweets that compared Soros to Magneto, and claimed he ‘hated humanity’, which led to accusations of anti-semitism from the Anti-Defamation League. Musk says he is not an anti-semite.
This is freedom of speech — I’m allowed to say what I want…I’m like a pro-semite, if anything…
Musk also says he will continue to speak freely even if it hurts Twitter, and his other companies, financially:
You know, I’m reminded of a scene in ‘The Princess Bride,’ great movie, where [Mandy Patinkin’s character, Inigo Montoya] confronts the person who kills his father. And he says, ‘Offer me money. Offer me power. I don’t care…I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.
Elon Musk is asked about his Tweet saying George Soros reminds him of Magneto 🤣 pic.twitter.com/4gfsURVGIF
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 16, 2023
Musk: Soros like Magneto, ‘hates humanity’
After Soros sells all his Tesla stock, Musk says that Soros reminds him of the X-Men character, Magneto:
Reminds me of Magneto
When a Twitter user says that Magneto, like Soros, is a Holocaust survivor and has ‘good intentions’, Musk responds:
You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.
You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2023
Musk: U.S.-China tensions ‘should be a concern for everyone’
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
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.
"I would just say that's factually not correct," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says on Elon Musk's comment that Microsoft is now "controlling" OpenAI. https://t.co/qKdtoq56ET pic.twitter.com/20JJbPClEs
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 16, 2023
X Corp acquires tech recruiting platform Laskie
In its first deal under Musk’s leadership, Twitter’s parent company X Corp acquires Laskie, a talent recruitment tool. Though the exact price of the acquisition is unclear, it was apparently “tens of millions” of dollars, with the deal including cash and equity elements.
Laskie is a San-Francisco based startup founded in 2021 by current CEO Chris Bakke, and apparently has somewhere between 11 and 50 employees. Its aim has been to connect tech talent with employers using tools that are “designed to make your job search faster, more efficient, and less stressful,” but now the platform’s website displays a message saying its platform is “no longer available.” Twitter has not publicly confirmed the deal.