Elon Musk: Discussion Thread

[BouncerGuy]

SpaceX's latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion

Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.

This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft's self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.

The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost less than 10 minutes into the flight as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.

Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.

The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would require SpaceX to investigate the accident.

"Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now," SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.

SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced "a rapid unscheduled disassembly" during the ascent engine firing and said it alerted safety officials.

Flights were briefly grounded at Orlando International Airport "due to space launch debris in the area," the airport posted on X.

Starship didn't make it quite as high or as far as last time.

NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX's Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world's biggest and most powerful rocket.

Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.

Starship's flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.

During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.

According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft's engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.

SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.

Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company's smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.

AP NEWS

 

[BouncerGuy]

Judge orders Elon Musk and Doge to produce records about cost-cutting operations

Elon Musk and his so-called “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, have been ordered by a federal judge to turn over a wide array of records that would reveal the identities of staffers and internal records related to efforts to aggressively cut federal government spending and programs.

US district judge Tanya Chutkan’s order forces Musk to produce documents related to Doge’s activities as part of a lawsuit brought by 14 Democratic state attorneys general that alleges Musk violated the constitution by wielding powers that only Senate-confirmed officials should possess.

Chutkan said in her 14-page decision that she was allowing the state attorneys general to obtain documents from Musk to clarify the scope of his authority, which would inform whether he has been operating unconstitutionally to the extent that Doge’s activities should be halted.

The judge also suggested that the so-called discovery requests, which she limited to only documents and not any depositions, could include the identities of Doge staffers in order to establish the scope of the Doge operation. Chutkan’s order does not apply to Donald Trump.

For weeks, Musk has taken great pains to conceal how Doge operates, starting with his own involvement in the project. Musk himself is a “special government employee”, which the White House has said means his financial disclosure filing will not be made public.

The White House then subsequently said in court filings that Musk was a senior adviser to the president, a designation that it claimed meant Musk had no actual or formal authority to make government decisions, even though it contradicted how Trump had spoken publicly about Musk.

The issue at the center of the lawsuit is a provision of the constitution that says government officials who act and wield power as heads of departments are “principal officers” who can exercise that authority only if first nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Musk’s role has been ambiguous because he is not Senate confirmed but has ordered steep cuts to federal agencies and programs as the titular head of Doge, until his moves precipitated legal claims that threatened to make him vulnerable to constitutional challenges and public records requests.

The White House has also tried to further resist legal discovery about Musk’s activities by citing his senior adviser title to invoke executive privilege protections. But Chutkan found that document requests and written responses were not so broad that it would burden the executive branch.

It is the second setback for Doge in as many days, after another federal judge in Washington DC ruled that it was wielding so much power that its records would likely have to be subject to public records requests.

US district judge Christopher Cooper, citing reporting by the Guardian, said the “unprecedented” authority of Doge and its “unusual secrecy” in how it bulldozed through the federal government meant it needed to go through thousands of pages of documents sought by a liberal watchdog group.

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/13/elon-musk-doge-court-ruling-records

 

[BouncerGuy]

SpaceX rocket launches as Butch and Suni prepare return

SpaceX has launched a rocket carrying a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a plan to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home.

The pair were due to be on the ISS for only eight days, but because of technical issues with the experimental spacecraft they came on, they have been there for more than nine months.

The astronauts are due to begin their journey back to Earth two days after the new crew arrives. Steve Stich, manager of Nasa's commercial crew programme said he was delighted at the prospect.

"Butch and Suni have done a great job and we are excited to bring them back," he said.

The astronauts, along with their ISS workmates, Nasa's Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will be relieved by four astronauts, from Russia, Japan and two from the US.

There will be a two-day handover after which the old crew are due to begin their journey back to Earth. But there could be a small further delay, as they wait for conditions on Earth to be right for a safe re-entry of the returning capsule, according to Dana Weigel, manager, of the ISS programme.

"Weather always has to cooperate, so we'll take our time over that if it is not favourable," she told reporters.

Ms Weigel explained that the astronauts had begun getting ready for the handover last week.

"Butch rang a ceremonial bell as Suni handed over command to cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin," she said.

The astronauts have consistently said that they have been happy to be on board the space station, with Suni Williams describing it as her "happy place". But Dr Simeon Barber, of the Open University, told BBC News that there would likely have been a personal cost.

"When you are sent on a work trip that is supposed to last a week, you are not expecting it to take the best part of a year," he said.

"This extended stay in space will have disrupted family life, things will have happened back home that they will have missed out on, so there will have been a period of upheaval."

Butch and Suni arrived at the ISS at the beginning of June 2024 to test an experimental spacecraft called Starliner, which was built by the aerospace firm Boeing, a rival to SpaceX.

The mission had been delayed by several years because of technical issues in the spacecraft's development, and there were problems during its launch and docking on to the ISS. This included issues with some of Starliner's thrusters, which would be needed to slow the spacecraft for re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, and leaks of helium gas in the propulsion system.

Nasa decided that it would not take even a small risk in bringing back Butch and Suni on Starliner, when they had the option of returning them on SpaceX's Dragon capsule. Nasa decided the best option was to do this during a scheduled crew rotation, even though it would mean keeping the astronauts on the space station for several months.

Boeing has consistently argued that it would have been safe to bring Butch and Suni back on Starliner, and were unhappy about the decision to use a rival's capsule instead, which will be "embarrassing" for Boeing, according to Dr Barber.

"It's not a good look for Boeing to see astronauts they took into space come back in a competitor's craft."

Both President Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have said that Butch and Suni could have been brought home sooner, most recently in a joint interview with Fox News in February.

President Trump states: "They got left in space."

When the interviewer, Sean Hannity, elaborates, saying "They were supposed to be there eight days. They're there almost 300," Mr Trump responds with one word: "Biden." Mr Musk follows up asserting: "They were left up there for political reasons."

The assertion is denied by Nasa's Steve Stitch.

"We looked at a wide range of options and worked hand-in-hand with SpaceX to look at what was the best thing to do overall and when we laid all that out the best option was to have the one we are embarking upon," he said.

That decision was supported by Dr Libby Jackson, who is head of space at the Science Museum in London and worked at Europe's control centre for the ISS.

"Butch and Suni's wellbeing would always have been at the very forefront of everybody's minds as the decisions were being made for how best to deal with the circumstances that they were presented," she said.

"Nasa made those decisions based on good technical reasons, on programmatic reasons, and found the right solution that has kept Butch and Suni safe.

"I really look forward to seeing them return to Earth, safe and sound, along with the rest of their crewmates."

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902025957646508355

 

[sweep_shot]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902025957646508355

I think Elon Musk has become a lifelong villain for DOGE and his association with Trump.

He didn't just hurt liberal voters but many Republican voters too (job losses).

 

[sweep_shot]

People are starting to boycott Tesla.

 

[JaDed]

Extremely worrying his hold over the complete power structure but let’s see if hillybillies and rednecks put their money towards their slogans.

If Tesla’s sales don’t improve clearly conservatives don’t care about saving Elon.

 

[Human786]

reminds me of a Bond movie villain !

 

[Bhaijaan]

Can’t wait for Mars settlement mission to take off.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Musk's xAI buys his social media platform X

Elon Musk says that his AI venture xAI has acquired his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

In an X post Friday, Musk said the all-stock transaction values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion.

Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022.

"xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote on X Friday. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent."

The move may be aimed at protecting investors, who helped him buy purchase X, from losing money.

Both X and xAI are privately held and share some major investors. They also share significant resources.

"The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge," Musk wrote.

XAI has used data from social media posts on X to train its models, and its chatbot Grok is a prominent feature on the platform.

"The move appears sensible, considering the current trend of increased investments in AI, data centres, and computing," said analyst Paolo Pescatore, founder of PP Foresight.

Mr Musk has been locked in a legal battle with OpenAI, the company he-founded in 2015 with CEO Sam Altman.

Last year, Mr Musk sued OpenAI and Mr. Altman for straying from the company's original mission and pushing to transition the startup to a for-profit model.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI was finalizing a $40 billion funding round with the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The outlet also reported the funds are contingent on the company completing its restructuring to a for-profit entity.

OpenAI did not respond to a BBC inquiry about the arrangement.

Critics say Mr Musk is suing the ChatGPT makers because he wanted to control it.

Earlier this year, a consortium led by Mr Musk made an unsolicited $97.4 billion takeover bid for OpenAI, which Mr Altman rejected, saying the company is not for sale.

The business manoeuvring is happening as Mr Musk has taken more of an interest in politics, now serving as President Donald Trump's right-hand.

He has spearheaded the administration's push to slash federal spending and is spending the weekend in Wisconsin where he has contributed millions to a state Supreme Court race.

Wisconsin's attorney general asked a court Friday to block Mr Musk from distributing $1 million checks to voters there ahead of the election.

BBC

 

[rpant_gabba]

Musk's xAI buys his social media platform X

Elon Musk says that his AI venture xAI has acquired his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

In an X post Friday, Musk said the all-stock transaction values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion.

Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022.

"xAI and X's futures are intertwined," Musk wrote on X Friday. "Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent."

The move may be aimed at protecting investors, who helped him buy purchase X, from losing money.

Both X and xAI are privately held and share some major investors. They also share significant resources.

"The combined company will deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences to billions of people while staying true to our core mission of seeking truth and advancing knowledge," Musk wrote.

XAI has used data from social media posts on X to train its models, and its chatbot Grok is a prominent feature on the platform.

"The move appears sensible, considering the current trend of increased investments in AI, data centres, and computing," said analyst Paolo Pescatore, founder of PP Foresight.

Mr Musk has been locked in a legal battle with OpenAI, the company he-founded in 2015 with CEO Sam Altman.

Last year, Mr Musk sued OpenAI and Mr. Altman for straying from the company's original mission and pushing to transition the startup to a for-profit model.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI was finalizing a $40 billion funding round with the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The outlet also reported the funds are contingent on the company completing its restructuring to a for-profit entity.

OpenAI did not respond to a BBC inquiry about the arrangement.

Critics say Mr Musk is suing the ChatGPT makers because he wanted to control it.

Earlier this year, a consortium led by Mr Musk made an unsolicited $97.4 billion takeover bid for OpenAI, which Mr Altman rejected, saying the company is not for sale.

The business manoeuvring is happening as Mr Musk has taken more of an interest in politics, now serving as President Donald Trump's right-hand.

He has spearheaded the administration's push to slash federal spending and is spending the weekend in Wisconsin where he has contributed millions to a state Supreme Court race.

Wisconsin's attorney general asked a court Friday to block Mr Musk from distributing $1 million checks to voters there ahead of the election.

BBC

In normall times, this would be called money laundering

 

[BouncerGuy]

Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry

An Indian court is due to hear a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's social media company X, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of misusing the law to censor content on its platform.

Last month, X sued the government saying a new website - Sahyog - launched by the federal home ministry last year, was being used to expand its censorship powers and take down content.

X argued the portal gave government officials wide-ranging powers to issue blocking orders that were "in violation" of India's digital laws. It said it could not be compelled to join Sahyog, which it called a "censorship portal".

The Indian government has said that the portal is necessary to tackle harmful online content.

Other American technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Meta have agreed to be on Sahyog.

Sahyog describes itself as a portal developed to automate the process of sending government notices to content intermediaries like X and Facebook.

The lawsuit filed in the southern state of Karnataka came after the federal railway ministry ordered X to remove "hundreds of posts".

These included videos of a crush in Delhi in which 18 people died as they were making their way to the world's largest religious gathering, the Kumbh Mela.

In its petition, X argues that the portal and the orders issued through it fall outside the remit of the original law that allows the government to block content.

Under this law, senior officials have the power to issue takedown orders, but after following due procedure like giving notices, opportunities for hearings and allowing for a review of any decision.

But X says the government is bypassing these procedures to issue arbitrary content takedown orders through other legal provisions that have no safeguards.

As a result, "countless" government officials, including "tens of thousands of local police officers", are "unilaterally and arbitrarily" issuing orders, X argues in its petition.

India's federal IT and home ministries did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

In court, the government has argued that its actions are lawful. It said it was not sending blocking orders but only issuing "notices" to platforms against unlawful content.

The government also defended the Sahyog platform saying it was a "necessity" because of the "growing volume of unlawful and harmful content online".

The case is of "vital importance" as the blocking mechanism of the Sahyog portal has resulted in "a wholesale increase in censorship", said Apar Gupta of the digital rights organisation, Internet Freedom Foundation.

This is not the first time the Indian government and X are at loggerheads.

The Delhi police had raided the offices of X (then Twitter) in 2021, before Musk took over, after a tweet by a ruling party spokesperson was marked as "manipulated media".

In 2022, the company had sued the Indian government against blocking orders, at least one of which pertained to a year-long protest by farmers against new laws brought in by the government. However, the court ruled against the company and imposed a fine of 5m rupees ($58,000; £45,000).

Under Musk's leadership, X appealed against this decision, which is currently separately being heard in the Karnataka high court.

In 2023, India called X a "habitual non-compliant platform" during the appeal proceedings.

India is also reportedly investigating X's chatbot Grok regarding its use of inappropriate language and "controversial responses" after it made politically sensitive comments to user prompts recently.

The timing of the lawsuit is interesting as it comes when Musk's other companies Starlink and Tesla have just begun making inroads into India with their business plans.

Earlier in March, Starlink signed an agreement with two of India's biggest telecoms firms to bring satellite internet to India and is awaiting government approval to start providing its services.

Tesla could finally be making its debut and has begun hiring for a dozen jobs in Delhi and Mumbai. It is also reportedly hunting for showrooms in both cities.

Musk also met Prime Minister Modi when he visited the White House last month.

His growing business interests in India and closeness with US President Donald Trump give him "ample leverage" with India, Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre's South Asia Institute in Washington, told the BBC.

"This means he has a lot of leeway in terms of how he operates, including making a decision to sue the Indian government," he added, saying the case might not hurt Musk's business prospects in the country.

BBC

 

[Bhaijaan]

Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry

An Indian court is due to hear a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's social media company X, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of misusing the law to censor content on its platform.

Last month, X sued the government saying a new website - Sahyog - launched by the federal home ministry last year, was being used to expand its censorship powers and take down content.

X argued the portal gave government officials wide-ranging powers to issue blocking orders that were "in violation" of India's digital laws. It said it could not be compelled to join Sahyog, which it called a "censorship portal".

The Indian government has said that the portal is necessary to tackle harmful online content.

Other American technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Meta have agreed to be on Sahyog.

Sahyog describes itself as a portal developed to automate the process of sending government notices to content intermediaries like X and Facebook.

The lawsuit filed in the southern state of Karnataka came after the federal railway ministry ordered X to remove "hundreds of posts".

These included videos of a crush in Delhi in which 18 people died as they were making their way to the world's largest religious gathering, the Kumbh Mela.

In its petition, X argues that the portal and the orders issued through it fall outside the remit of the original law that allows the government to block content.

Under this law, senior officials have the power to issue takedown orders, but after following due procedure like giving notices, opportunities for hearings and allowing for a review of any decision.

But X says the government is bypassing these procedures to issue arbitrary content takedown orders through other legal provisions that have no safeguards.

As a result, "countless" government officials, including "tens of thousands of local police officers", are "unilaterally and arbitrarily" issuing orders, X argues in its petition.

India's federal IT and home ministries did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

In court, the government has argued that its actions are lawful. It said it was not sending blocking orders but only issuing "notices" to platforms against unlawful content.

The government also defended the Sahyog platform saying it was a "necessity" because of the "growing volume of unlawful and harmful content online".

The case is of "vital importance" as the blocking mechanism of the Sahyog portal has resulted in "a wholesale increase in censorship", said Apar Gupta of the digital rights organisation, Internet Freedom Foundation.

This is not the first time the Indian government and X are at loggerheads.

The Delhi police had raided the offices of X (then Twitter) in 2021, before Musk took over, after a tweet by a ruling party spokesperson was marked as "manipulated media".

In 2022, the company had sued the Indian government against blocking orders, at least one of which pertained to a year-long protest by farmers against new laws brought in by the government. However, the court ruled against the company and imposed a fine of 5m rupees ($58,000; £45,000).

Under Musk's leadership, X appealed against this decision, which is currently separately being heard in the Karnataka high court.

In 2023, India called X a "habitual non-compliant platform" during the appeal proceedings.

India is also reportedly investigating X's chatbot Grok regarding its use of inappropriate language and "controversial responses" after it made politically sensitive comments to user prompts recently.

The timing of the lawsuit is interesting as it comes when Musk's other companies Starlink and Tesla have just begun making inroads into India with their business plans.

Earlier in March, Starlink signed an agreement with two of India's biggest telecoms firms to bring satellite internet to India and is awaiting government approval to start providing its services.

Tesla could finally be making its debut and has begun hiring for a dozen jobs in Delhi and Mumbai. It is also reportedly hunting for showrooms in both cities.

Musk also met Prime Minister Modi when he visited the White House last month.

His growing business interests in India and closeness with US President Donald Trump give him "ample leverage" with India, Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre's South Asia Institute in Washington, told the BBC.

"This means he has a lot of leeway in terms of how he operates, including making a decision to sue the Indian government," he added, saying the case might not hurt Musk's business prospects in the country.

BBC

Comply by our laws or get out from Bharat, Elon bhai.

ISRO> SpaceX
Tata Curvv > Tesla

 

[sweep_shot]

Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry

An Indian court is due to hear a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's social media company X, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of misusing the law to censor content on its platform.

Last month, X sued the government saying a new website - Sahyog - launched by the federal home ministry last year, was being used to expand its censorship powers and take down content.

X argued the portal gave government officials wide-ranging powers to issue blocking orders that were "in violation" of India's digital laws. It said it could not be compelled to join Sahyog, which it called a "censorship portal".

The Indian government has said that the portal is necessary to tackle harmful online content.

Other American technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Meta have agreed to be on Sahyog.

Sahyog describes itself as a portal developed to automate the process of sending government notices to content intermediaries like X and Facebook.

The lawsuit filed in the southern state of Karnataka came after the federal railway ministry ordered X to remove "hundreds of posts".

These included videos of a crush in Delhi in which 18 people died as they were making their way to the world's largest religious gathering, the Kumbh Mela.

In its petition, X argues that the portal and the orders issued through it fall outside the remit of the original law that allows the government to block content.

Under this law, senior officials have the power to issue takedown orders, but after following due procedure like giving notices, opportunities for hearings and allowing for a review of any decision.

But X says the government is bypassing these procedures to issue arbitrary content takedown orders through other legal provisions that have no safeguards.

As a result, "countless" government officials, including "tens of thousands of local police officers", are "unilaterally and arbitrarily" issuing orders, X argues in its petition.

India's federal IT and home ministries did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

In court, the government has argued that its actions are lawful. It said it was not sending blocking orders but only issuing "notices" to platforms against unlawful content.

The government also defended the Sahyog platform saying it was a "necessity" because of the "growing volume of unlawful and harmful content online".

The case is of "vital importance" as the blocking mechanism of the Sahyog portal has resulted in "a wholesale increase in censorship", said Apar Gupta of the digital rights organisation, Internet Freedom Foundation.

This is not the first time the Indian government and X are at loggerheads.

The Delhi police had raided the offices of X (then Twitter) in 2021, before Musk took over, after a tweet by a ruling party spokesperson was marked as "manipulated media".

In 2022, the company had sued the Indian government against blocking orders, at least one of which pertained to a year-long protest by farmers against new laws brought in by the government. However, the court ruled against the company and imposed a fine of 5m rupees ($58,000; £45,000).

Under Musk's leadership, X appealed against this decision, which is currently separately being heard in the Karnataka high court.

In 2023, India called X a "habitual non-compliant platform" during the appeal proceedings.

India is also reportedly investigating X's chatbot Grok regarding its use of inappropriate language and "controversial responses" after it made politically sensitive comments to user prompts recently.

The timing of the lawsuit is interesting as it comes when Musk's other companies Starlink and Tesla have just begun making inroads into India with their business plans.

Earlier in March, Starlink signed an agreement with two of India's biggest telecoms firms to bring satellite internet to India and is awaiting government approval to start providing its services.

Tesla could finally be making its debut and has begun hiring for a dozen jobs in Delhi and Mumbai. It is also reportedly hunting for showrooms in both cities.

Musk also met Prime Minister Modi when he visited the White House last month.

His growing business interests in India and closeness with US President Donald Trump give him "ample leverage" with India, Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre's South Asia Institute in Washington, told the BBC.

"This means he has a lot of leeway in terms of how he operates, including making a decision to sue the Indian government," he added, saying the case might not hurt Musk's business prospects in the country.

BBC

Well done, Musk.

India and Modi probably deserve thousands of lawsuits for various unethical/illegal practices.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Musk labels Trump trade adviser 'moron' over Tesla comments

Elon Musk has called President Donald Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, a "moron" over comments he made about his electric vehicle firm, Tesla.

Musk - who is also a member of the Trump administration - said Navarro was "dumber than a sack of bricks" in posts on his social media platform X.

It was in response to an interview Navarro gave in which he criticised Musk. "[He's] not a car manufacturer. He's a car assembler, in many cases," Navarro said.

Navarro was being interviewed about Trump's sweeping tariff policy and said he wanted to see parts made in the US in the future instead.

Elon Musk labels Trump adviser Navarro 'moron' over Tesla comment

Peter Navarro had described Musk's electric car company as a "car assembler" rather than manufacturer.

www.bbc.com

 

[sweep_shot]

Musk labels Trump trade adviser 'moron' over Tesla comments

Elon Musk has called President Donald Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, a "moron" over comments he made about his electric vehicle firm, Tesla.

Musk - who is also a member of the Trump administration - said Navarro was "dumber than a sack of bricks" in posts on his social media platform X.

It was in response to an interview Navarro gave in which he criticised Musk. "[He's] not a car manufacturer. He's a car assembler, in many cases," Navarro said.

Navarro was being interviewed about Trump's sweeping tariff policy and said he wanted to see parts made in the US in the future instead.

Elon Musk labels Trump adviser Navarro 'moron' over Tesla comment

Peter Navarro had described Musk's electric car company as a "car assembler" rather than manufacturer.

www.bbc.com

Civil war within Trump circle?

Vance and Musk first and now this.

 

[BouncerGuy]

OpenAI countersues Elon Musk over ‘unlawful harassment’ of company

The ChatGPT developer OpenAI has countersued Elon Musk, accusing the billionaire of harassment and asking a US federal judge to stop him from “any further unlawful and unfair action” against the company.

OpenAI was co-founded by Musk and its chief executive, Sam Altman, in 2015. However, the two men have been at loggerheads for years over its direction as it transitions from a complex non-profit structure into a more traditional for-profit business.

Musk sued OpenAI over its restructuring plans about a year ago, accusing it of betraying its foundational mission by putting the pursuit of profit ahead of the benefit of humanity. He dropped the suit in June, but then filed a fresh one in August.

In February this year he led a consortium of investors in a surprise $97.4bn bid for the company. Altman quickly rejected the bid, writing on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk bought Twitter, since rebranded as X, in 2022 for $44bn.

In documents filed at a district court in California this week, OpenAI said: “Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk’s more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI’s assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI.”

The company asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as “be held responsible for the damage he has already caused”. A jury trial is expected to begin in spring 2026.

Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and the world’s richest man started his own company called xAI. The bid for OpenAI this year was backed by xAI and several investment firms, including one run by Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded the spy technology company Palantir.

The Tesla boss has openly accused OpenAI of abandoning its original charitable mission by establishing a for-profit subsidiary to raise money from investors, such as Microsoft. OpenAI, which was founded as a non-profit with the aim of safely building futuristic AI that helped humanity, has argued the new model is necessary to develop the best AI models.

Last month OpenAI raised $40bn in a funding round from SoftBank and other investors that valued the company at $300bn. The company has said it plans to use the money to “push the frontiers of AI research even further” and develop its computer infrastructure to deliver more powerful tools for the estimated 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week.

OpenAI has had several corporate dramas since ChatGPT went viral in 2022. In 2023 the board sacked Altman over an alleged failure to be “candid in his communications”. He was reinstated less than a week later after many at the company threatened to resign unless he returned to his role.

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/technol...elon-musk-over-unlawful-harassment-of-company

 

[BouncerGuy]

Tesla whistleblower wins legal battle against Elon Musk

A Tesla whistleblower who has fought Elon Musk and his company through the courts for years has won the latest round of a long-running legal battle.

Engineer Cristina Balan lost her job after she raised a safety concern in 2014 about a design flaw which could affect the cars' braking.

Her defamation claim against the firm seemed to have run out of road when a judge confirmed an arbitration decision dismissing her case - but a panel of appeal judges in California has reversed this decision in her favour.

She told BBC News she now wants to face Elon Musk and Tesla in open court.

Tesla has not responded to a request for comment.

Ms Balan said she believes the case will now in effect go back to square one, and new proceedings can be launched.

"We are hoping we will start a new lawsuit and we will have the chance to take on Elon Musk in front of a jury and judge," she said.

The engineer was once so prominent at Tesla that her initials were engraved on the batteries inside Model S vehicles.

In an interview with BBC News last year, she said she is determined to prove her innocence for the sake of her son.

She also revealed she was in remission from stage-3B breast cancer, and her biggest worry was she may not live to see her final day in court.

Ms Balan claimed she was worried the carpets were curling underneath some pedals in Tesla models, creating a safety hazard.

She said managers rebuffed her concerns, became hostile, and she lost her job.

She then won a wrongful dismissal case - but this turned out to be the start of a long journey through the courts.

Ms Balan was publicly accused by Tesla of using its resources for a "secret project" - accusations which amount to embezzlement, a crime under US law.

She has consistently denied the accusation, and decided to bring a defamation case against the firm in 2019.

"I want to clear my name," she told BBC News last year.

"I wish Elon Musk had the decency to apologise."

A court then decided Ms Balan's case should be subject to arbitration per a contract she signed while working for Tesla.

The arbitrator found in favour of the firm and Musk, dismissing her claims, due to California's statute of limitations - meaning too much time had passed since the alleged defamatory statements were made.

Tesla brought the case back to a district court in California to have the decision confirmed.

However, Ms Balan appealed this decision, and judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found in her favour - in effect deciding the California court did not have the jurisdiction to make its judgement.

They have ordered for the confirmation of the arbitration award to be cancelled, and for the district court to dismiss the action due to its lack of jurisdiction.

BBC

 

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Bill Gates says his Foundation will close in 2045 and decries Musk for USAID cuts​

Microsoft co-founder accuses Trump ally of involvement in ‘killing the world’s poorest children’ by slashing US aid funding

Bill Gates announced plans on Thursday to shutter the Gates Foundation in 2045 and also strongly criticized Elon Musk for slashing funding to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), accusing the Tesla CEO of involvement in “killing the world’s poorest children” in new interviews.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, Gates condemned the sudden funding cuts to USAID by Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), saying the cuts had led to life-saving food and medicines expiring in warehouses, and could result in the resurgence of diseases such as measles, HIV and polio.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said.

Since Donald Trump took office in January, he and Musk began cutting funding and scaling back operations at USAID, the US government’s foremost international aid agency, once considered the world’s largest single provider of humanitarian aid. Staffers with Musk’s Doge initiative have worked to hollow out and dismantle the agency and have terminated more than 5,600 USAID workers.

Gates, 69, told the Financial Times that Musk had cancelled grants to a hospital in Gaza province, Mozambique, which he said was working to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to babies, based on the mistaken belief that the US was supplying condoms to Hamas in Gaza in the Middle East.

“I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money,” Gates said.

In a separate interview with the New York Times also published on Thursday, Gates said that Musk put USAID “in the wood chipper, because he didn’t go to a party that weekend”.

The Times asked Gates about Musk’s commitment to The Giving Pledge – a philanthropic commitment launched by Gates, along with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett. The pledge, which Musk signed in 2012, encourages wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetimes or in their wills.

Gates told the Times that an “unusual aspect” of the pledge is that “you can wait until you die and still fulfill it.”

“So who knows?” Gates said, Musk “could go on to be a great philanthropist”.

“In the meantime, the world’s richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world’s poorest children” Gates continued.

Gates also told the Times that given the various cuts imposed by the Trump administration, he expected childhood mortality to go up by a million additional deaths a year.

Gates’s remarks come as the billionaire Microsoft co-founder announced on Thursday in a blogpost that he plans to distribute “virtually all” of his wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years “to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world” before shuttering his foundation on 31 December 2045.

“Over the next twenty years, the Gates Foundation will aim to save and improve as many lives as possible,” Gates wrote.

“By accelerating our giving, my hope is we can put the world on a path to ending preventable deaths of moms and babies and lifting millions of people out of poverty. I believe we can leave the next generation better off and better prepared to fight the next set of challenges.

“It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people. But the one thing we can guarantee is that, in all of our work, the Gates Foundation will support efforts to help people and countries pull themselves out of poverty. There are just too many opportunities to lift people up for us not to take them.”

Gates estimates that between now and 2045, the foundation will spend more than $200bn on these efforts.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/08/bill-gates-foundation-wealth-musk-doge