Malaysia issues Starlink license
Malaysia issues a license to Starlink to provide Internet services in the country, particularly in remote areas. The communications minister said in a Facebook post that Starlink would begin by providing its services to schools and higher education institutions. The government was also prepared to work with satellite communications firms, including Starlink, to ensure 100% internet coverage in populated areas. Around 3% of populated areas in Malaysia face issues with internet access, due to geographical and infrastructure challenges.
Musk: Tesla may cut prices in ‘turbulent times’
On an analysts’ call, Musk says that he will cut prices again on Tesla’s vehicles due to “turbulent times”:
One day it seems like the world economy is falling apart, next day it’s fine. I don’t know what the hell is going on. We’re in, I would call it, turbulent times.
Tesla shares fall nearly 5% after Musk’s comments.
Musk sees “deflationary pressures” on lithium prices
On a Tesla earnings call, Musk says he is “seeing what seems to be deflationary pressures” on lithium prices, which “went absolutely insane there for a while.” He attributes the spike to rising commodity prices that made it difficult to cut costs in 2022. Karn Budhiraj, Tesla’s vice president for supply chain, says the reduction in commodity prices translates into thousands of dollars on a per-vehicle basis, adding that the company is extending some fixed-price contracts with suppliers through the end of this decade to lock in the lower costs.
Warren urges SEC to investigate Tesla over Twitter ties
Warren sends a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, urging them to investigate Tesla over possible conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts to Tesla shareholders related to Musk’s Twitter takeover. Warren says the Tesla board’s “apparent lack of independence” from Musk raises questions about possible violations of security laws and exchange rules which fall under SEC’s jurisdiction.
McGregor “interested” in Musk-Zuckerberg fight, but would not train them
McGregor says he would be willing to “do a bit of work with” Musk or Zuckerberg prior to their cage match, but would not formally train either of them, because he is busy training for a bout of his own. He is “interested” in the fight, he says, and hopes they “go ahead with it.”
I’m interested. Are they gonna go ahead with it? Is it gonna happen? If it happens under the UFC banner, I’m with it. It has to happen under the UFC banner… I’d do a bit of work with them. I hope they go ahead with it. Their pockets might be large, but is the talk cheap? They said it. Are they gonna do it now? I’m excited to see how it unfolds.
Musk: Twitter’s ad revenue down ~50%
Musk says Twitter has a “negative cash flow” and its advertising revenue has declined by about 50% amid a “heavy debt load” as competition between Twitter and Threads intensifies. This comes just as Twitter began paying content creators for posting advertisements. Some users are reporting payouts of over $100,000, and Musk himself says Twitter will pay creators $5 million through its first block of payments. It is unclear, though, which kinds of posts or which users are eligible for advertising payments, and some users have criticized the platform’s payout program.
We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.
We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2023
Ukraine security agency: Starlink puts Ukrainian soldiers at ‘increased risk’
A Ukraine security agency says Starlink, which has helped Ukraine keep its battlefield communications live, puts Ukrainian soldiers at “increased risk” from cyber-spies who belong to a Russian-led espionage group in occupied Crimea. The group has been known to Western security agencies for almost a decade. After a Russia sympathizer was jailed for plotting to disrupt Western arms supplies by blowing up transport infrastructure, Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) urged soldiers to install advanced anti-hacker software, saying:
Computers located outside the [computer security] protection perimeter, in particular those that use Starlink terminals to access the Internet, are at increased risk.
The CERT-UA warning comes as the agency shed fresh light on the actions of an espionage-focused hacker gang known in the West as Gamaredon, whose members were described by CERT-UA as “former ‘officers’ of the State Security Service of Ukraine” who “betrayed their military oath and began to serve the FSB [spy agency] of Russia.” (The SSSU says Gamaredon is led by five Russian intelligence agency officers.) Immediately before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Gamaredon “tried to compromise a Western government entity in Ukraine” according to US cyber security company Palo Alto Networks.
Musk announces formation of xAI
Musk announces the formation of a company called xAI. The startup is geared toward artificial intelligence and employs several engineers who have worked for companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Along with the amount of funding it has, xAI’s specific objectives are unclear, as is exactly what it will focus on regarding AI. The company’s website says its goal “is to understand the true nature of the universe,” but adds that more information will be forthcoming “over the next couple of weeks and months.” Musk:
Announcing formation of @xAI to understand reality
Announcing formation of @xAI to understand reality
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2023
SpaceX breaks reusable rocket launch record
SpaceX breaks its own record, after successfully completing a 16th mission with a reusable rocket. The company launches 22 Starlink satellites aboard the Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is the 16th launch and landing for the B1058 Falcon 9 rocket booster. SpaceX says it hopes the booster can be used a further four times before finally being scrapped. There are now more than 4,000 active Starlink satellites in orbit around Earth, delivering high-speed internet to users. After the satellites are deployed, Musk writes on Twitter:
Looks like we can increase Raptor thrust by ~20 per cent to reach 9,000 tons (20 million lbs) of force at sea level… And deliver over 200 tons of payload to a useful orbit with full and rapid reusability. Fifty rockets flying every three days on average enables over a megaton of payload to orbit per year – enough to build a self-sustaining city on Mars.
Musk proposes ‘dick measuring contest’ with Zuckerberg
After calling him a “cuck” on Twitter, Musk proposes a “dick measuring contest” with Zuckerberg, adding a ruler emoji to his tweet.
I propose a literal dick measuring contest.
I propose a literal dick measuring contest 📏
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2023
Musk: ‘Zuck is a cuck’
Replying to screenshots of Zuckerberg laughing at burger chain Wendy’s telling him to go into space to ‘really make Musk mad’, Musk replies:
Zuck is a cuck.
In US slang, a ‘cuck’ is a weak or servile man, that is often used as a contemptuous term for a man with progressive political views. It has its roots in cuckold, a term for a man who watches his wife having sex with another man.
Zuck is a cuck
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2023
Twitter threatens legal action over Threads
Twitter threatens to take legal action over Threads, with an attorney from Twitter describing it as a “copycat” and claiming that it is developed by former Twitter employees using the company’s trade secrets. The attorney writes:
Twitter has serious concerns that Meta Platforms has engaged in systemic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property. The company plans to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights.
Meta declines to comment on the letter, but director Andy Stone responds on Threads:
No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.
Zuckerberg: Thirty million users join Threads
Zuckerberg says thirty million users have signed up for Meta’s newly launched Threads app on its first day, The app allows users to post up to 500 characters, and has many features similar to Twitter. When asked on Threads whether the app will be “bigger than Twitter”, Zuckerberg said:
It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.
Musk: Tesla could achieve ‘full self-driving’ this year
Musk says Tesla could realize “full self-driving” vehicles “later this year.” During the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, the entrepreneur says via video link that although he has been wrong in previous predictions about autonomous driving, he feels like Tesla is closer to it than ever.
In terms of where Tesla is at this stage, I think we are very close to achieving full self-driving without human supervision. This is only speculation, but I think we’ll achieve full self-driving, maybe what you would call four or five, I think later this year. I feel like we’re closer to it than we ever have been.
No one is further along in General autonomy than Tesla
"Tesla will achieve full self driving later this year." Elon Musk
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) July 7, 2023
Yaccarino: Twitter ‘often imitated’ but never duplicated
After the release of Threads, Yaccarino tweets that the Twitter community is “often imitated,” but never duplicated. Many Twitter users have taken to the platform to point out similarities between Threads and Twitter, with Zuckerberg himself even taking several shots at Twitter.
YOU built the Twitter community. And that’s irreplaceable…This is your public square. We’re often imitated — but the Twitter community can never be duplicated.
On Twitter, everyone's voice matters.
Whether you’re here to watch history unfold, discover REAL-TIME information all over the world, share your opinions, or learn about others — on Twitter YOU can be real.
YOU built the Twitter community. 🙏👏 And that's irreplaceable. This…
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 6, 2023
Twitter: Rate limits are to eleminate bots
Twitter says recent rate limits on Twitter are implemented to detect and eleminate bots and only a small percentage of users are affected:
To ensure the authenticity of our user base we must take extreme measures to remove spam and bots from our platform. Any advance notice on these actions would have allowed bad actors to alter their behavior to evade detection.
The company says these actions intend to prevent data scraping from users and state that the restrictions are temporary:
Currently, the restrictions affect a small percentage of people using the platform, and we will provide an update when the work is complete. As it relates to our customers, effects on advertising have been minimal.
Threads appears on app stores for pre-order
Threads becomes available for pre-order on iPhone and Android, in advance of its expected launch on Thursday, July 6. Screenshots on the Apple App Store show that Threads looks much like Twitter: users can use their Instagram username to post text with or without images. Meta:
Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.
Musk, Zuckerberg invited to fight at the Colosseum
Italy’s minister of culture reaches out to Zuckerberg and Musk to offer them to have their fight at the Colosseum. Musk tweets:
Some chance fight happens in Colosseum. Need to work on my endurance
and posts a clip from the movie “The Life of Brian”. It is not clear where in the Colosseum the fight could actually take place. While it could once hold tens of thousands of people, it can no longer host more than a few hundred people inside special temporary seating, and it has hosted few large events in recent times.
Need to work on my endurancehttps://t.co/jjh7uxfwC6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2023
Musk’s mother disapproves of Zuckerberg cage fight
Maye Musk disapproves her son’s proposed cage fight with Zuckerberg and asks Musk’s followers to stop encouraging this match. On a tweet showcasing Musk training for the fight, she replied:
Sorry, I can’t click a like on this
Sorry, I can’t click a like on this.🫣🧐 https://t.co/iYzs9ub2Yb
— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) June 28, 2023
Musk’s father: ‘crazy fight’ is a ‘no-win situation’ for Musk
Musk’s father Errol calls the cage match with Mark Zuckerberg a “crazy fight” and a “no-win situation” for his son. He says the Musk family is worried about it, and thinks Musk has gotten himself into this situation as a result of “high school behavior.” Asked whether Musk can “handle himself,” Errol says his son earned a purple belt in Japanese Karate Association, but “does not know how to go for the kill.”
The thing is if this crazy fight goes ahead, if Elon beats this guy, Elon will be called a bully, being so much heavier and taller, while if he loses the humiliation would be total. It’s a no-win situation for Elon. Wins, he’s a bully. Loses, he’s a loser.