All posts tagged: Musk

Musk review: This absorbing documentary is far from a hatchet job

Musk review: This absorbing documentary is far from a hatchet job

Published by Daniella Wilson

A star rating of 4 out of 5. There’s an inevitability about the arrival of Musk, Alex Gibney’s absorbing, if a little one-sided, four-hour documentary about the world’s richest man. America’s foremost documentarian, the 72-year-old Gibney has been building up to someone like Elon Musk in a career that’s seen him tackle other outliers, from Julian Assange (2013’s We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks) to Steve Jobs (2015’s Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine). Now, in the wake of Musk’s increasing wealth and influence, Gibney dives right in. Receiving its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Musk starts with shots of the cosmos. It’s a reminder that he’s the tycoon who tried to reach for the stars, quite literally; the pioneer who built rockets with his SpaceX company and dreamt of sending people to Mars, a “multi-planetary experience” looking to a future beyond Earth; the kid from Pretoria, South Africa, who read sci-fi comics with great intensity and grew up to style himself as a real-life Tony Stark (and, yes, he even …

Judge Lets Musk Keep ‘Twitter’ for Now but Forces Him to Release the Bird

Judge Lets Musk Keep ‘Twitter’ for Now but Forces Him to Release the Bird

Published by skeptic

The social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, gets to retain the Twitter trademark for the moment, thanks to a partial preliminary injunction against Operation Bluebird, Inc.’s Twitter.new. But by the same ruling, Bluebird gets to keep the birds and tweets. Bluebird responded to this fail whale by announcing it would rename its nascent social network from Twitter.now to Tweet.app. District Judge Colm F. Connolly said in an opinion issued Thursday that because X still uses the word “Twitter” in its branding, the company would likely prevail if the trademark dispute in the US District Court for the District of Delaware went to final adjudication.  “X Corp.’s use of the ‘formerly known as Twitter’ parenthetical in its Apple App Store listing makes it unlikely that Bluebird will strictly prove that X Corp. discontinued its use of the Twitter-formative marks,” Connolly wrote. In other words, X has thus far failed to dislodge Twitter from the public consciousness despite Musk’s scorched-earth approach to destroying its social capital. It’s been three years — “Twitter” should have been …

Elon Musk super PAC targets key Senate races after Johnson meeting

Elon Musk super PAC targets key Senate races after Johnson meeting

Published by Sam Flores

Elon Musk’s super PAC is putting its first midterm money behind some of the GOP’s most important election battlegrounds, spending more than $800,000 across seven Senate races and a handful of competitive House districts, according to a new Federal Election Commission disclosure. The spending by America PAC offers the clearest look yet at where the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is directing his political operation, after the billionaire who previously supported Democrats reportedly authorized the group to spend as much as $120 million on an effort to help elect Republicans this November. Nearly 90% of the $800,475 disclosed Wednesday night went toward Senate races, with the largest share — more than $247,000 — spent in Texas to support Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and oppose Democrat James Talarico in an increasingly competitive contest. Paxton has struggled to keep pace with Talarico’s spending. As of Aug. 20, Talarico’s campaign had spent more than $25 million on advertising since the general election began in late May, compared with just $119,000 by Paxton’s campaign, according to AdImpact data cited …

OpenAI Cut Off a Billion-Dollar Customer to Avoid Elon Musk

OpenAI Cut Off a Billion-Dollar Customer to Avoid Elon Musk

Published by skeptic

In a late-night blog post last Friday, OpenAI said it would wind down its partnership with Cursor, the startup behind one of the most popular AI coding tools on the market. The reason OpenAI gave for the decision is effectively that it can’t trust Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX recently acquired Cursor in a $60 billion deal. In doing so, OpenAI walked away from one of its most important customers. Cursor has long paid OpenAI fees to offer the ChatGPT-maker’s models to developers using its AI coding editor. At the start of 2026, Cursor was one of OpenAI’s top five customers in terms of revenue, people familiar with the matter tell WIRED. By the spring of this year, OpenAI estimated Cursor would bring in more than $1 billion in annualized revenue for the ChatGPT maker, based on the partnership’s performance at that time, the people said. The figures, which have not been previously reported, indicate the financial loss OpenAI is willing to take on to avoid doing business with Musk. OpenAI declined to comment. Representatives …

How Musk, Thiel, and Altman Misread Science Fiction

How Musk, Thiel, and Altman Misread Science Fiction

Published by Daniella Wilson

After reading Jill Lepore’s The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, I have a new destination for a time machine, should I ever finally get my hands on one. I’d set the dial to some night in the late 1970s or ’80s and visit the boyhood rooms of the Silicon Valley titans Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Sam Altman. Then I’d confiscate all of their science fiction. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein—all of it. As young people, the future billionaires were spending hours (under their covers with flashlights, I imagine) consuming stories about killer robots or Mars colonies. What they seemed not to get—maybe couldn’t get—was that these were cautionary tales, stories that projected deep societal worries into space or onto a future many millennia away. These boys just thought the killer robots sounded cool. They grew up to become ruthless entrepreneurs, but their surface enchantment stayed with them. It helped shape their desires. In 2009, Thiel, by then a man in early middle age, directed his venture-capital fund to focus on …

OpenAI to cut off AI models for SpaceX-owned Cursor, escalating feud with Musk

OpenAI to cut off AI models for SpaceX-owned Cursor, escalating feud with Musk

Published by Sam Flores

Aug 28 : OpenAI said on Friday that it plans to stop providing AI models to Cursor, the coding-tool company now owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, marking a further escalation in the bitter rivalry between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk. Musk and Altman have been at odds for years, a feud that culminated earlier this year in a trial over Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI. During the trial, Musk’s lawyer said that Musk and other witnesses had testified that Altman was a liar, while OpenAI argued that Musk had sought control of the company. “We are making this choice because we cannot be confident that SpaceX will use our technology within our terms of service, based on our experience with Elon Musk’s companies violating contracts,” OpenAI said in a blog post. Musk responded early on Saturday in an X post, writing, “I couldn’t care less.” He accused Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of being “untrustworthy,” while repeating his assertion that they “stole an open source nonprofit.” Musk, the world’s richest person, had …

Zelenskyy Gives Award to Elon Musk for Starlink’s Role in Ukraine

Zelenskyy Gives Award to Elon Musk for Starlink’s Role in Ukraine

Published by Sam Flores

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday awarded Elon Musk Ukraine’s Order of Freedom, one of its highest state honors, for his “outstanding personal merits” in protecting human life and freedom and strengthening ties with the United States. Musk, the founder of the aerospace company SpaceX, has become one of the most influential, and contentious, private sector figures in Ukraine’s war effort. His decision to provide access to Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet network, was a lifeline for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and remains critically important. Starlink has become deeply embedded in Ukraine’s military operations, with commanders and soldiers relying on satellite connectivity to communicate and coordinate operations. Musk’s decision-making could shape Ukraine’s future military capabilities. Starlink doesn’t currently operate over Russian territory, but Zelenskyy wants Musk to reconsider the policy. That would allow Ukrainian forces to maintain satellite connectivity for longer-range drone attacks targeting Russia’s military and economic infrastructure. Musk made no immediate comment on the award, which was announced by presidential decree. Musk has restricted Starlink use in Russia …

“All Accurate”: Musk Confirms Massive New Starship Rocket Base In Louisiana

“All Accurate”: Musk Confirms Massive New Starship Rocket Base In Louisiana

Published by Jenni Sidey

Our report from several weeks ago, titled “SpaceX In ‘Final Stages’ Of Securing Massive New Rocket Launch Site In Louisiana,” was confirmed Tuesday afternoon by Elon Musk and his rocket company. “Starbase, Louisiana, will be built to support thousands of Starship flights a year, with missions launching to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” SpaceX wrote on X. Starbase, Louisiana will be built to support thousands of Starship flights a year with missions launching to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond pic.twitter.com/SE6gyNZWBK — SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 25, 2026 Musk also chimed in, saying reports about the new $100 billion spaceport near Pecan Island, Louisiana, were “all accurate.” All accurate https://t.co/FkmQCEoS0i — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2026 Let’s come back to our Aug. 3 report, in which we cited the Times-Picayune: SpaceX is poised to take control of roughly 130,000 acres at Pecan Island, more specifically in coastal Vermilion Parish, as part of a settlement resolving long-running coastal lawsuits against ExxonMobil. Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to announce the agreement this month. One …

Elon Musk Won’t Face Election Bribery Charges in Wisconsin, State Prosecutor Says

Elon Musk Won’t Face Election Bribery Charges in Wisconsin, State Prosecutor Says

Published by Sam Flores

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Elon Musk will not face charges for promising to give $1 million to voters in a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election because no jury would find that constituted election bribery, a state prosecutor said Tuesday. Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was deeply involved in the effort to flip majority control of the highest court in battleground Wisconsin last year. But the candidate he and Republicans backed lost to Democratic-supported Susan Crawford, whose victory preserved liberals’ majority on the court. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission in July referred two complaints to the Brown County district attorney’s office for possible charges, saying Musk likely broke the law. La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke was later appointed as a special prosecutor because of a conflict of interest. At issue was a social media post Musk made days before the 2025 Supreme Court election saying he would hold an event in Green Bay that would be open only to those who had voted. “I will also personally hand over two …

Elon Musk Is Expected to Point His Money Machine at Texas

Elon Musk Is Expected to Point His Money Machine at Texas

Published by skeptic

Elon Musk is expected to spend big to boost Republicans in the midterms this November, according to Trump officials briefed on the matter. The precise amount could change, but the officials expect Musk to spend around $100 million to $200 million with a focus on voter turnout in key races, including Texas, where the fate of Republican nominee Ken Paxton could determine which party controls the US Senate. The planned cash injection—or any in-kind contribution relating to voter turnout—would be a boon for Paxton, who has been vastly outraised in contributions. According to the latest FEC filings, James Talarico had raised roughly $69 million compared to Paxton’s $9 million. While an endorsement from President Donald Trump carried him to victory, Paxton lagged behind in contributions throughout a bruising primary against Senator John Cornyn that resurfaced past scandals, and has fared little better since becoming the nominee. To date, neither of the two largest national GOP entities have committed to spend on Paxton. The Senate Leadership Fund is run by allies of Senate Majority Leader John …