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Tag: Elon Musk

  • SpaceX Plans to Spin Off Starlink, Offer IPO

    SpaceX Plans to Spin Off Starlink, Offer IPO

    Bloomberg is reporting Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to spin off Starlink in an effort to help shake up the internet industry.

    SpaceX has already launched 240 of its Starlink satellites into space, and is moving forward in batches of 60 at a time. Once complete, the Starlink satellite network will provide high-speed internet access globally, beginning this summer. As Bloomberg points out, currently Starlink only covers higher latitudes, but expects to cover the entire globe by the end of the year.

    At a private investor event, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell indicated the company is ready to take the next step.

    “Right now, we are a private company, but Starlink is the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public,” said Shotwell. “That particular piece is an element of the business that we are likely to spin out and go public.”

    Investors will likely welcome the move, especially given the company’s potential.

    “This is going to turn SpaceX into a company that is providing service to consumers, which we are excited about,” Shotwell said, while also saying the internet service will be “less than what you are paying now for about five to 10 times the speed you are getting.”

    nIf SpaceX is able to deliver on Shotwell’s promise, an independent Starlink could be game-changer, in terms of providing affordable, high-speed internet to underserved markets.

  • Musk Predicts Model S Will Soon Be Able to Go 400 Miles

    Musk Predicts Model S Will Soon Be Able to Go 400 Miles

    Electrek is reporting that Elon Musk has said “it won’t be long before Model S has a 400-mile range.”

    One of the biggest limitations of electric vehicles is range. While they are ideally suited for city and suburban travel, their range can often be a limitation for rural drivers or those wanting to take them on long road trips.

    While the Model S currently has a maximum range of a 373 miles, battery technology is reaching the point where the company expects to cross the 400-mile threshold soon. Musk attributed the improvements to changes to the core chemistry in the vehicle’s batteries.

    The end result, according to Musk, is “we’re rapidly approaching a 400-mile range for Model S, for example. So, it won’t be long before Model S has a 400-mile range.”

    This is good news for Tesla customers, or those interested in making the jump to electric vehicles.

  • Teslaquila Tequila ‘Should Be Good To Go’ According to Elon Musk

    Teslaquila Tequila ‘Should Be Good To Go’ According to Elon Musk

    Tesla owners looking for the perfect alcoholic compliment to their vehicles (not while in them of course) may not have long to wait, according to the International Business Times (IBT).

    What began as an April Fool’s joke in 2018 seems on the verge of becoming a reality. According to Teslarati, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s April Fool’s prank in 2018 was a tweet saying the company had gone bankrupt and showing a picture of Musk passed out surrounded by Teslaquilla bottles. The prank was an instant hit, with individuals clamoring for the company to actually make the tequila, and Musk promising they would.

    Months later, TechCrunch reported that Tesla had filed an “intent to use” trademark for the tequila, with Musk once again confirming it was “coming soon.”

    According to IBT, a Tesla Model 3 owner reached out to Musk via Twitter to find out the latest about the distilled pure agave liquor.

    “Slight tweak to the glass needed & then it should be good to go,” Musk tweeted in reply on Sunday.

  • Gamblers Betting on F-150/Tesla Cybertruck Tug-of-War Rematch

    Gamblers Betting on F-150/Tesla Cybertruck Tug-of-War Rematch

    Tesla made headlines with its debut of the Cybertruck, a futuristic-looking electric pickup truck. Tesla is obviously taking aim at Ford and the rest of the pickup truck industry.

    The Cybertruck starts at $39,900 for a single RWD motor and 7,500 lbs towing capacity. The middle option offers dual-motor AWD and 10,000 lbs of towing starting at $49,900. The highest trim level starts at $69,900 and provides 14,000 lbs towing.

    As part of Tesla’s demonstration, they showed a video of the Cybertruck beating a Porsche 911 off the line and beating an F-150 in a tug-of-war. As Business Insider (BI) points out, four days later a Ford executive suggested in a tweet that the contest may not have been an apples-to-apples comparison. Even Neil deGrasse Tyson got in on the action, questioning the physics of the comparison.

    Elon Musk took the challenges to heart and promised to film a new test between the two trucks. It would appear that gambling site MyBookie is getting in on the action. At the time that BI wrote their article, odds were in favor of the F-150 winning the match at -120 vs the Cybertruck at +100. The odds have since shifted back in favor of the Cybertruck, now at -140 vs +120 for the F-150.

    With betting remaining open till December 4, it will be interesting to see if the Cybertruck remains the favorite, not to mention who will win the final contest.

  • German Commission Recommends Tighter Regulation of AI Development

    German Commission Recommends Tighter Regulation of AI Development

    Few technologies have sparked as much debate, held more promise or terrified more people than artificial intelligence (AI). Depending on who is talking, AI promises to usher in a new technological era or precipitate the demise of humanity.

    Notable individuals such as Mark Zuckerberg, Ray Kurzweil and Sam Altman have been strong proponents of AI development, even going so far as to believe the potential benefits create a moral imperative to pursue AI research. Others, such as Elon Musk, Clive Sinclair and the late Stephen Hawking, believe true AI may represent the greatest existential danger to the human race.

    With so much controversy, governments are getting drug into the middle of the debate, trying to navigate what role they should play in regulating AI, with Germany the latest to wade in on the topic. In 2018, the German government formed the Data Ethics Commission to “develop ethical benchmarks and guidelines as well as specific recommendations for action, aiming at protecting the individual, preserving social cohesion, and safeguarding and promoting prosperity in the information age.”

    Last week the commission released an opinion on AI development, recommending more regulation and government involvement.

    “The Data Ethics Commission holds the view that regulation is necessary, and cannot be replaced by ethical principles. This is particularly true for issues with heightened implications for fundamental rights that require the central decisions to be made by the democratically elected legislator. Regulation is also an essential basis for building a system where citizens, companies and institutions can trust that the transformation of society will be guided by ethical principles.”

    AI proponents and tech experts are already speaking about against the commission’s findings, voicing concern that the focus on regulation will stifle innovation.

    “Europe wants to be more competitive in the digital economy,” wrote Eline Chivot, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation in Brussels. “But it cannot substitute regulation for innovation. Rather than trying to achieve competitiveness in AI through policies designed to disadvantage foreign providers and promote European digital sovereignty, European policymakers should instead focus on developing an AI strategy that invests in people, data, and digital infrastructure, and creates a more innovation-friendly regulatory environment, so that European firms can better compete with China and the United States.”

    One thing is certain: The debate about AI, its future and the best way to safely develop the technology is far from over.

  • Former Ford CEO: Elon has Really Pushed the Industry to Embrace Electrification

    Former Ford CEO: Elon has Really Pushed the Industry to Embrace Electrification

    “Elon Musk has really pushed the industry to embrace electrification,” says former Ford CEO Mark Fields. “The challenge here is how do you make money at it?”

    Fields says that there will continue to be a large portion of internal combustion engines and that the shift to electric is going to take a long time and it’s going to take longer than people expect.

    Mark Fields, former Ford CEO, recently discussed the impact of the shift to electric and autonomous vehicles on the big automakers:

    The Shift to Autonomous and Electric Vehicles

    We were moving in that direction and during that time period, the financial performance of the company was very good. What the team is dealing with now is trying to define that future and define what that transition is and it’s going to be. It’s going to be a challenge for the entire industry.

    You’re coming to the point now where the cycle is ending so volumes are starting to fall off, interest rates are up so you can’t use incentives, whether it’s extended loan maturities or higher incentives and higher leasing to keep volume going.

    The Challenge is that Electric Vehicles Are at a Lower Margin

    Then there are two new unique things that the industry has never had to face before going into a cycle. One is they have to keep investing in electrification and autonomy. Secondly, when they introduce these electrified vehicles they’re going to be at a lower margin than internal combustion engines.

    It’ll take probably five to seven years for cost competitiveness between a battery-powered car and an internal combustion engine car, so they’re going to have to deal with that environment. Every CEO across the globe is making sure that they’re working on their cost structure.

    Elon Musk has Really Pushed the Industry to Embrace Electrification

    What Elon has done is he has really pushed the industry to embrace electrification. When you drive an electrified vehicle it’s a fantastic experience, great power and torque. The challenge here is how do you make money at it? Elon’s challenge this next year is how do he and his team balance rolling out cheaper models of the Model 3 to boost sales but at the same time not sacrificing that commitment to attain sustainable profitability? That will be the challenge for him and his team.

    Going to be a Large Portion of Internal Combustion Engines

    I think at the end of the day Ford has down in the ranks a great team. They’ll figure it out. The market changes over time. When I was CEO the stock price was down. It was very clear the financials were terrific but the stock price was down.

    I think this is going to be a long game that every OEM is going to be playing as you make this transition to autonomous and electrified vehicles. At the same time, there’s still going to be a large portion of internal combustion engines. This is going to take a long time and it’s going to take longer than people expect.

  • Billionaire Ron Baron: By 2030 Tesla Could be a Trillion Dollar Company

    Billionaire Ron Baron: By 2030 Tesla Could be a Trillion Dollar Company

    Billionaire investor Ron Baron says that by 2030 Tesla could be a trillion dollar company. He says it’s clear that Tesla will be at $60 billion in sales within the next 3-4 years. Baron added, “It’s remarkable what Elon Musk has done.”

    Ron Baron, Founder of Baron Capital, discussed his bullish opinion of Tesla on CNBC:

    By 2030 Tesla Could be a Trillion Dollar Company

    It was a good quarter for Tesla. They had $6.8 billion in sales versus $4 billion, so it’s up 70 percent. They made a billion for cash flow in the quarter before they spent on investing. That means they’re at an annualized rate of $5.5 billion of cash flow before they spend them investing. The company is valued for $60 billion, so it’s 11 or 12 times earnings, that’s not bad.

    In addition to that, they are growing at 50 percent a year. I think that this year they did sales at $20 billion. We started in 2014 when they were doing $3.7 billion and this year it’s $20 billion, next year is $30 billion. I think that in 12 to 13 years, by 2030, this could be a trillion dollar company. I think it’s clear they’re going to be $60 billion in three or four years. This could be a really big company.

    Cash Flow Doesn’t Appear to be a Problem

    As the cash flow goes, when I look at the numbers it doesn’t appear to be the problem. Elon Musk says it’s not a problem, I take him at his word. He could have sold equity a year and a half ago at $370 to $380 a share, people were scrambling to buy, he chose not to. You have these businesses that they invest and when they’re investing they penalize profitability.

    When you build a faith factory and you spend $300 million on the factory and it’s built for 250,000 cars a year and you’re doing 20,000 cars a year or 30,000, you’re not going to be profitable with that. But all of a sudden, you get it to 250,000 cars a year, you’re making $150 million on a $300 million investment, then you can double it. You’re at the point now where incremental investments are going to be incredibly profitable. They are now doing 5,000 cars a week, they’re going to be able to do Model 3 for virtually no additional investment. They’re going to get to 7,000 cars a week.

    It’s Remarkable What Elon Musk Has Done

    They told Wall Street this quarter that just ended that they were hoping to produce a gross profit margin of 15 percent on the Model 3 and it came out over 20 percent. Internally, they were hoping for 20 percent and he kept calling meetings, you got to cut costs here, you’ve got to watch that. When you’re building something from the ground up it’s not easy, it’s not easy doing what he’s done, remarkable what he’s done.

    When he started making the Model S and Model X, those cars initially, when they were selling for over $100,000 a car, they had gross profits of 20 percent. Now they’re in the 90s for the car and the gross profits are 31 percent. Gross profits keep going up even though the price has gone down. The same thing is going to happen with this car. I think the gross profits on the Model 3 are going to be as good as they are on the Model S and X and I think the Model Y is going to be the best one they’ve ever had.

  • Tim Draper: These Guys Transformed the World and We Should Thank Them

    Tim Draper: These Guys Transformed the World and We Should Thank Them

    Legendary investor and political activist Tim Draper says that instead of getting on the case of Elon Musk, we should be thanking him and other transformational entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and Travis Kalanick.

    Draper also suggests that Elon Musk probably should have just taken Tesla private in order to avoid the myriad of rules and regulations imposed on public companies.

    Venture capitalist Tim Draper was interviewed at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal by CNBC:

    These Guys Transformed the World, We Should Thank Them

    Every time I pull out my iPhone I think thank you, Steve Jobs, this is awesome. Every time I hit the Uber key, I think thank you, Travis, that is so cool. Every time I get in my Tesla I think thank you Elon. These guys have really transformed the world and we should just thank them everywhere we go. And if they are having trouble supporting them. What can we do to help? How can we support you? How can we make you happier? We want to make you happier, look what you have done for us! It’s so cool!

    He Probably Should Have Just Taken the Whole Thing Private

    Every human in the world has made a mistake. There are so many laws that you have to follow if you are a public company he probably should have just taken the whole thing private. When you are a public company you’ve got to follow so many rules. If you step one little piece out of line you guys in the press are like… oh my gosh, our hero has done something wrong. I think we have got to say, hey look, he’s a human being, he’s doing the best he can. He’s running two amazing huge multi-billion dollar companies that he started. Well, he started one and jumped in very early and saved the other. This guy is awesome, let’s do what we can to support him.

    All of Us Should Really Focus on Making SpaceX Successful

    I invest in early-stage startups and then I will ride them as long as I feel it’s the right thing to do. Have you driven a Tesla, it’s so much better than any other car out there. And SpaceX, all of us should really focus on making SpaceX successful. If Tesla doesn’t save this earth, he will at least get some of us off the earth so that we can move our species somewhere else. Elon was amazing… we are all going to Mars. People looked at him and said, oh he’s crazy.

    But then all of the best engineers in the world said, how would we get there? Then they thought, how would we have human life succeed there? And then, how can we get there faster? All those questions happen with an engineer and so Elon gets the best rocket scientists in the world working for his company and so, of course, it becomes a big success. He’s going to get us closer and closer to Mars and maybe to Alpha Centauri and other places.

    About Tim Draper

    Tim Draper helps entrepreneurs change the world. Tim Draper helps entrepreneurs drive their visions through funding, education, media, and government reform. He has founded thirty Draper venture funds, Draper University, Bizworld, and two statewide initiatives to improve governance and education.

  • LinkedIn Founder: Part of Elon Musk’s Grit is to Push Back Against Obstacles

    LinkedIn Founder: Part of Elon Musk’s Grit is to Push Back Against Obstacles

    Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder, says regarding embattled Tesla founder Elon Musk, “Part of his grit, part of his determination to get to that long future is to push back against these obstacles. I just think it needs to be a different pattern than those tweets.”

    LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman discussed how the rules need be redefined and that Elon Musk should tweet differently, but it’s all part of his determination to build something new:

    A Proposal for SEC Rule Changing

    I don’t actually look at it as breaking the rules, I look at it as trying to redefine the rules. As opposed to saying, let’s have decades of committee process trying to argue a different rule, let’s try to demonstrate how if we changed the rules the world would be a better place.

    You still have to be controlled about which risks you’re taking and what damage to society you may do. But I actually don’t look at it as rule breaking, I look at it as a proposal for rule changing.

    Risktaking is Classic for People Trying to Create Something From Nothing

    I think it’s classic for the people who say, look we’re going to try to create something from nothing. We’re going to try to do this big thing that hasn’t been done before. I have a willingness to take risks, and so I will learn, oops, that risk I shouldn’t take.

    I think we’re in a process of seeing both with Elon and other folks, oh yeah, we shouldn’t do that kind of tweet, that’s not actually in fact constructive.

    Part of Elon Musk’s Grit is to Push Back Against Obstacles

    I think what he’s focused on is saying look, I am trying to build something that’s three, five, ten years in the future and I don’t want to be like, what does this month look like or this quarter look like? So he’s interpreting it that way.

    Part of his grit, part of his determination to get to that long future is to push back against these obstacles. I just think it needs to be a different pattern than those tweets.

  • Gene Munster: SEC Removing Musk as Chairman of Tesla was a “Gift Essentially”

    Gene Munster: SEC Removing Musk as Chairman of Tesla was a “Gift Essentially”

    The settlement by Tesla with the SEC removing Elon Musk as Chairman of the company was a “gift essentially,” says Gene Munster of Loup Ventures. The markets seem to agree with Tesla stock way up on the news.

    Gene Munster Managing Partner of Loup Ventures, a research-driven venture capital firm focused on frontier tech, discussed the departure of Elon Musk as Chairman of Tesla with CNBC’s Squawk on the Street this morning:

    It really was an ideal situation for the company and the reason is that not only do you remove him as Chairman, which has been obviously an obstacle for investors over the past several months, but you keep him as CEO. I think to be very clear longer-term Elon Musk does not need to be CEO,  but there’s an important piece here that I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out. Having him remain CEO is critical because the company essentially is at war right now in terms of getting to profitability and producing Tesla Model 3’s at a scalable rate.

    A wartime CEO is different than a peacetime CEO and I think Elon Musk makes the right wartime CEO. I think that this played out as good as it can. The last piece I’ll add is that this is a huge opportunity for the Board to really bring in somebody from the outside that can gain investor confidence. I hope that they capitalize on that opportunity because it’s something that they couldn’t have done on themselves, they needed to have their hand forced. Here they are with a gift essentially.

    Alma Angotti, Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Investigations and Compliance at Navigant, and a former SEC enforcement attorney added:

    I think that this is an important message case for the SEC. I think they were eager to have it be concluded quickly. There are a couple of things, the first thing is this was a very important message case for the SEC and secondly I think they wanted to minimize harm to Teslas investors by concluding it quickly. I think they feel like they accomplished their goals with the settlement that they reached.

  • Elon Musk Explains How AIs Will Start World War III on Twitter

    Elon Musk Explains How AIs Will Start World War III on Twitter

    For the regular Joe, AI is becoming an increasing threat to job security with robots projected to replace humans in a variety of fields. However, the threat could be even graver than mere job-hungry robots as some are now speculating that bots could ultimately start a third world war.

    In a Twitter post, Elon Musk warned once again of the dangers posed by artificial intelligence. This time, however, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO believes that the heating race between nations over AI superiority will likely trigger World War III.

    “It begins,” Musk, warned via Twitter on Monday.  Musk, who has always been outspoken about the dangers of AI, added that the global AI race could become a flashpoint in the future. Musk’s warning came after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that “the country leading the way in AI will become ruler of the world.”

    Musk gave a scenario on how World War III could be started by AIs. As artificial intelligence gets more capable, robots may be given more control and autonomy and maybe even be given discretionary powers to launch nuclear weapons in the future. And that could be a recipe for disaster.

    As Elon puts it, the future world war “may be initiated not by the country leaders, but one of the AI’s.” This could happen if the cold, calculating machines decide on a preemptive attack.

    In fact, Musk assessment is that AI is even more dangerous to human civilization than the nuclear capable North Korea.  Despite its posturing, North Korea will not likely launch a preemptive strike considering the retaliation. On the other hand, the emotionless AIs will have no such hesitations.

    The emergence of artificial intelligence in weaponry is also a cause of concern for billionaire Mark Cuban, who shares Musk’s position. Cuban warns against placing weapons control under AIs saying that “Autonomous weaponry is the ultimate threat to humanity.”

    [Featured Image via Youtube]

  • Tesla Releases Model 3, Automaker Struggles to Keep Up With Demand

    Tesla Releases Model 3, Automaker Struggles to Keep Up With Demand

    Investors were not deterred by Tesla Inc’s latest report of a financial loss said to be the largest in the carmaker’s history. Last week, the company’s share price managed to soar by 8 percent buoyed by positive developments deemed favorable to the electronic auto manufacturer in the long run.

    Powering investor confidence in Tesla’s long-term prospects is the announcement that demand for Model 3, the company’s mid-size electric luxury sedan, remains strong. In fact, the carmaker announced that it received around 1,800 orders a day for that particular model, Reuters reported.

    Meanwhile, the automaker announced that demand for the pricier Tesla Model S bounced back after a recent decline. CEO Elon Musk even stated that July was “one of the best months ever” for the full-sized luxury car.

    With its cars selling like hotcakes, the challenge for Tesla now is how to meet the burgeoning demand. Musk warned investors that the next six months will be a “manufacturing hell” for the company as it struggles to keep up with the 455,000 customers who pre-ordered the Model 3.

    The long wait might also become a bit of a turn off for potential Model 3 buyers. Recode reports that if one were to pre-order the car today, it is likely to be delivered by end of 2018. In fact, there were around 63,000 customers who canceled their reservations as the original number of pre-orders was disclosed to be 518,000 cars.

    However, Musk assured investors that Tesla is on track to meet the increasing demand. The company now plans to increase its output to 5,000 Model 3 cars a week by the end of 2017. The firm estimates that it will be able to eventually produce 10,000 units weekly by 2018.

    But of course, this production capacity increase will come with a price. The company eroded its cash reserves by almost a billion in the first half of this year as it continued to improve its Fremont and Nevada factories.  Deepak Ahuja, Tesla CFO, revealed that it was the firm’s highest spending spree on record with expenses reaching as high as $100 million a week.

    But investors remained focused on Tesla’s long-term potential. Despite a planned $2 billion in expenditures on the second half of the year, the company’s share price managed to soar to a high of $386.99 from January to June.

    [Featured Image by Tesla]

  • War of Words: Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Spar on Importance of AI

    War of Words: Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Spar on Importance of AI

    Nothing gets a geek’s dander up than a discussion of whether a Skynet-like AI will become part of our future, as seen in the beef apparently brewing between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.

    The two billionaires have opposing views with regards to artificial intelligence. While Musk is known for issuing warnings regarding the dangers of artificial intelligence, Facebook’s CEO has expressed optimism on how AI can improve people’s lives. A mindset that Tesla’s chief thinks is a pretty “limited” understanding of the topic.

    The word war apparently started after Zuckerberg conducted a Facebook Live session. As he relaxed at home and manned the grill, the tech icon answered various question, including one about AI.

    According to Zuckerberg, people who keep trying to drum up fear of AI are “really negative” and “pretty irresponsible.” He emphasized that any technology, including AI, can be used for either good or bad and that it’s up to designers and developers to be careful of what they create.

    Zuckerberg added that he has a hard time understanding those who are against the development and evolution of AI technology, saying that these people are “arguing against safer cars that aren’t going to have accidents” and “against being able to better diagnose people when they’re sick.”

    It’s safe to assume that Tesla’s boss was among those people Zuckerberg is talking about. Musk met a group of US governors earlier this month and proposed that regulations on artificial intelligence should be enacted.

    Musk explained that AI technology posed a huge risk to society, hinting at a future similar to what the Terminator movies have implied.

    “I keep sounding the alarm bell, but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react, because it seems so ethereal,” Musk said then.

    Upon hearing Zuckerberg’s comments on AI, Musk hit back on Twitter, saying that he has talked to his contemporary about this. He also said that Zuckerberg’s “understanding of the subject is limited.”

    However, Zuckerberg is sticking to his guns as he once more defended his views on AI in a recent Facebook post. He reiterated his optimism about AI and the technology’s potential to improve the world.

    [Featured image via YouTube]

  • Elon Musk: Talulah Riley Divorces Tech Mogul For A Second Time, Seeks Spousal Support

    Elon Musk: Talulah Riley Divorces Tech Mogul For A Second Time, Seeks Spousal Support

    Tech businessman Elon Musk and wife Talulah Riley are divorcing again. According to reports, Riley filed for divorce on Monday, March 21, in the Los Angeles Superior Court to end their second marriage.

    Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors (TSLA) and Riley, an English actress, were married in 2010, divorced in 2012, and remarried after 18 months.

    Elon Musk initially filed for divorce on New Year’s Eve in 2014, but canceled the petition in June 2015. According to the couple, the divorce is amicable and they both agreed to end their marriage after ebing together for more than two years. Musk and Riley have reportedly been living separately for the last six months.

    Riley, citing irreconcilable differences, is said to be seeking spousal support.

    The 44-year-old Elon Musk is co-founder of Paypal and helped put up the electric car company Tesla Motors and SpaceX. The billionaire also backed up the building of the Hyperloop, a bullet train that would easily transport people at the speed of sound. Musk has also tried his hand at acting. He appeared on The Big Bang Theory and in Iron Man 2. He is set to unveil the latest version of Tesla’s electric car later this month, according to reports.

    Riley, 30, appeared in the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Thor: The Dark World, and Inception. The actress is also a writer and a director. She wrote her first feature film Scottish Mussel back in 2014, and is now working on her first novel Acts of Love, which is scheduled to debut in August.

    Elon Musk and Talulah Riley do not have any children together but the entrepreneur has five children with ex-wife, Justine Musk.

    “Mr. Musk and Ms. Riley continue to see each other occasionally as friends,” according to a statement from the couple’s representative.

  • SpaceX Launch Aborted After Boat Gets in the Way

    SpaceX Launch Aborted After Boat Gets in the Way

    SpaceX had to abort a potentially historical rocket launch on Sunday. This was due to a ship being in the way and related setbacks.

    The company and CEO Elon Musk tweet about the issues in real time:

    This was the third time SpaceX has attempted its second launch of 2016. The rocket was to put the SES-9 satellite into orbit. From the SES website:

    Scheduled for launch in 2016, SES-9 will be positioned at the orbital slot of 108.2° E and provide incremental as well as replacement capacity to the well established slot over Asia, where it will be co-located with the existing satellites. The satellite will expand SES’s capability to provide DTH broadcasting and other communications services in Northeast Asia, South Asia & Indonesia, as well as maritime communications for vessels in the Indian Ocean.

    But there’s another part of the launch that could have historical significance.

    As Jessica Orwig explains, “The more dramatic, secondary goal will be what happens about 10 minutes after lift-off. That’s when the rocket’s first stage will turn around and use GPS tracking to guide itself onto SpaceX’s floating ocean platform called ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ The platform will be floating about 400 miles off Florida’s coast. If SpaceX succeeds, it will be the first successful rocket landing on board an ocean platform in history.”

    In a mission overview, SpaceX says that given the mission’s unique GTO profile, a successful landing is not expected.

  • Stephen Colbert’s First Guests Include Elon Musk, Uber’s Travis Kalanick

    Stephen Colbert’s First Guests Include Elon Musk, Uber’s Travis Kalanick

    Stephen Colbert’s highly-anticipated debut in David Letterman’s old spot is fast approaching, and The Late Show has just revealed the guests Colbert will welcome in his first week.

    The list includes Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, as well as Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

    That’s a lot of tech for a first week, and for a network late night program. Musk is pretty well known and always interesting, but Kalanick is probably not on many people’s radar. Uber is, of course, so it’ll be interesting to see what Colbert has up his sleeve in that regard.

    The first week will only include four new episodes (Labor Day), and here’s the full lineup:

    September 8:
    George Clooney, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush
    Musical performance: Jon Batiste and Stay Human

    September 9:
    Scarlett Johansson, SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk
    Musical performance: Kendrick Lamar

    September 10:
    Uber CEO Travis Kalanick
    Musical performance: Toby Keith

    September 11:
    Amy Schumer, Stephen King
    Musical performance: Troubled Waters

    Kalanick appears to be the only non-musical guest of the night. Musk has to share his time with ScarJo – a tough act to follow for sure.

  • Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Hundreds More Call for Ban on Autonomous Weapons

    Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Hundreds More Call for Ban on Autonomous Weapons

    According to Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Noam Chomsky, and hundreds of AI and robotics researchers, governments should ban autonomous weapons in order to prevent a “military AI arms race.”

    In a letter signed by over 1,000, Musk, Hawking and others say that most AI researchers “have no interest in building AI weapons, and do not want others to tarnish their field by doing so, potentially creating a major public backlash against AI that curtails its future societal benefits.”

    The letter, which will be officially announced at the International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) in Buenos Aires, is organized by the Future of Life Institute. FLI “are a volunteer-run research and outreach organization working to mitigate existential risks facing humanity. We are currently focusing on potential risks from the development of human-level artificial intelligence.”

    According to the organization, its mission is “to catalyze and support research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future.”

    And to FLI and the signatories of this open letter, flying death robots do not an optimistic future make.

    Here’s the full text of the letter:

    Autonomous weapons select and engage targets without human intervention. They might include, for example, armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate people meeting certain pre-defined criteria, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has reached a point where the deployment of such systems is — practically if not legally — feasible within years, not decades, and the stakes are high: autonomous weapons have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms.

    Many arguments have been made for and against autonomous weapons, for example that replacing human soldiers by machines is good by reducing casualties for the owner but bad by thereby lowering the threshold for going to battle. The key question for humanity today is whether to start a global AI arms race or to prevent it from starting. If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow. Unlike nuclear weapons, they require no costly or hard-to-obtain raw materials, so they will become ubiquitous and cheap for all significant military powers to mass-produce. It will only be a matter of time until they appear on the black market and in the hands of terrorists, dictators wishing to better control their populace, warlords wishing to perpetrate ethnic cleansing, etc. Autonomous weapons are ideal for tasks such as assassinations, destabilizing nations, subduing populations and selectively killing a particular ethnic group. We therefore believe that a military AI arms race would not be beneficial for humanity. There are many ways in which AI can make battlefields safer for humans, especially civilians, without creating new tools for killing people.

    Just as most chemists and biologists have no interest in building chemical or biological weapons, most AI researchers have no interest in building AI weapons — and do not want others to tarnish their field by doing so, potentially creating a major public backlash against AI that curtails its future societal benefits. Indeed, chemists and biologists have broadly supported international agreements that have successfully prohibited chemical and biological weapons, just as most physicists supported the treaties banning space-based nuclear weapons and blinding laser weapons.

    In summary, we believe that AI has great potential to benefit humanity in many ways, and that the goal of the field should be to do so. Starting a military AI arms race is a bad idea, and should be prevented by a ban on offensive autonomous weapons beyond meaningful human control.

    Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and Stephen Hawking have all gone on record plenty of times with concerns about artificial intelligence.

    Image via Stephen Hawking, Facebook

  • SpaceX Has Filed to Begin Testing Its Satellite Internet Project

    SpaceX Has Filed to Begin Testing Its Satellite Internet Project

    Back in January, SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced his intentions to build a satellite network that would provide high-speed internet from space. Now, he’s apparently making moves to begin testing said plans.

    The Washington Post reports that Musk has asked the US government for permission to begin testing his satellite internet venture.

    The request was made in a Federal Communications Commission filing. From the Post:

    Musk’s FCC filing proposes tests starting next year. If all goes well, the service could be up and running in about five years.

    The satellites would be deployed from one of SpaceX’s rockets, the Falcon 9. Once in orbit, the satellites would connect to ground stations at three West Coast facilities. The purpose of the tests is to see whether the antenna technology used on the satellites will be able to deliver high-speed Internet to the ground without hiccups.

    The FCC confirmed the existence of the request but provided no further comment.

    “The speed of light is 40 percent faster in the vacuum of space than it is for fiber. The long-term potential is to be the primary means of long-distance Internet traffic and to serve people in sparsely populated areas,” said Musk earlier this year.

    But Musk’s ambitions don’t stop at Earth. Musk wants to be the one providing internet for future Mars colonies.

    “It will be important for Mars to have a global communications network as well,” he said. “I think this needs to be done, and I don’t see anyone else doing it … we see it as a long-term revenue source for SpaceX to be able to fund a city on Mars.”

    The news comes just a day after reports of Facebook scrapping a previously unknown project to develop its own $500 million satellite to provide low-cost internet to parts of the developing world.

    Musk previously stated that his space internet project could cost as much as $10 billion.

    Image via SpaceX

  • Elon Musk: Story About Scolding Employee for Attending Birth “Total BS”

    Elon Musk: Story About Scolding Employee for Attending Birth “Total BS”

    According to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, a claim that he once scolded an employee for missing a company event to witness the birth of his child is “total BS.”

    Musk is the subject of a new book, out next week, called Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. In it, tech reporter Ashlee Vance makes a pretty shocking allegation concerning Musk’s reaction to a man who chose to miss work during his child’s birth.

    According to the book, Musk sent this email to the unidentified man:

    That is no excuse. I am extremely disappointed. You need to figure out where your priorities are. We’re changing the world and changing history, and you either commit or you don’t.

    Musk, who is always pretty quick to address any controversies, has responded on Twitter.

    “I have never written or said this. Ashlee’s book was not independently fact-checked. Should be taken w a grain of salt,” he wrote. “It is total BS & hurtful to claim that I told a guy to miss his child’s birth just to attend a company meeting. I would never do that.”

    “My mentality is that of a samurai. I would rather commit seppuku than fail” is the other quote Musk disputes, by the way.

  • Elon Musk on Kanye West: “Playing the Long Game”

    Elon Musk on Kanye West: “Playing the Long Game”

    TIME magazine has just come out with its 100 most influential people list, and Kanye West is one of them.

    That’s not all that interesting, as Kanye West deserves to be on this list. Honestly, can you name 100 people that generate more discussion than Kanye? Doubtful.

    What’s interesting is who penned Kanye’s tribute.

    Here’s what Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk had to say about Kanye, whom he called a “boundary breaker”.

    Kanye West would be the first person to tell you he belongs on this list. The dude doesn’t believe in false modesty, and he shouldn’t. Kanye’s belief in himself and his incredible tenacity—he performed his first single with his jaw wired shut—got him to where he is today. And he fought for his place in the cultural pantheon with a purpose. In his debut album, over a decade ago, Kanye issued what amounted to a social critique and a call to arms (with a beat): “We rappers is role models: we rap, we don’t think.” But Kanye does think. Constantly. About everything. And he wants everybody else to do the same: to engage, question, push boundaries. Now that he’s a pop-culture juggernaut, he has the platform to achieve just that. He’s not afraid of being judged or ridiculed in the process. Kanye’s been playing the long game all along, and we’re only just beginning to see why.

    Kanye and Musk have a history of sorts. They talked Moses in 2011.

    Kanye has a pretty high opinion of Musk. He once suggested Obama “sit with Elon Musk”.

    And he’s been known to call Musk “his boy” during concert rants.

    This is a friendship I’d like to be involved in, please.

    Image via rodrigoferrari, Wikimedia Commons

  • Elon Musk: New Tesla Product Line Coming April 30

    Elon Musk: New Tesla Product Line Coming April 30

    Elon Musk and Tesla are cooking up something for late April, and it’s not a new car.

    “Major new Tesla product line – not a car – will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30,” said Musk in a tweet.

    So, what’s Tesla up to? Probably a home battery.

    You’ll recall that Tesla has been working on a lithium-ion battery for home energy storage for some time, and at the company’s earnings call in February Musk set a “couple month” timeline on the big reveal.

    “We’re going to unveil the Tesla home battery, or the sort of consumer battery that will be for use in people’s houses or businesses, fairly soon. We have the design done, and it should start going to production, probably in about six months, or so. We’re trying to figure out a date to have the product unveiling, but it’s probably in the next month or two months. And it’s really great; I’m really excited about it,” he said at the time.

    Of course, it could be a motorcycle. Stay tuned.