Elon, Inc.

Craig Trudell, Bloomberg editor and Global Autos czar, dives into the much-anticipated unveiling of Elon Musk’s robotaxi. He shares insights on the mixed reactions to the CyberCab, highlighting concerns over production timelines and investor skepticism. The discussion sheds light on the challenges faced in transitioning from prototype to production, especially regarding safety regulations. Trudell also elaborates on the complexities of developing autonomous vehicles and the broader implications for the industry and consumers.

Dana Hull, a Bloomberg Businessweek journalist covering Tesla, joins Max Chafkin and Craig Trudell, experts in technology and auto journalism, along with independent journalist Jacob Silverman. They dive into Elon Musk's surprising alliance with Donald Trump and the implications for his image. The group also discusses the hype around Musk’s new robotaxi, addressing skepticism about its real-world readiness. Additionally, they explore the political ramifications of Musk's shifts in funding and support within the tech industry.

As we’ve previously discussed here on Elon, Inc., the billionaire’s posts on X have grown more and more political—and right wing—over time. This week, we have Bloomberg’s Jonathan Tirone with us to discuss how Elon Musk, and his platform, have brought the once-obscure, White nationalist term “remigration” back into US politics. Then, tech reporter Kurt Wagner talks to Jack Sweeney, the young man who made a flight tracking service Musk personally de-platformed. Plus: Tesla seems poised to uncork some good news about its sale numbers in front of next week’s big Robotaxi event. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feuds. Can’t beat ‘em, can’t stop ‘em. At Elon, Inc., we’ve long covered Elon Musk’s penchant for a public feud at the end of episodes, but today feuds take center stage. David and Max talk to Bloomberg emerging markets reporter Julia Leite, who is based in Brazil, about Musk’s evolving legal situation there. Then Dana joins to talk about the Cybertruck situation in Chechnya. We can't help ourselves. There's two extra feuds, both related to land-use disputes. First, the party game Cards Against Humanity is suing SpaceX for allegedly trespassing on a swath of land that the company bought in 2017. Secondly, in the ongoing feud between prominent venture capitalist and Democrat donor Vinod Khosla, there has been a new chapter. In the course of trading insults on X, Musk mocked Khosla for a previous fight Khosla had had about beach access, and Khosla has asked him to apologize.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we chronicle every week on Elon, Inc., Elon Musk contains multitudes. He leads six companies, runs his own social-media platform and is now explicitly working to re-elect Donald Trump as president. This week, we talk about two very different kinds of Musk stories. One is about his behavior on X, and the rare tweet he took down. The other is about how his space company, SpaceX, is having a great run of late, with a successful space walk and a new deal with United Airlines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this enlightening discussion, Kirsten Grind, a New York Times reporter, delves into Elon Musk's ambitious vision for Mars and the interconnectedness of his companies. She reveals potential partnerships between Tesla and Musk's xAI and how this could impact Tesla's innovative edge. The conversation touches on the daunting challenges of colonizing Mars, from food supply to governance. Kirsten also highlights the delicate balance Musk must maintain in his multifaceted empire while addressing concerns over leadership focus amidst new ventures. Fascinating insights abound!

After months of back and forth, Brazil finally did what it’s been threatening to do: ban X. This comes on the heels of government complaints from Britain and elsewhere about false information thriving on Elon Musk’s embattled social media platform—some of it from Musk himself. In this episode of Elon, Inc., we dig into Brazil’s action and also talk about the Android app launch of X TV, a way to watch video content from the former Twitter on your home TV screen. Our panel—David Papadopoulos, Max Chafkin and Kurt Wagner—have some ideas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tesla is often heralded as Elon Musk’s premiere company, the business at the foundation of all his other businesses. But as Tesla has struggled and lost market share, it’s SpaceX that keeps surging ahead of the competition. SpaceX is trying to add the first commercial spacewalk to its list of accomplishments, and is set to bail out embattled rival Boeing by retrieving astronauts stranded by its faulty Starliner. This week reporters Loren Grush and Bruce Einhorn sift through the developments and debate if there’s any competition left for SpaceX in this field. Host David Papadopoulos is also joined by reporter Kurt Wagner and editor Sarah Frier to discuss the latest development over at X. Why is Donald Trump all of a sudden posting again on his richest fan’s troubled platform? Will the arrest of Telegram Chief Executive Officer Pavel Durov have any consequences for Musk and X? And why did Diddy invest in Musk's takeover of X? As always with Musk, there’s a lot to talk about.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reality TV stars are freezing their eggs on camera. Lawmakers in DC are debating federal protection for IVF. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in slick startups that market fertility treatments for all. But this rapid growth has revealed cracks in the system. Misconception, a new series from Bloomberg’s Prognosis, follows reporter Kristen V. Brown on her own intimate journey as she uncovers the business of fertility. Along the way, she finds a fractured industry — a profit-driven field of medicine that thrives on dueling messages of hope and fear as people gamble everything for a chance at a baby.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, X users might have noticed a new kind of artificial intelligence-generated image proliferating: strange visions of Elon Musk next to Disney characters carrying guns, or Donald Trump in all kinds of, well, weird situations. This was what followed a new release of Musk’s Grok AI tool, which can now make images—unsurprisingly with fewer guardrails than other image-creating machines out there. On this episode we’ll talk about Grok’s new skillset and also get into the semiotics of the Cybertruck. Initially conceived of as a mass-market truck, it’s slid into another category: marker of a certain kind of right-wing flex, the kind Musk himself has engaged in on his struggling social network. Joining David to discuss is Davey Alba, a Bloomberg technology reporter, along with Max Chafkin and Dana Hull.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.