Tag: elon musk

The $134 Billion Betrayal: Inside Elon Musk’s Explosive Lawsuit With OpenAI

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft has evolved into a high-stakes dispute over whether OpenAI stayed true to the mission it was founded on or quietly outgrew it while relying on that original promise.

Musk is seeking between $79 billion and $134 billion in damages, a figure derived from an expert valuation that treats his early funding and contributions as foundational to what OpenAI later became. While the number is enormous, the heart of the case is simpler: Musk argues he helped create and fund a nonprofit dedicated to AI for the public good, and that OpenAI later abandoned that commitment in a way that amounted to fraud.

According to Musk’s filings, his roughly $38 million in early funding was not just a donation but the financial backbone of OpenAI’s formative years, supplemented by recruiting help, strategic guidance, and credibility. His damages theory, prepared by financial economist C. Paul Wazzan, ties those early inputs to OpenAI’s current valuation of around $500 billion.

The claim is framed as disgorgement rather than repayment, with Musk arguing that the vast gains realized by OpenAI and Microsoft flowed from a nonprofit story that attracted support and trust, only to be discarded once the company reached scale, according to TechCrunch. 

Much of the public attention has centered on internal documents uncovered during discovery, particularly private notes from OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman in 2017.

One line has become central to Musk’s argument: “I cannot believe that we committed to non-profit if three months later we’re doing b-corp then it was a lie.”

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Trump Says He Will Speak to Musk About Restoring Internet Access in Iran​

President Donald Trump said on Jan. 11 he was planning to speak with tech billionaire Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran after the regime blocked online services amid protests.

“As you know, he’s very good at that kind of thing. He’s got a very good company. So we may speak to Elon Musk, and heck, I’m going to call him as soon as I’m finished with you,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Musk’s SpaceX company offers the Starlink service, which allows users access to the internet without any wired connection via a constellation of satellites surrounding Earth.

The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout since Jan. 8.

Neither Musk, who also owns social media platform X and electric car company Tesla, nor Starlink has yet commented publicly on Trump’s statement about the use of the technology in Iran.

The Epoch Times contacted SpaceX for comment but received no comment by publication time.

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Musk: AI Will Make Cash Worthless, Work Optional, Retirement-saving Obsolete — and More

If “work ennobles man,” as the saying goes, are we headed for a very ignoble future? If “cash is king” today, what will reign tomorrow? If an abundance of the material can bury the spiritual, are we headed for an ever-more intensified secularism?

These questions could and should be asked with a prediction billionaire industrialist Elon Musk recently made.

Our not-too-distant future is one, he says, in which cash will be worthless and work merely an option. Why, Musk adds, there may not even be a reason to save for retirement. How come?

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will in a decade or two, he states, deliver a world of mechanical slaves that will satisfy every human need and want. In fact, the only limit to the abundance might be energy constraints and raw materials’ finiteness.

The Ant and The Grasshopper — Mr. Hopper’s Time Has Come?

Reporting on the story earlier this week, The Daily Overview wrote:

Musk has moved beyond warning that AI will disrupt jobs and is now arguing that it will underwrite a new baseline of prosperity. As Tesla CEO, he has said that advanced systems will create a kind of universal high income that makes traditional saving less important, because machines will be able to produce almost everything people need with minimal human labor. In his view, the combination of AI and robotics [AI-Bot] will eliminate poverty by driving the cost of goods and services toward zero….

He has gone further, arguing that as AI systems scale, money itself will soon be useless in the way people currently understand it. In one account, the argument is framed explicitly as “According to Elon Musk, Money Will Soon Be Useless, Why Does He Predict the End of Poverty,” with Musk contending that AI and robotics will become the backbone of a utopian society where scarcity is engineered away and financial incentives lose their central role. That framing captures his claim that the same technologies that threaten existing jobs could, if managed correctly, also dismantle material deprivation….

This may sound fanciful to some. But the only real question is whether we’ll destroy ourselves, or whether AI will, before or soon after this technology’s full flowering. What’s for certain is that if we don’t, AI-Bot will eventually be able to perform every or virtually every job. Why, need a plumber? A dexterous AI android may be repairing your pipes.

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‘Fourth Reich’: Musk Strikes Back At EU ‘Tyrants’ After X Fine

Elon Musk is not taking the outrageous fine from Brussels bureaucrats lying down, lashing out at EU officialdom for taking on Nazi characteristics and oppressing their own citizens’ best interests…

As Catherine Salgado reports for PJMedia.com, Musk also re-shared a post about Irish teacher Enoch Burke, who was jailed for refusing to use transgender pronouns, and later replied to another user, “So many politicians in Europe who are traitors to their own people.”

And Musk highlighted the fact that Meta has a verification program similar to X’s, yet the EU hasn’t onerously fined the more censorship-prone Meta.

Musk reposted and reiterated his previous explanation of why he bought X (then Twitter) in the first place.

“I didn’t do the Twitter purchase because I thought it was a great way to make money. I knew that there would be a zillion slings and arrows coming in my direction.

It really felt like, there was a civilizational danger that unless one of the major online platforms broke ranks, then, because they’re all just behaving in lockstep along with the legacy media.

Literally there was no place to actually get the truth. It was almost impossible. So everything was just getting censored. The power of the censorship apparatus was incredible,” Musk said.

The EU seems to be borrowing ideas from 20th century Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler… 

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Report: U.S. Is the World’s Largest Debtor to China — Thanks to Amazon, Disney, and Tesla

A report published on Tuesday by the AidData research lab at William & Mary university in Williamsburg, Virginia, found that the United States is the largest recipient of loans from China.

The report, entitled Chasing China: Learning to Play by Beijing’s Global Lending Rules, found that 1,193 Chinese banks, investment companies, and government institutions loaned $2.2 trillion to recipients in 179 countries between 2000 and 2023.

AidData researchers drew two surprising conclusions from their research: “China’s overseas lending portfolio is vastly larger than previously understood,” and its loans to the developed world are an order of magnitude larger than widely believed.

The common image of Chinese loans is banks pumping huge loans to Third World countries through China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The ostensible purpose of BRI was to help developing countries build vital infrastructure, but the projects are often criticized as unprofitable “debt traps” approved by spendthrift local governments that saddle the borrowing nations with debts to Beijing they can never repay.

Whatever the flaws of BRI might be, AidData determined that only about 20 percent of China’s titanic lending portfolio involves infrastructure projects in developing nations. Meanwhile, the amount China loans to developed nations “skyrocketed from 12% to 76%” between 2000 and 2023. Ten of the top 20 destinations for Chinese loans are “high-income” countries.

“Another major discovery is that Chinese state-owned creditors have bankrolled approximately 10,000 projects and activities in 72 high-income countries to the tune of nearly $1 trillion,” the report said.

“Much of the lending to wealthy countries is focused on critical infrastructure, critical minerals, and the acquisition of high-tech assets like semiconductor companies,” noted AidData’s lead author, Brad Parks.

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Soros funded NGO that tried to ‘kill Musk’s Twitter’ – media

A grantmaking network created by billionaire investor George Soros funded a controversial UK-based NGO which seeks to “kill” Elon Musk’s X media platform and censor conservative media, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday.

According to the database of Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF), the charity gave the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) a $250,000 grant last year “to provide general support.” While the nonprofit stipulates that its goal is to hold social media companies “accountable” for spreading hate, in practice, it has pressured advertisers to censor companies and lobbied to deplatform and cancel news organizations it found offensive, the paper said.

According to the outlet, the CCDH, founded by former Labour Party operative Imran Ahmed, has targeted conservative outlets such as The Federalist and the Daily Wire over alleged racist content. The nonprofit also reportedly tried to persuade US policymakers to create an “independent digital regulator.”

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Elon Musk Plans to End Prisons by Having His Robots Follow Crooks and Stop Them from ‘Doing Crime’

Tesla CEO and notorious hypemaster Elon Musk has suggested a new use for the company’s Optimus humanoid robots — having them track and surveil former criminals to prevent them from reoffending. Musk plans to end prisons in favor of a “more humane form of containment of future crime.”

Futurism reports that at a recent Tesla shareholder meeting, Elon Musk unveiled his latest unconventional idea: using the company’s Optimus robots to monitor criminals and intervene if they attempt to commit new crimes. Musk framed this as a “more humane form of containment of future crime” compared to the current prison system.

“You don’t have to put people in prisons and stuff,” Musk said. “If somebody’s committed crime, you now get a free Optimus and it’s just gonna follow you around and stop you from doing crime. But other than that you get to do anything. It’s just gonna stop you from committing crime, that’s really it.”

The proposal immediately generated controversy and raised numerous ethical and practical questions. Musk provided few details on how exactly the robots, which are still in early development, would be able to identify and prevent criminal acts. There are also significant concerns around privacy, surveillance, and the societal implications of having for-profit robots integrated into the criminal justice system.

“This shows a complete lack of understanding of criminology, the justice system, and frankly, basic human rights,” said Michael Johnson, a legal expert at the Brookings Institution. “The idea that a robot can somehow rehabilitate offenders better than comprehensive support programs is absurd. It comes across as a dystopian surveillance scheme more than anything else.”

Others noted the current limitations of Tesla’s Optimus robots, which have so far only been shown performing basic tasks like waving and carrying boxes. AI ethicists highlighted the immense challenges in programming robots to make nuanced judgements in dynamic real-world situations.

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Musk: AI Satellites Would “Adjust” Sunlight to “Prevent Global Warming”

With Bill Gates retreating from his high-profile climate crusade, the stage has opened for more unconventional actors to step into the planetary arena. Enter Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and self-styled architect of humanity’s future in space.

This week, Musk floated an audacious vision: a vast swarm of orbiting satellites, not merely to beam internet or data, but to harvest solar energy and regulate how much sunlight reaches Earth. On Monday, he wrote on his platform X:

A large solar-powered AI satellite constellation would be able to prevent global warming by making tiny adjustments in how much solar energy reached Earth.

It is not an isolated musing. Musk already commands more than 8,000 satellites in orbit, making SpaceX the single largest operator in low Earth orbit. His company is also deeply integrated with the U.S. defense and intelligence establishment, providing secure communications and reconnaissance support. And as one of Donald Trump’s biggest donors and technology contractors, Musk stands at the intersection of private ambition and state power.

The announcement reignited debate over geoengineering — also known as solar radiation modification (SRM) — a highly controversial concept to cool the planet by deflecting sunlight. Many observers, weary of climate-doomsday narratives and wary of billionaire “saviors,” have urged Musk to refrain from “playing God.”

The Technical Blueprint

Musk’s posts were brief, but behind them lie two vast engineering ambitions — one focused on solar power, the other on climate control. To most readers, it may sound like science fiction, yet the ideas are grounded in real, if speculative, physics.

Satellites to Capture the Sun

The first part of Musk’s plan involves satellites that would collect solar energy directly in space. He mentioned harnessing 100 gigawatts per year through an array of orbiting satellites launched by SpaceX’s upcoming Starship rocket. For perspective, one gigawatt equals the output of a large nuclear power plant.

Space-based solar power isn’t new, but it has never advanced beyond early experiments. The principle is simple: Sunlight in space is stronger because it’s unfiltered by Earth’s atmosphere. In orbit, solar panels could generate power 24 hours a day, unaffected by clouds or night.

The challenge is transmitting that energy back to Earth. Musk’s vision likely involves converting solar power into microwave or laser beams, then directing them to ground-based receivers. In theory, it could supply clean electricity to power grids or floating data centers. In practice, it would require precise targeting and vast safety controls to prevent energy loss or harm.

Musk also hinted at an even grander future — moon-based factories building AI satellites directly on the lunar surface. At that scale, he suggested, new satellites could generate hundreds of terawatts of power. That would surpass humanity’s current total energy use of about 17-20 terawatts.

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Elon Musk predicts phones and apps will be obsolete in five years, says AI will curate everything

Elon Musk appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience this week, where he predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) will be so transformative that it will replace traditional phones and apps.

Musk told Rogan that within a few years, AI will be so integrated into daily life that people will no longer open individual apps or platforms. Instead, he said, AI will anticipate what users want and curate everything directly for them through their devices.

“Well, I can tell you where I think things are gonna go, which is that it’s, we’re not gonna have a phone in the traditional sense,” Musk said. “What we call a phone will really be an edge node for AI inference, for AI video inference with, you know, with some radios to obviously connect to. But, essentially, you’ll have AI on the server side, communicating to an AI on your device, you know, formerly known as a phone, and generating real-time video of anything that you could possibly want.” 

Musk explained that this shift would eliminate the need for operating systems or apps. “There won’t be operating systems or apps. It’ll just be, you’ve got a device that is there for the screen and audio, and to put as much AI on the device as possible,” he said.

Rogan asked Musk whether platforms like X or email services would still exist if apps disappeared. Musk replied, “You’ll get everything through AI.”

He explained that AI will learn to anticipate users’ preferences and deliver content automatically.

“Whatever you can think of. Or really, whatever the AI can anticipate you might want, it’ll show you.” Musk explained. “That’s my prediction for where things end up.”

When asked how soon this could happen, Musk estimated, “I don’t know. It’s probably, well it’s probably five or six years, something like that.”

“So five or six years, apps are like Blockbuster Video,” Rogan said, to which Musk responded, “Pretty much.”

“Most of what people consume in five or six years, maybe sooner than that, will be just AI-generated content,” Musk added.

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Is This The Secret SpaceX-Backed Flying Car Musk Just Hinted At? 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday for a three-hour conversation covering a wide range of topics, including the upcoming unveiling of the second-generation Tesla Roadster, which he said “will have crazy tech.”

“Look, I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. This is some crazy, crazy technology we got in this car. Crazy technology. Crazy crazy. Let’s just put it this way. It’s crazier than anything James Bond. If you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that,” Musk told Rogan. 

Musk said that this product unveiling will be “unforgettable” and even hinted at a flying car.

He continued, “My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. If Peter wants a flying car we should should be able to buy one.” 

Recall that shortly after Musk unveiled the Roadster in 2017, he discussed adding a “SpaceX package” with cold-air thrusters for boosting downforce and acceleration. 

However, a “SpaceX package” for the next-generation Roadster seems far-fetched. We suspect Musk will instead unveil a two-seater eVTOL vehicle called the Model A, developed by the SpaceX-backed company Alef Aeronautics.

At the start of 2025, Alef released the “first-ever video in history of a car driving and vertically taking off,” according to a press release earlier this year.  

Here’s the SpaceX-backed flying car in action. 

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