elon musk – Page 2

Elon Musk Explains Why the SpaceX Board Must Be Powerless to Fire Him
In an X post on Friday, Elon Musk warned future shareholders that while returns could be massive eventually, those who invest in SpaceX should not “expect entirely smooth sailing along the way,” and that he must be allowed to focus on his mission of making human life “multiplanetary.” I’m thinking you should heed is warning. After all, if you’re considering buying SpaceX stock, what do you think will happen at SpaceX after the expected IPO next month? You can’t be picturing SpaceX becoming some boring pillar of economic stability like AT&T, can you? Speaking to his employees in February, Musk described his dream for the future of SpaceX as one full of space catapults, a Dyson sphere around the sun, and AI that feeds on secret knowledge previously known only to long-dead aliens.

In other words, if you’re imagining good old fashioned American capitalist enterprise with healthy profits, dividends, and market-friendly competition, like something from a 1940s propaganda film, you’re investing in the wrong company. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFvOPpBVff0[/embed] To wit: SpaceX’s corporate governance regime will be set up in such a way that the CEO and chairman cannot be fired, according to a report last month from Reuters. SpaceX will have different classes of stock with different power levels. Class A for pension funds and Robinhood users—plebs, in other words—and Class B for people who matter. Class B stock will carry ten times the voting power of Class A stock, and Musk will control the Class B stock.

The IPO filing, part of which is excerpted in the Reuters article, spells this out. Musk “can only be removed from our board or these positions by the vote of Class B holders.” If Musk “retains a significant portion of his holdings of Class B common stock for an extended period of time, he ⁠could continue to control the election and removal of a majority of our board.” Basically, Musk stays in both positions as long as he wants, and can easily veto any effort to fire him. Common shares without voting power aren’t rare these days, but a powerless board is. As a Harvard corporate governance expert named Lucian Bebchuk explained to Reuters, “Usually removal of the CEO is a decision left to the board, and controllers rely on their power to replace the board.”

So if you own stock in SpaceX, you’re just along for the ride. On Friday, in response to a Financial Times article about SpaceX’s draconian governance scheme, Musk explained himself. Sort of: Yes, I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars, not pandering to someone’s bullshit quarterly earnings bonus! Obviously, IF SpaceX succeeds in this absurdly difficult goal, it will be worth many orders of… — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2026 “I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars,” he wrote. He often does this. In response to criticism—or just as often in response to fans shielding him from criticism—he would say some variation on if people are mean to me, humanity will never be multiplanetary.

For instance, when CleanTechnica leapt to his defense after Bernie Sanders criticized him over income inequality in 2021, he replied, “I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars.” That same year, in response to handwringing from European finance ministers about his potential monopoly over satellite launches, he posted, “SpaceX is developing rockets needed to make life multiplanetary — full & rapid reusability at large scale.” Also in 2021, when the FAA expressed concern that SpaceX had overstepped his clearance from the federal government, he wrote about how much he hated the FAA’s space division, saying, “Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.” Some are predicting shortly after the IPO, the accompanying increase in SpaceX’s valuation will cause Musk’s net worth to cross the trillion-dollar threshold. This isn’t a trivial side effect. Elon Musk is more or less signaling that he is the protagonist of humanity’s future, and everyone else is an NPC. Do you believe that? Then by all means buy the stock (This is not financial advice). #Elon #Musk #Explains #SpaceX #Board #Powerless #FireElon Musk,ipo,SPACEX

May 17, 2026

Tech-news

In an X post on Friday, Elon Musk warned future shareholders that while returns could be massive eventually, those who invest in SpaceX should not “expect entirely smooth sailing along the way,” and that he must be allowed to focus on his mission of making human life “multiplanetary.”

I’m thinking you should heed is warning. After all, if you’re considering buying SpaceX stock, what do you think will happen at SpaceX after the expected IPO next month? You can’t be picturing SpaceX becoming some boring pillar of economic stability like AT&T, can you?

Speaking to his employees in February, Musk described his dream for the future of SpaceX as one full of space catapults, a Dyson sphere around the sun, and AI that feeds on secret knowledge previously known only to long-dead aliens.

In other words, if you’re imagining good old fashioned American capitalist enterprise with healthy profits, dividends, and market-friendly competition, like something from a 1940s propaganda film, you’re investing in the wrong company.

To wit: SpaceX’s corporate governance regime will be set up in such a way that the CEO and chairman cannot be fired, according to a report last month from Reuters. SpaceX will have different classes of stock with different power levels. Class A for pension funds and Robinhood users—plebs, in other words—and Class B for people who matter. Class B stock will carry ten times the voting power of Class A stock, and Musk will control the Class B stock.

The IPO filing, part of which is excerpted in the Reuters article, spells this out. Musk “can only be removed from our board or these positions by the vote of Class B holders.” If Musk “retains a significant portion of his holdings of Class B common stock for an extended period of time, he ⁠could continue to control the election and removal of a majority of our board.”

Basically, Musk stays in both positions as long as he wants, and can easily veto any effort to fire him. Common shares without voting power aren’t rare these days, but a powerless board is. As a Harvard corporate governance expert named Lucian Bebchuk explained to Reuters, “Usually removal of the CEO is a decision left to the board, and controllers rely on their power to replace the board.”

So if you own stock in SpaceX, you’re just along for the ride.

On Friday, in response to a Financial Times article about SpaceX’s draconian governance scheme, Musk explained himself. Sort of:

Yes, I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars, not pandering to someone’s bullshit quarterly earnings bonus!

Obviously, IF SpaceX succeeds in this absurdly difficult goal, it will be worth many orders of…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2026

“I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars,” he wrote.

He often does this. In response to criticism—or just as often in response to fans shielding him from criticism—he would say some variation on if people are mean to me, humanity will never be multiplanetary.

For instance, when CleanTechnica leapt to his defense after Bernie Sanders criticized him over income inequality in 2021, he replied, “I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars.” That same year, in response to handwringing from European finance ministers about his potential monopoly over satellite launches, he posted, “SpaceX is developing rockets needed to make life multiplanetary — full & rapid reusability at large scale.” Also in 2021, when the FAA expressed concern that SpaceX had overstepped his clearance from the federal government, he wrote about how much he hated the FAA’s space division, saying, “Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.”

Some are predicting shortly after the IPO, the accompanying increase in SpaceX’s valuation will cause Musk’s net worth to cross the trillion-dollar threshold. This isn’t a trivial side effect. Elon Musk is more or less signaling that he is the protagonist of humanity’s future, and everyone else is an NPC. Do you believe that? Then by all means buy the stock (This is not financial advice).

#Elon #Musk #Explains #SpaceX #Board #Powerless #FireElon Musk,ipo,SPACEX">Elon Musk Explains Why the SpaceX Board Must Be Powerless to Fire Him

In an X post on Friday, Elon Musk warned future shareholders that while returns could be massive eventually, those who invest in SpaceX should not “expect entirely smooth sailing along the way,” and that he must be allowed to focus on his mission of making human life “multiplanetary.”

I’m thinking you should heed is warning. After all, if you’re considering buying SpaceX stock, what do you think will happen at SpaceX after the expected IPO next month? You can’t be picturing SpaceX becoming some boring pillar of economic stability like AT&T, can you?

Speaking to his employees in February, Musk described his dream for the future of SpaceX as one full of space catapults, a Dyson sphere around the sun, and AI that feeds on secret knowledge previously known only to long-dead aliens.

In other words, if you’re imagining good old fashioned American capitalist enterprise with healthy profits, dividends, and market-friendly competition, like something from a 1940s propaganda film, you’re investing in the wrong company.

To wit: SpaceX’s corporate governance regime will be set up in such a way that the CEO and chairman cannot be fired, according to a report last month from Reuters. SpaceX will have different classes of stock with different power levels. Class A for pension funds and Robinhood users—plebs, in other words—and Class B for people who matter. Class B stock will carry ten times the voting power of Class A stock, and Musk will control the Class B stock.

The IPO filing, part of which is excerpted in the Reuters article, spells this out. Musk “can only be removed from our board or these positions by the vote of Class B holders.” If Musk “retains a significant portion of his holdings of Class B common stock for an extended period of time, he ⁠could continue to control the election and removal of a majority of our board.”

Basically, Musk stays in both positions as long as he wants, and can easily veto any effort to fire him. Common shares without voting power aren’t rare these days, but a powerless board is. As a Harvard corporate governance expert named Lucian Bebchuk explained to Reuters, “Usually removal of the CEO is a decision left to the board, and controllers rely on their power to replace the board.”

So if you own stock in SpaceX, you’re just along for the ride.

On Friday, in response to a Financial Times article about SpaceX’s draconian governance scheme, Musk explained himself. Sort of:

Yes, I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars, not pandering to someone’s bullshit quarterly earnings bonus!

Obviously, IF SpaceX succeeds in this absurdly difficult goal, it will be worth many orders of…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2026

“I need to make sure SpaceX stays focused on making life multiplanetary and extending consciousness to the stars,” he wrote.

He often does this. In response to criticism—or just as often in response to fans shielding him from criticism—he would say some variation on if people are mean to me, humanity will never be multiplanetary.

For instance, when CleanTechnica leapt to his defense after Bernie Sanders criticized him over income inequality in 2021, he replied, “I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars.” That same year, in response to handwringing from European finance ministers about his potential monopoly over satellite launches, he posted, “SpaceX is developing rockets needed to make life multiplanetary — full & rapid reusability at large scale.” Also in 2021, when the FAA expressed concern that SpaceX had overstepped his clearance from the federal government, he wrote about how much he hated the FAA’s space division, saying, “Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars.”

Some are predicting shortly after the IPO, the accompanying increase in SpaceX’s valuation will cause Musk’s net worth to cross the trillion-dollar threshold. This isn’t a trivial side effect. Elon Musk is more or less signaling that he is the protagonist of humanity’s future, and everyone else is an NPC. Do you believe that? Then by all means buy the stock (This is not financial advice).

#Elon #Musk #Explains #SpaceX #Board #Powerless #FireElon Musk,ipo,SPACEX

In an X post on Friday, Elon Musk warned future shareholders that while returns could…

Elon Musk’s newly rebranded SpaceXAI is reportedly losing top talent, with more than 50 researchers and engineers departing since February, according to The Information. The exits include key leaders across coding, world models, and Grok voice.

Rivals like Meta and Thinking Machine Labs are reportedly scooping up former staff, with the company’s core pre-training team dwindling to just a handful of people. Since February, at least 11 xAI employees have defected to Meta, according to The Information’s report. At least seven have left to join Mira Murati’s Thinking Machine Labs. TechCrunch has previously reported on 11 of the xAI departures announced directly after the merger, including two co-founders.

SpaceX acquired xAI — two companies owned by Musk — in February and has since installed new leadership at the company. Musk renamed the combined company SpaceXAI earlier this month.

The pre-training departures, which followed the exit of team lead Juntang Zhuang, have particularly concerned employees and people close to SpaceXAI, per The Information. Pre-training is the first step to building new AI models, and many have questioned whether the company is still committed to developing leading models.

The report also found that Musk’s culture of extreme work led some staff to leave — something Musk employees across his companies, including Tesla, have complained about. A source who spoke to The Information said Musk set unrealistic deadlines for training models, which led to cutting corners on Grok.

Of course, several of the exits could have been driven by a desire to cash out.

SpaceX regularly offers tenders so employees can sell vested shares privately. Others might simply feel confident that their equity is close to liquidity given the company’s blockbuster IPO expectations. Once employees see the financial upside light at the end of the tunnel, they’re less likely to work at a company that puts undue pressure on them and may not be building the leading models they want to work on.

TechCrunch has reached out to SpaceX for comment.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Elon #Musks #SpaceXAI #bleeding #staff #merger #TechCrunchElon Musk,SpaceX,spacexai,xAI">

Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI has been bleeding staff since its merger | TechCrunch
Elon Musk’s newly rebranded SpaceXAI is reportedly losing top talent, with more than 50 researchers and engineers departing since February, according to The Information. The exits include key leaders across coding, world models, and Grok voice.

Rivals like Meta and Thinking Machine Labs are reportedly scooping up former staff, with the company’s core pre-training team dwindling to just a handful of people. Since February, at least 11 xAI employees have defected to Meta, according to The Information’s report. At least seven have left to join Mira Murati’s Thinking Machine Labs. TechCrunch has previously reported on 11 of the xAI departures announced directly after the merger, including two co-founders.

SpaceX acquired xAI — two companies owned by Musk — in February and has since installed new leadership at the company. Musk renamed the combined company SpaceXAI earlier this month.

The pre-training departures, which followed the exit of team lead Juntang Zhuang, have particularly concerned employees and people close to SpaceXAI, per The Information. Pre-training is the first step to building new AI models, and many have questioned whether the company is still committed to developing leading models.

The report also found that Musk’s culture of extreme work led some staff to leave — something Musk employees across his companies, including Tesla, have complained about. A source who spoke to The Information said Musk set unrealistic deadlines for training models, which led to cutting corners on Grok.

Of course, several of the exits could have been driven by a desire to cash out.

SpaceX regularly offers tenders so employees can sell vested shares privately. Others might simply feel confident that their equity is close to liquidity given the company’s blockbuster IPO expectations. Once employees see the financial upside light at the end of the tunnel, they’re less likely to work at a company that puts undue pressure on them and may not be building the leading models they want to work on.

TechCrunch has reached out to SpaceX for comment.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Elon #Musks #SpaceXAI #bleeding #staff #merger #TechCrunchElon Musk,SpaceX,spacexai,xAI

May 14, 2026

Tech-news

Elon Musk’s newly rebranded SpaceXAI is reportedly losing top talent, with more than 50 researchers and engineers departing since February, according to The Information. The exits include key leaders across coding, world models, and Grok voice.

Rivals like Meta and Thinking Machine Labs are reportedly scooping up former staff, with the company’s core pre-training team dwindling to just a handful of people. Since February, at least 11 xAI employees have defected to Meta, according to The Information’s report. At least seven have left to join Mira Murati’s Thinking Machine Labs. TechCrunch has previously reported on 11 of the xAI departures announced directly after the merger, including two co-founders.

SpaceX acquired xAI — two companies owned by Musk — in February and has since installed new leadership at the company. Musk renamed the combined company SpaceXAI earlier this month.

The pre-training departures, which followed the exit of team lead Juntang Zhuang, have particularly concerned employees and people close to SpaceXAI, per The Information. Pre-training is the first step to building new AI models, and many have questioned whether the company is still committed to developing leading models.

The report also found that Musk’s culture of extreme work led some staff to leave — something Musk employees across his companies, including Tesla, have complained about. A source who spoke to The Information said Musk set unrealistic deadlines for training models, which led to cutting corners on Grok.

Of course, several of the exits could have been driven by a desire to cash out.

SpaceX regularly offers tenders so employees can sell vested shares privately. Others might simply feel confident that their equity is close to liquidity given the company’s blockbuster IPO expectations. Once employees see the financial upside light at the end of the tunnel, they’re less likely to work at a company that puts undue pressure on them and may not be building the leading models they want to work on.

TechCrunch has reached out to SpaceX for comment.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Elon #Musks #SpaceXAI #bleeding #staff #merger #TechCrunchElon Musk,SpaceX,spacexai,xAI">Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI has been bleeding staff since its merger | TechCrunch

SpaceX acquired xAI — two companies owned by Musk — in February and has since installed new leadership at the company. Musk renamed the combined company SpaceXAI earlier this month.

Of course, several of the exits could have been driven by a desire to cash out.

TechCrunch has reached out to SpaceX for comment.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Elon #Musks #SpaceXAI #bleeding #staff #merger #TechCrunchElon Musk,SpaceX,spacexai,xAI

Elon Musk’s newly rebranded SpaceXAI is reportedly losing top talent, with more than 50 researchers…

Musk uses slurs to mock French prosecutors investigating X

May 9, 2026

World news

Musk uses slurs to mock French prosecutors investigating X

Elon Musk has launched a tirade against French judicial authorities currently investigating possible abuses on…

French Prosecutors Want Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino to Face Preliminary Charges
French prosecutors who are investigating Elon Musk and his social media platform X have summoned the billionaire to France to face preliminary charges. The investigation is now officially a criminal probe, according to French officials. France opened a probe in 2025 to investigate whether X has violated French law, an investigation that has expanded following incidents last year when Musk’s AI chatbot Grok started denying the Holocaust, praising Hitler, and allegedly generating child sexual abuse material when prompted by users. According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino have been asked to travel to France to face preliminary charges. As the Journal explains, after preliminary charges have been filed in France, an investigating magistrate starts a process that can take months and doesn’t necessarily mean a trial will be held. It’s entirely possible that the case could ultimately be dropped.

French authorities are looking into the “complicity” of Musk in creating sexual abuse images of minors and sexually explicit deepfakes, according to the Associated Press. Grok also allegedly spread misinformation in French, including a claim that Auschwitz wasn’t a death camp during the Holocaust but was used for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus.” Musk purchased Twitter in late 2022 and changed the name to X. The billionaire made many changes to the platform, stripping away safeguards that allowed people to know when an account was verified, and inviting back far-right figures who had previously been banned. Musk welcomed users like white supremacist Nick Fuentes and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, among a host of others.

Musk also tinkered with the site in ways that turned it into a hotbed of far-right extremism and pro-Trump propaganda in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. Musk donated over 0 million to Republicans in the 2024 cycle and even ran a program that paid some voters in swing states up to million to sign a “petition,” a move that was just very clearly an attempt at paying people to vote for Trump.

Musk, who is currently worth 3 billion, was rewarded with a job overseeing the dismantling of agencies in the federal government under the auspices of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. Ultimately, about 300,000 government workers lost their jobs, and USAID was unlawfully dissolved. The cuts to global aid are estimated to lead to 23 million deaths by the year 2030, according to an analysis by The Lancet Global Health. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice told French authorities the U.S. wouldn’t assist in any investigation of Musk and X, something that wasn’t a surprise given the billionaire oligarch’s ties to the Trump regime.

“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the April letter said, according to the Wall Street Journal. X didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed Thursday about whether Musk planned on traveling to France. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back. #French #Prosecutors #Elon #Musk #Linda #Yaccarino #Face #Preliminary #ChargesElon Musk,Grok

May 8, 2026

Tech-news

French prosecutors who are investigating Elon Musk and his social media platform X have summoned the billionaire to France to face preliminary charges. The investigation is now officially a criminal probe, according to French officials.

France opened a probe in 2025 to investigate whether X has violated French law, an investigation that has expanded following incidents last year when Musk’s AI chatbot Grok started denying the Holocaust, praising Hitler, and allegedly generating child sexual abuse material when prompted by users.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino have been asked to travel to France to face preliminary charges. As the Journal explains, after preliminary charges have been filed in France, an investigating magistrate starts a process that can take months and doesn’t necessarily mean a trial will be held. It’s entirely possible that the case could ultimately be dropped.

French authorities are looking into the “complicity” of Musk in creating sexual abuse images of minors and sexually explicit deepfakes, according to the Associated Press. Grok also allegedly spread misinformation in French, including a claim that Auschwitz wasn’t a death camp during the Holocaust but was used for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus.”

Musk purchased Twitter in late 2022 and changed the name to X. The billionaire made many changes to the platform, stripping away safeguards that allowed people to know when an account was verified, and inviting back far-right figures who had previously been banned. Musk welcomed users like white supremacist Nick Fuentes and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, among a host of others.

Musk also tinkered with the site in ways that turned it into a hotbed of far-right extremism and pro-Trump propaganda in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. Musk donated over $290 million to Republicans in the 2024 cycle and even ran a program that paid some voters in swing states up to $1 million to sign a “petition,” a move that was just very clearly an attempt at paying people to vote for Trump.

Musk, who is currently worth $803 billion, was rewarded with a job overseeing the dismantling of agencies in the federal government under the auspices of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. Ultimately, about 300,000 government workers lost their jobs, and USAID was unlawfully dissolved. The cuts to global aid are estimated to lead to 23 million deaths by the year 2030, according to an analysis by The Lancet Global Health.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice told French authorities the U.S. wouldn’t assist in any investigation of Musk and X, something that wasn’t a surprise given the billionaire oligarch’s ties to the Trump regime.

“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the April letter said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

X didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed Thursday about whether Musk planned on traveling to France. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back.

#French #Prosecutors #Elon #Musk #Linda #Yaccarino #Face #Preliminary #ChargesElon Musk,Grok">French Prosecutors Want Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino to Face Preliminary Charges

French prosecutors who are investigating Elon Musk and his social media platform X have summoned the billionaire to France to face preliminary charges. The investigation is now officially a criminal probe, according to French officials.

France opened a probe in 2025 to investigate whether X has violated French law, an investigation that has expanded following incidents last year when Musk’s AI chatbot Grok started denying the Holocaust, praising Hitler, and allegedly generating child sexual abuse material when prompted by users.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino have been asked to travel to France to face preliminary charges. As the Journal explains, after preliminary charges have been filed in France, an investigating magistrate starts a process that can take months and doesn’t necessarily mean a trial will be held. It’s entirely possible that the case could ultimately be dropped.

French authorities are looking into the “complicity” of Musk in creating sexual abuse images of minors and sexually explicit deepfakes, according to the Associated Press. Grok also allegedly spread misinformation in French, including a claim that Auschwitz wasn’t a death camp during the Holocaust but was used for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus.”

Musk purchased Twitter in late 2022 and changed the name to X. The billionaire made many changes to the platform, stripping away safeguards that allowed people to know when an account was verified, and inviting back far-right figures who had previously been banned. Musk welcomed users like white supremacist Nick Fuentes and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, among a host of others.

Musk also tinkered with the site in ways that turned it into a hotbed of far-right extremism and pro-Trump propaganda in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. Musk donated over $290 million to Republicans in the 2024 cycle and even ran a program that paid some voters in swing states up to $1 million to sign a “petition,” a move that was just very clearly an attempt at paying people to vote for Trump.

Musk, who is currently worth $803 billion, was rewarded with a job overseeing the dismantling of agencies in the federal government under the auspices of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. Ultimately, about 300,000 government workers lost their jobs, and USAID was unlawfully dissolved. The cuts to global aid are estimated to lead to 23 million deaths by the year 2030, according to an analysis by The Lancet Global Health.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice told French authorities the U.S. wouldn’t assist in any investigation of Musk and X, something that wasn’t a surprise given the billionaire oligarch’s ties to the Trump regime.

“This investigation seeks to use the criminal legal system in France to regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the April letter said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

X didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed Thursday about whether Musk planned on traveling to France. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back.

#French #Prosecutors #Elon #Musk #Linda #Yaccarino #Face #Preliminary #ChargesElon Musk,Grok

French prosecutors who are investigating Elon Musk and his social media platform X have summoned…

Ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Testifies About Sam Altman Allegedly Lying to Her
OpenAI’s former CTO Mira Murati just testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman didn’t tell the truth to her, and that his habits interfered with her ability to do her job. The allegation in question, that Altman lied about safety practices, was already public, having featured heavily in a recent New Yorker feature about Altman. Now it’s court testimony. For a few weird days in 2023, Murati was an interim CEO of OpenAI after Altman was briefly fired (And then OpenAI very briefly picked another CEO, Emmett Shear). Reports from this chaotic time paint a picture of a working relationship between Altman and Murati that came under strain when Murati lost Altman’s trust. Behind-the-scenes accounts say she sent memos to the company’s board of directors and Altman himself, questioning Altman’s managerial abilities, and that his termination soon followed.

On Wednesday, a video deposition from Murati was shown to the court during the Musk v. Altman court proceedings, in which she testified to the truth of this story. A new model was being prepared for release—which the New Yorker says was GPT-4 Turbo—and in her testimony, as described by the Verge, she said Altman told her OpenAI’s legal department, headed at the time by Jason Kwon, said it wasn’t necessary for the OpenAI safety board to review the model. The person asking questions in the deposition asked, “As you understand it, was Mr. Altman telling the truth when he made that statement to you?”

To which Murati said, “No.” She later explained in her testimony, according to the Verge, “I confirmed that what Jason was saying and what Sam was saying were not the same thing.” She characterized this as a “misalignment” between Altman and Kwon. Kwon is now OpenAI’s chief strategy officer.

According to Reuters, Murati said in her testimony, “My concern was about Sam saying one thing to one person and completely the opposite to another person.” She also reportedly testified that Altman had been “creating chaos.” She described OpenAI at this time as “at catastrophic risk of falling apart,” and said she was “concerned about the company completely blowing up,” according to Reuters. According to the New Yorker, Murati’s memos to Altman and the board came soon after this interaction, and “Soon afterward, the board made its decision to fire Altman.” Murati was interim CEO for a handful of days, then Shear stepped in for a few days, and then Altman was reinstated, a move Murati publicly supported.

According to Forbes, Murati testified Wednesday that after his return to OpenAI, Altman continued with behaviors that had worried her, including delays around important decisions, and giving inconsistent messages to different coworkers, which she reportedly said created a “very difficult and chaotic environment.” About ten months after Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO, Murati left, and a few month later, founded her own AI company. #ExOpenAI #CTO #Mira #Murati #Testifies #Sam #Altman #Allegedly #LyingElon Musk,OpenAI,Sam Altman,Trials

May 7, 2026

Tech-news

OpenAI’s former CTO Mira Murati just testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman didn’t tell the truth to her, and that his habits interfered with her ability to do her job. The allegation in question, that Altman lied about safety practices, was already public, having featured heavily in a recent New Yorker feature about Altman. Now it’s court testimony.

For a few weird days in 2023, Murati was an interim CEO of OpenAI after Altman was briefly fired (And then OpenAI very briefly picked another CEO, Emmett Shear). Reports from this chaotic time paint a picture of a working relationship between Altman and Murati that came under strain when Murati lost Altman’s trust. Behind-the-scenes accounts say she sent memos to the company’s board of directors and Altman himself, questioning Altman’s managerial abilities, and that his termination soon followed.

On Wednesday, a video deposition from Murati was shown to the court during the Musk v. Altman court proceedings, in which she testified to the truth of this story. A new model was being prepared for release—which the New Yorker says was GPT-4 Turbo—and in her testimony, as described by the Verge, she said Altman told her OpenAI’s legal department, headed at the time by Jason Kwon, said it wasn’t necessary for the OpenAI safety board to review the model.

The person asking questions in the deposition asked, “As you understand it, was Mr. Altman telling the truth when he made that statement to you?”

To which Murati said, “No.” She later explained in her testimony, according to the Verge, “I confirmed that what Jason was saying and what Sam was saying were not the same thing.” She characterized this as a “misalignment” between Altman and Kwon. Kwon is now OpenAI’s chief strategy officer.

According to Reuters, Murati said in her testimony, “My concern was about Sam saying one thing to one person and completely the opposite to another person.” She also reportedly testified that Altman had been “creating chaos.” She described OpenAI at this time as “at catastrophic risk of falling apart,” and said she was “concerned about the company completely blowing up,” according to Reuters.

According to the New Yorker, Murati’s memos to Altman and the board came soon after this interaction, and “Soon afterward, the board made its decision to fire Altman.” Murati was interim CEO for a handful of days, then Shear stepped in for a few days, and then Altman was reinstated, a move Murati publicly supported.

According to Forbes, Murati testified Wednesday that after his return to OpenAI, Altman continued with behaviors that had worried her, including delays around important decisions, and giving inconsistent messages to different coworkers, which she reportedly said created a “very difficult and chaotic environment.”

About ten months after Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO, Murati left, and a few month later, founded her own AI company.

#ExOpenAI #CTO #Mira #Murati #Testifies #Sam #Altman #Allegedly #LyingElon Musk,OpenAI,Sam Altman,Trials">Ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Testifies About Sam Altman Allegedly Lying to Her

OpenAI’s former CTO Mira Murati just testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman didn’t tell the truth to her, and that his habits interfered with her ability to do her job. The allegation in question, that Altman lied about safety practices, was already public, having featured heavily in a recent New Yorker feature about Altman. Now it’s court testimony.

For a few weird days in 2023, Murati was an interim CEO of OpenAI after Altman was briefly fired (And then OpenAI very briefly picked another CEO, Emmett Shear). Reports from this chaotic time paint a picture of a working relationship between Altman and Murati that came under strain when Murati lost Altman’s trust. Behind-the-scenes accounts say she sent memos to the company’s board of directors and Altman himself, questioning Altman’s managerial abilities, and that his termination soon followed.

On Wednesday, a video deposition from Murati was shown to the court during the Musk v. Altman court proceedings, in which she testified to the truth of this story. A new model was being prepared for release—which the New Yorker says was GPT-4 Turbo—and in her testimony, as described by the Verge, she said Altman told her OpenAI’s legal department, headed at the time by Jason Kwon, said it wasn’t necessary for the OpenAI safety board to review the model.

The person asking questions in the deposition asked, “As you understand it, was Mr. Altman telling the truth when he made that statement to you?”

To which Murati said, “No.” She later explained in her testimony, according to the Verge, “I confirmed that what Jason was saying and what Sam was saying were not the same thing.” She characterized this as a “misalignment” between Altman and Kwon. Kwon is now OpenAI’s chief strategy officer.

According to Reuters, Murati said in her testimony, “My concern was about Sam saying one thing to one person and completely the opposite to another person.” She also reportedly testified that Altman had been “creating chaos.” She described OpenAI at this time as “at catastrophic risk of falling apart,” and said she was “concerned about the company completely blowing up,” according to Reuters.

According to the New Yorker, Murati’s memos to Altman and the board came soon after this interaction, and “Soon afterward, the board made its decision to fire Altman.” Murati was interim CEO for a handful of days, then Shear stepped in for a few days, and then Altman was reinstated, a move Murati publicly supported.

According to Forbes, Murati testified Wednesday that after his return to OpenAI, Altman continued with behaviors that had worried her, including delays around important decisions, and giving inconsistent messages to different coworkers, which she reportedly said created a “very difficult and chaotic environment.”

About ten months after Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO, Murati left, and a few month later, founded her own AI company.

#ExOpenAI #CTO #Mira #Murati #Testifies #Sam #Altman #Allegedly #LyingElon Musk,OpenAI,Sam Altman,Trials

OpenAI’s former CTO Mira Murati just testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman didn’t tell…

On May 4, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amended complaint to add the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003 (the “Revocable Trust”) as a defendant to this action. The amended complaint alleges that the defendants failed to timely file a beneficial ownership report with the Commission after the Revocable Trust acquired beneficial ownership of more than five percent of the outstanding shares of Twitter, Inc. common stock, in violation of the beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”).

The SEC simultaneously moved for entry of a consent final judgment as to the Revocable Trust. Without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint as to the Revocable Trust, the Revocable Trust consented to entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin it from violating Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13d-1 thereunder and order it to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million.

As explained in the consent motion, if the court enters the proposed final judgment as to the Revocable Trust as proposed by the Revocable Trust and the SEC, the SEC will file a stipulated dismissal of Elon Musk in his personal capacity, which will resolve this case in its entirety.

#Elon #Musk #settle #feds #Twitter #lawsuit #pocket #changeElon Musk,Law,News,Policy,Tech,Twitter – X">

May 4, 2026

Tech-news

On May 4, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amended complaint to add the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003 (the “Revocable Trust”) as a defendant to this action. The amended complaint alleges that the defendants failed to timely file a beneficial ownership report with the Commission after the Revocable Trust acquired beneficial ownership of more than five percent of the outstanding shares of Twitter, Inc. common stock, in violation of the beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”).
The SEC simultaneously moved for entry of a consent final judgment as to the Revocable Trust. Without admitting or denying the allegations of the complaint as to the Revocable Trust, the Revocable Trust consented to entry of a final judgment, subject to court approval, that would permanently enjoin it from violating Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and Rule 13d-1 thereunder and order it to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million.
As explained in the consent motion, if the court enters the proposed final judgment as to the Revocable Trust as proposed by the Revocable Trust and the SEC, the SEC will file a stipulated dismissal of Elon Musk in his personal capacity, which will resolve this case in its entirety.

#Elon #Musk #settle #feds #Twitter #lawsuit #pocket #changeElon Musk,Law,News,Policy,Tech,Twitter – X">Elon Musk will settle the feds’ Twitter lawsuit with pocket change

#Elon #Musk #settle #feds #Twitter #lawsuit #pocket #changeElon Musk,Law,News,Policy,Tech,Twitter – X

On May 4, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an amended complaint to…

As the first week of trial in Musk v. Altman comes to a close, one person has emerged as a critical behind-the-scenes manager of communications and egos in OpenAI’s early years: Shivon Zilis.

A longtime employee of Musk and the mother to four of his children, Zilis joined OpenAI as an adviser in 2016. She later served as a director of its nonprofit board from 2020 until 2023 and has worked as an executive at Musk’s other companies, Neuralink and Tesla.

When asked about the nature of his relationship with Zilis in court, Musk offered several answers. At one point, he called her a “chief of staff.” Later, a “close adviser.” At another point, he said “we live together, and she’s the mother of four of my children,” though Zilis said in a deposition that Musk is more of a regular guest and maintains his own residence. Last September, Zilis told OpenAI’s attorneys that she became romantic with Musk around 2016 after she had become an informal adviser to OpenAI. They had their first two children in 2021, she said.

But OpenAI’s lawyers have made the case in witness testimonies and evidence that her most important role, as it pertains to this lawsuit, is being a covert liaison between OpenAI and Musk, even years after he left the nonprofit’s board in February 2018.

“Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate? Trust game is about to get tricky so any guidance for how to do right by you is appreciated,” Zilis wrote in a text message to Musk on February 16, 2018, days before OpenAI announced he was leaving the board. Musk responded, “Close and friendly, but we are going to actively try to move three or four people from OpenAI to Tesla. More than that will join over time, but we won’t actively recruit them.”

When asked about this exchange on the witness stand, Musk said he “wanted to know what’s going on.”

In the same text thread, Musk wrote, “There is little chance of OpenAI being a serious force if I focus on Tesla AI.” Zilis reaffirmed him, saying: “There is very low probability of a good future if someone doesn’t slow Demis down,” referring to Demis Hassabis, the leader of Google DeepMind, who Musk has said he didn’t trust to control a superintelligent AI system. “You don’t realize how much you have an ability to influence him directly or otherwise slow him down. I think you know I’m not a malicious person, but in this case it feels fundamentally irresponsible to not find a way to slow or alter his path.”

Roughly two months later, in an email from April 23, 2018, Zilis updated Musk on OpenAI’s fundraising efforts and progress on a project to develop an AI that could play video games. In the same message, she said she had reallocated most of her time away from OpenAI to his other companies, Neuralink and Tesla, but told him, “If you’d prefer I pull more hours back to OpenAI oversight please let me know.”

Almost a year earlier, in the summer of 2017, OpenAI’s cofounders had started negotiating changes to the organization’s corporate structure—Musk wanted control of the company to start out. In an email from August 28, 2017, Zilis wrote to Musk that she had met with OpenAI president Greg Brockman and cofounder Ilya Sutskever to discuss how equity would be divided up in the new company. She summarized points from the meeting, including that Brockman and Sutskever thought one person shouldn’t have unilateral power over AGI, should they develop it. Musk wrote back to Zilis, “This is very annoying. Please encourage them to go start a company. I’ve had enough.”

#Shivon #Zilis #Operated #Elon #Musks #OpenAI #Insidermodel behavior,artificial intelligence,openai,elon musk,sam altman,neuralink,musk v. altman trial">

How Shivon Zilis Operated as Elon Musk’s OpenAI InsiderAs the first week of trial in Musk v. Altman comes to a close, one person has emerged as a critical behind-the-scenes manager of communications and egos in OpenAI’s early years: Shivon Zilis.A longtime employee of Musk and the mother to four of his children, Zilis joined OpenAI as an adviser in 2016. She later served as a director of its nonprofit board from 2020 until 2023 and has worked as an executive at Musk’s other companies, Neuralink and Tesla.When asked about the nature of his relationship with Zilis in court, Musk offered several answers. At one point, he called her a “chief of staff.” Later, a “close adviser.” At another point, he said “we live together, and she’s the mother of four of my children,” though Zilis said in a deposition that Musk is more of a regular guest and maintains his own residence. Last September, Zilis told OpenAI’s attorneys that she became romantic with Musk around 2016 after she had become an informal adviser to OpenAI. They had their first two children in 2021, she said.But OpenAI’s lawyers have made the case in witness testimonies and evidence that her most important role, as it pertains to this lawsuit, is being a covert liaison between OpenAI and Musk, even years after he left the nonprofit’s board in February 2018.“Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate? Trust game is about to get tricky so any guidance for how to do right by you is appreciated,” Zilis wrote in a text message to Musk on February 16, 2018, days before OpenAI announced he was leaving the board. Musk responded, “Close and friendly, but we are going to actively try to move three or four people from OpenAI to Tesla. More than that will join over time, but we won’t actively recruit them.”When asked about this exchange on the witness stand, Musk said he “wanted to know what’s going on.”In the same text thread, Musk wrote, “There is little chance of OpenAI being a serious force if I focus on Tesla AI.” Zilis reaffirmed him, saying: “There is very low probability of a good future if someone doesn’t slow Demis down,” referring to Demis Hassabis, the leader of Google DeepMind, who Musk has said he didn’t trust to control a superintelligent AI system. “You don’t realize how much you have an ability to influence him directly or otherwise slow him down. I think you know I’m not a malicious person, but in this case it feels fundamentally irresponsible to not find a way to slow or alter his path.”Roughly two months later, in an email from April 23, 2018, Zilis updated Musk on OpenAI’s fundraising efforts and progress on a project to develop an AI that could play video games. In the same message, she said she had reallocated most of her time away from OpenAI to his other companies, Neuralink and Tesla, but told him, “If you’d prefer I pull more hours back to OpenAI oversight please let me know.”Almost a year earlier, in the summer of 2017, OpenAI’s cofounders had started negotiating changes to the organization’s corporate structure—Musk wanted control of the company to start out. In an email from August 28, 2017, Zilis wrote to Musk that she had met with OpenAI president Greg Brockman and cofounder Ilya Sutskever to discuss how equity would be divided up in the new company. She summarized points from the meeting, including that Brockman and Sutskever thought one person shouldn’t have unilateral power over AGI, should they develop it. Musk wrote back to Zilis, “This is very annoying. Please encourage them to go start a company. I’ve had enough.”#Shivon #Zilis #Operated #Elon #Musks #OpenAI #Insidermodel behavior,artificial intelligence,openai,elon musk,sam altman,neuralink,musk v. altman trial

May 1, 2026

Tech-news

As the first week of trial in Musk v. Altman comes to a close, one person has emerged as a critical behind-the-scenes manager of communications and egos in OpenAI’s early years: Shivon Zilis.
A longtime employee of Musk and the mother to four of his children, Zilis joined OpenAI as an adviser in 2016. She later served as a director of its nonprofit board from 2020 until 2023 and has worked as an executive at Musk’s other companies, Neuralink and Tesla.
When asked about the nature of his relationship with Zilis in court, Musk offered several answers. At one point, he called her a “chief of staff.” Later, a “close adviser.” At another point, he said “we live together, and she’s the mother of four of my children,” though Zilis said in a deposition that Musk is more of a regular guest and maintains his own residence. Last September, Zilis told OpenAI’s attorneys that she became romantic with Musk around 2016 after she had become an informal adviser to OpenAI. They had their first two children in 2021, she said.
But OpenAI’s lawyers have made the case in witness testimonies and evidence that her most important role, as it pertains to this lawsuit, is being a covert liaison between OpenAI and Musk, even years after he left the nonprofit’s board in February 2018.
“Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate? Trust game is about to get tricky so any guidance for how to do right by you is appreciated,” Zilis wrote in a text message to Musk on February 16, 2018, days before OpenAI announced he was leaving the board. Musk responded, “Close and friendly, but we are going to actively try to move three or four people from OpenAI to Tesla. More than that will join over time, but we won’t actively recruit them.”
When asked about this exchange on the witness stand, Musk said he “wanted to know what’s going on.”
In the same text thread, Musk wrote, “There is little chance of OpenAI being a serious force if I focus on Tesla AI.” Zilis reaffirmed him, saying: “There is very low probability of a good future if someone doesn’t slow Demis down,” referring to Demis Hassabis, the leader of Google DeepMind, who Musk has said he didn’t trust to control a superintelligent AI system. “You don’t realize how much you have an ability to influence him directly or otherwise slow him down. I think you know I’m not a malicious person, but in this case it feels fundamentally irresponsible to not find a way to slow or alter his path.”
Roughly two months later, in an email from April 23, 2018, Zilis updated Musk on OpenAI’s fundraising efforts and progress on a project to develop an AI that could play video games. In the same message, she said she had reallocated most of her time away from OpenAI to his other companies, Neuralink and Tesla, but told him, “If you’d prefer I pull more hours back to OpenAI oversight please let me know.”
Almost a year earlier, in the summer of 2017, OpenAI’s cofounders had started negotiating changes to the organization’s corporate structure—Musk wanted control of the company to start out. In an email from August 28, 2017, Zilis wrote to Musk that she had met with OpenAI president Greg Brockman and cofounder Ilya Sutskever to discuss how equity would be divided up in the new company. She summarized points from the meeting, including that Brockman and Sutskever thought one person shouldn’t have unilateral power over AGI, should they develop it. Musk wrote back to Zilis, “This is very annoying. Please encourage them to go start a company. I’ve had enough.”

#Shivon #Zilis #Operated #Elon #Musks #OpenAI #Insidermodel behavior,artificial intelligence,openai,elon musk,sam altman,neuralink,musk v. altman trial">How Shivon Zilis Operated as Elon Musk’s OpenAI Insider

As the first week of trial in Musk v. Altman comes to a close, one person has emerged as a critical behind-the-scenes manager of communications and egos in OpenAI’s early years: Shivon Zilis.

When asked about this exchange on the witness stand, Musk said he “wanted to know what’s going on.”

#Shivon #Zilis #Operated #Elon #Musks #OpenAI #Insidermodel behavior,artificial intelligence,openai,elon musk,sam altman,neuralink,musk v. altman trial

As the first week of trial in Musk v. Altman comes to a close, one…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call with a monetary heads-up — or depending on the mindset of the investor, a warning. Tesla’s capital expenditures will skyrocket to $25 billion in 2026, far outpacing its previous annual spend as it races to stay ahead of the competition and transitions to an AI and robotics company, according to its first-quarter earnings report.

That figure, which covers what Tesla plans to spend on physical assets outside of its day-to-day operating expenditures, is three times higher than its annual capex budget in previous years. For comparison, Tesla’s annual capital expenditures were $8.5 billion in 2025, $11.3 billion in 2024, and $8.9 billion in 2023.

Tesla had announced in January that it expected capital expenditures to be in excess of $20 billion in 2026, already a substantial increase meant to cover its AI initiatives, including investments in compute infrastructure and data centers, and the expansion and ramp of its manufacturing and R&D production lines, among other items.

This $5 billion uptick suggests these initiatives will require more money than previously planned. But so far, its quarterly capital expenditure, which was $2.5 billion, was in line with previous quarters, the report shows.

Of course, Musk views this as a positive, a sentiment many other shareholders will likely also share since it positions Tesla as a company investing in its future, namely AI and robotics.

“With 2026 we’re going to be substantially increasing our investments in the future,” Musk said in the earnings call Wednesday. “So you should expect to see significant, a very significant increase in capital expenditures, but I think well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.”

Musk was quick to note that Tesla isn’t the only company raising its capital expenditure budget. Amazon, for instance, has projected $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, across “AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites.” Google is slated to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, up from $91.4 billion the previous year.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026

The increase in Tesla’s capital expenditures is linked to Musk’s desire and ambition to evolve the company beyond building and selling EVs, solar, and energy storage.

Some of the capex spend will go toward Tesla’s core technologies such as its battery and AI software, according to Musk. The company plans to invest in AI training, chip design, and “laying the groundwork” for increasing manufacturing production, as well as invest in its robotaxi operations and its new semiconductor research fab in Austin.

The Fremont, California, factory will likely suck up some of that capital as the company ends production of the Tesla Model S and Model X and begins building its Optimus humanoid robot at scale. The company said Wednesday it has also cleared ground outside its Austin factory for a dedicated Optimus manufacturing facility.

Tesla plans to increase its internal production of Optimus for testing and then “probably” make Optimus “useful outside of Tesla sometime next year,” he said.

Tesla is also putting money toward strengthening its supply chain “across the board,” Musk said, adding that this covers batteries, energy, and AI silicon.

All of this spending, which CFO Vaibhav Taneja said will last a couple of years, comes with a literal cost. The company — which enjoyed a brief 4% share price bump due, in part, to an unexpected $1.4 billion in free cash flow — will head into negative territory later this year, Taneja said.

Tesla shares erased their gains in after-hours trading as Musk and Taneja laid out these plans to investors. Still, Tesla is sitting on loads of cash. At the end of the first quarter, Tesla reported $44.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

“While this may seem like a lot, and we will have the impact of negative free cash flow for the rest of the year, we believe this is the right strategy to position the company for the next era,” Taneja said.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Tesla #increased #spending #plan #25B #heres #money #TechCrunchElon Musk,Tesla">

Tesla just increased its spending plan to B — here’s where the money is going | TechCrunch
Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call with a monetary heads-up — or depending on the mindset of the investor, a warning. Tesla’s capital expenditures will skyrocket to billion in 2026, far outpacing its previous annual spend as it races to stay ahead of the competition and transitions to an AI and robotics company, according to its first-quarter earnings report.

That figure, which covers what Tesla plans to spend on physical assets outside of its day-to-day operating expenditures, is three times higher than its annual capex budget in previous years. For comparison, Tesla’s annual capital expenditures were .5 billion in 2025, .3 billion in 2024, and .9 billion in 2023.

Tesla had announced in January that it expected capital expenditures to be in excess of billion in 2026, already a substantial increase meant to cover its AI initiatives, including investments in compute infrastructure and data centers, and the expansion and ramp of its manufacturing and R&D production lines, among other items.

This billion uptick suggests these initiatives will require more money than previously planned. But so far, its quarterly capital expenditure, which was .5 billion, was in line with previous quarters, the report shows.

Of course, Musk views this as a positive, a sentiment many other shareholders will likely also share since it positions Tesla as a company investing in its future, namely AI and robotics.

“With 2026 we’re going to be substantially increasing our investments in the future,” Musk said in the earnings call Wednesday. “So you should expect to see significant, a very significant increase in capital expenditures, but I think well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.”

Musk was quick to note that Tesla isn’t the only company raising its capital expenditure budget. Amazon, for instance, has projected 0 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, across “AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites.” Google is slated to spend between 5 billion and 5 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, up from .4 billion the previous year.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco, CA
|
October 13-15, 2026

The increase in Tesla’s capital expenditures is linked to Musk’s desire and ambition to evolve the company beyond building and selling EVs, solar, and energy storage.

Some of the capex spend will go toward Tesla’s core technologies such as its battery and AI software, according to Musk. The company plans to invest in AI training, chip design, and “laying the groundwork” for increasing manufacturing production, as well as invest in its robotaxi operations and its new semiconductor research fab in Austin.

The Fremont, California, factory will likely suck up some of that capital as the company ends production of the Tesla Model S and Model X and begins building its Optimus humanoid robot at scale. The company said Wednesday it has also cleared ground outside its Austin factory for a dedicated Optimus manufacturing facility.

Tesla plans to increase its internal production of Optimus for testing and then “probably” make Optimus “useful outside of Tesla sometime next year,” he said.

Tesla is also putting money toward strengthening its supply chain “across the board,” Musk said, adding that this covers batteries, energy, and AI silicon.

All of this spending, which CFO Vaibhav Taneja said will last a couple of years, comes with a literal cost. The company — which enjoyed a brief 4% share price bump due, in part, to an unexpected .4 billion in free cash flow — will head into negative territory later this year, Taneja said.

Tesla shares erased their gains in after-hours trading as Musk and Taneja laid out these plans to investors. Still, Tesla is sitting on loads of cash. At the end of the first quarter, Tesla reported .7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

“While this may seem like a lot, and we will have the impact of negative free cash flow for the rest of the year, we believe this is the right strategy to position the company for the next era,” Taneja said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Tesla #increased #spending #plan #25B #heres #money #TechCrunchElon Musk,Tesla

April 23, 2026

Tech-news

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call with a monetary heads-up — or depending on the mindset of the investor, a warning. Tesla’s capital expenditures will skyrocket to $25 billion in 2026, far outpacing its previous annual spend as it races to stay ahead of the competition and transitions to an AI and robotics company, according to its first-quarter earnings report.

That figure, which covers what Tesla plans to spend on physical assets outside of its day-to-day operating expenditures, is three times higher than its annual capex budget in previous years. For comparison, Tesla’s annual capital expenditures were $8.5 billion in 2025, $11.3 billion in 2024, and $8.9 billion in 2023.

Tesla had announced in January that it expected capital expenditures to be in excess of $20 billion in 2026, already a substantial increase meant to cover its AI initiatives, including investments in compute infrastructure and data centers, and the expansion and ramp of its manufacturing and R&D production lines, among other items.

This $5 billion uptick suggests these initiatives will require more money than previously planned. But so far, its quarterly capital expenditure, which was $2.5 billion, was in line with previous quarters, the report shows.

Of course, Musk views this as a positive, a sentiment many other shareholders will likely also share since it positions Tesla as a company investing in its future, namely AI and robotics.

“With 2026 we’re going to be substantially increasing our investments in the future,” Musk said in the earnings call Wednesday. “So you should expect to see significant, a very significant increase in capital expenditures, but I think well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.”

Musk was quick to note that Tesla isn’t the only company raising its capital expenditure budget. Amazon, for instance, has projected $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, across “AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites.” Google is slated to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, up from $91.4 billion the previous year.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026

The increase in Tesla’s capital expenditures is linked to Musk’s desire and ambition to evolve the company beyond building and selling EVs, solar, and energy storage.

Some of the capex spend will go toward Tesla’s core technologies such as its battery and AI software, according to Musk. The company plans to invest in AI training, chip design, and “laying the groundwork” for increasing manufacturing production, as well as invest in its robotaxi operations and its new semiconductor research fab in Austin.

The Fremont, California, factory will likely suck up some of that capital as the company ends production of the Tesla Model S and Model X and begins building its Optimus humanoid robot at scale. The company said Wednesday it has also cleared ground outside its Austin factory for a dedicated Optimus manufacturing facility.

Tesla plans to increase its internal production of Optimus for testing and then “probably” make Optimus “useful outside of Tesla sometime next year,” he said.

Tesla is also putting money toward strengthening its supply chain “across the board,” Musk said, adding that this covers batteries, energy, and AI silicon.

All of this spending, which CFO Vaibhav Taneja said will last a couple of years, comes with a literal cost. The company — which enjoyed a brief 4% share price bump due, in part, to an unexpected $1.4 billion in free cash flow — will head into negative territory later this year, Taneja said.

Tesla shares erased their gains in after-hours trading as Musk and Taneja laid out these plans to investors. Still, Tesla is sitting on loads of cash. At the end of the first quarter, Tesla reported $44.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

“While this may seem like a lot, and we will have the impact of negative free cash flow for the rest of the year, we believe this is the right strategy to position the company for the next era,” Taneja said.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Tesla #increased #spending #plan #25B #heres #money #TechCrunchElon Musk,Tesla">Tesla just increased its spending plan to $25B — here’s where the money is going | TechCrunch

Of course, Musk views this as a positive, a sentiment many other shareholders will likely also share since it positions Tesla as a company investing in its future, namely AI and robotics.

Techcrunch event

San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026

The increase in Tesla’s capital expenditures is linked to Musk’s desire and ambition to evolve the company beyond building and selling EVs, solar, and energy storage.

Tesla plans to increase its internal production of Optimus for testing and then “probably” make Optimus “useful outside of Tesla sometime next year,” he said.

Tesla is also putting money toward strengthening its supply chain “across the board,” Musk said, adding that this covers batteries, energy, and AI silicon.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Tesla #increased #spending #plan #25B #heres #money #TechCrunchElon Musk,Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off the company’s first-quarter earnings call with a monetary heads-up…