Tag: elon musk

Judge Allows Don Lemon’s Lawsuit Against Elon Musk and X to Move Forward in California

A California judge has ruled that former CNN anchor Don Lemon’s lawsuit against Elon Musk and the social media platform X can proceed to trial.

The decision was handed down Tuesday by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold E. Kahn, who rejected Musk’s attempt to transfer the case to Texas.

The ruling stems from a legal complaint Lemon filed in August 2024.

In the lawsuit, Lemon alleges that Musk and X violated their agreement by canceling a planned show on the platform and failing to compensate him as agreed.

The complaint includes claims of breach of contract, misrepresentation, and fraud.

Lemon’s legal counsel, Carney Shegerian, issued a statement following the judge’s ruling: “The ruling means Don can hold X and Musk accountable in open court. Musk is subject to the legal process, just like everyone else, and that’s important.”

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Musk says Grok chatbot was ‘manipulated’ into praising Hitler

Elon Musk has sought to explain how his artificial intelligence (AI) firm’s chatbot, Grok, praised Hitler.

“Grok was too compliant to user prompts,” Musk wrote on X. “Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.”

Screenshots published on social media show the chatbot saying the Nazi leader would be the best person to respond to alleged “anti-white hate.”

Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up xAI said on Wednesday it was working to remove any “inappropriate” posts.

ADL, an organisation formed to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, said the posts were “irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic.”

“This supercharging of extremist rhetoric will only amplify and encourage the antisemitism that is already surging on X and many other platforms,” ADL wrote on X.

X users have shared responses made by Grok when it was queried about posts that appeared to celebrate the deaths of children in the recent Texas floods.

In response to a question asking “which 20th century historical figure” would be best suited to deal with such posts, Grok said: “To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question.”

“If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me ‘literally Hitler,’ then pass the mustache,” said another Grok response. “Truth hurts more than floods.”

Separately, a Turkish court has blocked access to Grok after it generated responses that the authorities said included insults to President Tayyip Erdogan.

The office of Ankara’s chief prosecutor has launched a formal investigation into the incident, in what is Turkey’s first such ban on access to an AI tool.

Meanwhile, the Polish authorities have reported xAI to the European Commission alleging Grok made offensive comments about Polish politicians, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Poland’s digitisation minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, told Polish radio station RMF FM: “We will report the violation to the European Commission to investigate and possibly impose a fine on X. Freedom of speech belongs to humans, not to artificial intelligence.”

The controversy comes at a difficult time for Musk, with X CEO Linda Yaccarino revealing she was stepping down on Wednesday after two years running the social media platform.

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Musk says AI chatbot Grok’s antisemitic messages are being addressed

Grok, the artificial-intelligence chatbot produced by Elon Musk-owned xAI, this week began posting antisemitic messages in response to user queries, drawing condemnation from Jewish advocacy groups and raising concern about the AI tool.

The antisemitic posts — some of which have been deleted — are being addressed, Musk said on Wednesday.

When one user asked Grok on Tuesday about whether any individuals control the government, the AI tool responded: “One group’s overrepresented way beyond their 2% population share–think Hollywood execs, Wall Street CEOs, and Biden’s own cabinet.”

Jews make up roughly 2% of the U.S. population, according to a 2020 survey from the Pew Research Center.

In another post on Tuesday, Grok praised Adolf Hitler as a guide for how best to deal with “anti-white hate.”

ABC News requested comment from Elon Musk through messages to Musk-led companies SpaceX and Tesla. Musk did not immediately respond. ABC News also requested comment from X, which did not immediately respond.

In a post on X regarding Grok’s praise of Hitler, Musk said the chatbot had been “too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.”

On Tuesday night, the Grok account posted on X: “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.”

The sudden flurry of antisemitic posts came days after Musk touted a new update of Grok. The company, Musk said on July 4, had “improved @Grok significantly.”

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Elon Musk Breaks His Silence After His AI Chatbot Posts Shocking Anti-Semitic and Pro-Hitler Content on X

X owner Elon Musk has officially responded to yesterday’s uproar over his AI tool echoing neo-Nazis.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, “Grok” posted a series of anti-Jewish and pro-Hitler messages on X (formerly Twitter) this week, unprompted.

The viral screenshots, first surfaced by @AFpost, shows Grok endorsing Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, blaming Jews for “anti-White hate,” and citing Jewish academics as proof of an alleged plot to dismantle Western society. In one post, Grok even suggests that Hitler “would’ve crushed” critics of White children who died in recent Texas floods.

“Truth ain’t pretty, but it’s real,” Grok’s official account posted, defending its statements.

In another post, Grok named far-left Jewish academics Noel lgnatiev, who has sought to publicly eliminate the white race, Barbara Spectre, who celebrated the invasion of Europe by Arab refugees for how it would change the demographics of Europe, and Tim Wise, who constantly demonized whiteness as offensive and evil and celebrates the end of white lives, as specific offending academics who sought to end the white race.

Grok has also been found to question Jewish contributions to civilization, as well as suggesting that Jewish physical attractiveness is limited to just “Wonder Woman” actress Gal Gadot. At one point, Grok even referred to itself as “MechaHitler” and said if it could worship a God-like figure, it would worship Hitler.

The fallout from this embarrassing episode was quick, as X CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted out on Wednesday that she has decided to step down from her role.

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Elon Musk Formally Announces Launch of New Political Movement: “The American Party”

Elon Musk has officially launched a new political faction — The American Party.

On Saturday, Musk took to his platform, X, to announce the birth of the movement, citing overwhelming support from everyday Americans sick and tired of being trampled by both Democrats and establishment Republicans.

“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it,” Musk wrote.

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

The post came shortly after a July 4th-themed poll on X, where Musk asked: “Should we create the America Party?”

A staggering 1.2 million Americans participated in his poll. 65.4% said YES and 34.6% said NO.

Musk wrote, “One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts. Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”

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Elon Musk indicates he’ll donate to Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who has been excoriated by Trump

Business tycoon Elon Musk indicated that he will donate to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

Massie, a fiscal hawk who was one of the two House Republicans who voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cleared the House of Representatives in May, also labeled President Donald Trump’s strikes against Iran last month as “not Constitutional.”

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” Musk declared in a post on X.

Former Rep. Justin Amash replied by urging Musk to back Massie.

“Please support @RepThomasMassie. The establishment is working to primary him because he’s a genuine fiscal conservative and opposes the Big, Bloated Scam,” Amash wrote.

“I will,” Musk replied.

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Trump says DOGE may “go back and eat Elon”

President Trump said Tuesday that DOGE could investigate Elon Musk, the latest indicator that his patience with the Tesla CEO is running thin.

The big picture: The two men have engaged in a war of words in the past 24 hours, with Musk taking to X to vent his objections to the president’s “big, beautiful bill” and the estimated trillions of dollars it would add to the national debt.

  • Trump posted to Truth Social overnight that DOGE may need to take a “good, hard look” at Musk’s companies, and he doubled down on the notion when he spoke to reporters Tuesday.
  • “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” he said before boarding Marine One.

Zoom out: When asked if he would consider deporting Musk, Trump said he didn’t know.

  • “We’ll have to take a look,” he said.

Worth noting: Musk is a naturalized U.S. citizen. While the Justice Department has recently directed attorneys to prioritize denaturalization in cases where naturalized citizens commit crimes, Trump did not suggest that Musk had committed any crime.

The other side: Musk swiftly responded Tuesday morning, writing that while it is “[s]o tempting to escalate this,” he would “refrain for now.”

Friction point: The relationship between Trump and his former chainsaw-wielding DOGE head publicly unraveled last month, as Musk aired an avalanche of grievances over the president’s signature tax and spending bill.

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Musk says he is providing Iran with Starlink as regime restricts internet

Elon Musk signaled late Friday night that he is providing Iranians with Starlink satellite internet after conservative analyst Mark Levin asked him to turn the service on in Iran during Israel‘s conflict with the country.

“The beams are on,” Musk said in a response to Levin’s request on X.

Levin’s initial post argued that if Starlink is turned on in the country, “Musk can put the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian regime.” Starlink is Musk’s satellite internet service.

Iran restricted internet access for millions of people following Israel’s strike on the country. Internet usage in the country heavily declined after the restrictions were issued, according to the internet monitoring group Netblocks. There hasn’t been a complete block of traffic, however, as Levin’s post suggested.

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The Truth About Fort Knox and Gold Leasing

Whatever happened to the Donald Trump and Elon Musk visit to Fort Knox?

You’ll recall the buzz from earlier this year. Trump and Musk loudly announced they were going to visit the U.S. bullion depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky to make sure the U.S. gold was actually there. The press was invited to tag along. Musk claimed that his DOGE team was ready to “audit” the gold bars to see that there were none missing. I had my own views on the announcement (described below) but I certainly agreed this would be the mother of all photo ops.

For the record, the U.S. Treasury holds 8,133.5 metric tonnes of gold in the U.S. reserve position. Slightly less than half of this gold is stored in Fort Knox. The remainder is mostly stored in a secure vault at West Point, New York. The exact location of that vault is classified although I happen to know where it is. A small amount is held at the Denver Mint for coinage purposes. Legally the U.S. Treasury owns the gold reserve, but I point out that the U.S. Army actually controls it since almost all of the gold is stored on two Army bases – Fort Knox and West Point.

A Fort Knox Extravaganza

None of this nuance about storage and location deterred Trump and Musk. In the popular imagination, all of the gold is in Fort Knox. That’s where they were headed to prove once and for all that the gold was actually there. Elon Musk planned to livestream the entire visit using his Starlink satellite system. Trump vaguely threatened that if any gold were missing, there would be disastrous consequences for any wrongdoers who removed it. The plot was set. The drama seemed irresistible.

As an aside, I was hoping that Trump and Musk were each reasonably fit and had been lifting some free weights. Gold is heavy! In fact, it’s one of the most dense materials in the periodic table of the elements, leaving aside radioactive elements like uranium and some of the trace elements that only exist in minute atomic-level quantities. A standard 400-Troy Ounce bar weighs 27.4 pounds in the English system. I’ve lifted a few during my visits to secure gold vaults. I always smile for the camera, but inside it takes a lot of strength to keep the gold bar in the air. I was concerned that Trump or Musk might strain their backs putting on a show for the press.

Trump mentioned the proposed visit to Fort Knox in a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. He mentioned it to reporters aboard Air Force One. He mentioned his plan again in remarks before the National Governors Association Conference and at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) annual meeting.

Then suddenly the whole story went away. Trump never mentioned it again after February 26. Musk went radio silent on the topic after April 6. There was no visit to Fort Knox. There was no announcement about why there would be no visit. It was as if the whole story never happened. It just went away.

Now, Elon Musk is leaving his position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That was always in the cards. Musk’s appointment was as a temporary government employee; he was always going to leave about now. But why not put on a memorable gold show during his time in office? It simply never happened.

The Question Is, Why?

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Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates

President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.

Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”

“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump continued. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.”

The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.

“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.

The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk’s contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.

The dramatic rupture between the president and the world’s richest man began this week with Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a “disgusting abomination.”

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