176159591
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Brian Krebs writes, "Wired reported this week that a 19-year-old working for Elon Musk‘s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was given access to sensitive US government systems even though his past association with cybercrime communities should have precluded him from gaining the necessary security clearances to do so. As today’s story explores, the DOGE teen is a former denizen of ‘The Com,’ an archipelago of Discord and Telegram chat channels that function as a kind of distributed cybercriminal social network for facilitating instant collaboration."
176124355
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Self proclaimed "free speech absolutist" Elon Musk is now suppressing free speech on Twitter. Over the weekend, Wired reported on the inexperienced twenty-somethings between 19 and 24 working for Musk who have been given unprecedented access to sensitive government systems.
When someone posted these government employees’ names on Twitter, Musk first declared it “criminal” to name government employees (it isn't) and then he followed it up by having the comment removed.
176088701
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Tesla, the most valuable automaker in the world valued at over $1 trillion, did not pay any federal income tax last year. Tesla’s annual financial report, released this morning, shows the company enjoyed $2.3 billion of U.S. income in 2024 on which it reports precisely zero current federal income tax. Over the past three years, the Elon Musk-led company reports $10.8 billion of U.S. income on which its current federal tax was just $48 million. That comes to a three-year federal tax rate of just 0.4 percent – more than 50 times less than the statutory corporate tax rate of 21 percent.
176086471
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Sean O'Kane for TechCrunch writes, "For nearly nine years, Elon Musk has promised Tesla vehicles had the hardware needed to support a self-driving car. This week, he made his latest admission that many are not. Musk said on a conference call Wednesday evening that Tesla cars equipped with so-called Hardware 3 will need an upgrade before they can support unsupervised self-driving software the automaker is still developing. These Hardware 3 vehicles, sold between 2019 and 2023, are equipped with the older version of the computer that powers the company’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” driver assistance software. 'I think the honest answer is that we’re going to have to upgrade people’s Hardware 3 computer for those that have bought Full Self-Driving,' he said. 'That’s going to be painful and difficult, but we’ll get it done.'"
176085335
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Andrew J. Hawkins for the Verge writes, "It’s one week into Elon Musk’s new role as chief cost-cutter for the Trump administration, but today, his side hustle as CEO of Tesla takes center stage with the release of the company’s latest earnings report. During the fourth quarter of 2024, Tesla said it earned $2.3 billion in net income on $25.7 billion in revenue. That represents a 1.9 percent increase year over year compared to $25.2 billion in revenue in Q4 2023 and a 70 percent decrease in net income."
176050623
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Kevin Williams for InsideEVs writes, "I think Elon Musk’s totally-not-a-Sieg-Heil has crossed the metaphorical blood-brain barrier. What I mean is, for a very long time, Musk’s antics as of late have been somewhat insulated from Tesla itself. There has been evidence that his behavior has led to buyers turning to other brands or the company itself losing perceived value. But owning a Tesla—save for the Cybertruck, which had its own set of baggage—was still generally acceptable, and people were willing to overlook Musk’s words because the cars themselves were good.
Well, that might be on the way out now."
176043625
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Tesla is refusing to do the right thing about ‘Full Self-Driving’ package transfers and instead holds its own incapacity to deliver the package over the head of its owners. Fred Lambert had a conversation with Tesla about doing the right thing about FSD transfer. He got an answer: a “categoric no”. Tesla is literally using its own incapacity to deliver a feature it promised and sold to people, unsupervised self-driving, as a demand trigger to get people to order new cars.
176041283
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Elon Musk waded into controversy on Monday when he gave back-to-back fascist-style salutes during celebrations of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. “I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” the owner of SpaceX, X and Tesla, the richest person on earth and a major Trump donor and adviser, told Trump supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Musk then slapped his right hand into his chest, fingers splayed, before shooting out his right arm on an upwards diagonal, fingers together and palm facing down. As the crowd roared, Musk turned and saluted again, his arm and hand slightly lower.
176017021
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
An image of Elon Musk making a controversial salute during a speech on Monday was projected onto Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin. The display featured Musk's gesture alongside the words "Heil Tesla."
Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a close ally of President Donald Trump, has faced widespread accusations of making a Nazi gesture twice during a speech to a crowd of Trump supporters gathered at Washington's Capital One Arena for an indoor "Presidential Parade" on Monday, shortly after Trump's second inauguration.
176016161
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
The value of Tesla’s brand fell by 26% in 2024, a second straight annual decline, with factors including an aging lineup of vehicles, and CEO Elon Musk’s “antagonism,” according to research and consulting firm Brand Finance. Tesla’s brand value now stands at an estimated $43 billion, down from $58.3 billion at the beginning of 2024 and $66.2 billion at the start of 2023, the firm said in its annual ranking. Toyota is the most valuable brand in autos at $64.7 billion, with Mercedes close behind at $53 billion, the researchers found.
176009987
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
The saga of Elon Musk secretly account boosting Diablo 4 and/or Path of Exile 2 characters may be over, as he’s admitted outright he’s done so, along with possibly using Real Money Trading for gear. In a new video going over DMs with Elon Musk directly, YouTuber NikoWrex said he was given permission to share what he said about his gaming prowess, or lack thereof. The video, heavily downvoted for its subservience regarding Elon’s tactics, goes over the following:
Niko: “Have you ever level boosted (had someone else play your accounts) and/or purchased gear/resources for PoE2 and Diablo 4?”.
Musk: “(100 Emoji) It’s impossible to beat players in Asia if you don’t.”
175977695
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Elon Musk’s credibility as a self-proclaimed world-class gamer is under scrutiny after he clashed with popular Twitch streamer Asmongold, who challenged him to prove his skills in exchange for streaming exclusively on X for a year. Instead of seizing the opportunity to lure Asmongold’s 3.6 million followers to his platform, Musk leaked private messages and stripped the streamer of his verification badge, which allows ad revenue sharing. The move comes as Musk continues efforts to attract Twitch creators to X, including discrediting Amazon’s platform over adult content—shortly before permitting it on X.
175878061
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Fred Lambert of Electrek writes, "Tesla has officially issued a recall on over 200,000 vehicles in the US over the self-driving computer inside the vehicle short-circuiting and failing to work. This is an issue that Electrek has been reporting on for a month. In December, Electrek released an exclusive report about Tesla having a major issue with a new version of its onboard “Full Self-Driving computer,” AI4.1, failing due to a short circuit, and Tesla must replace the computers. We found examples of the issue arising as far back as July. The problem can start quickly, within a few miles on a brand-new car or after a few hundred to a few thousand miles. When the computer fails, many vehicle features stop working, like active safety features, auto wipers, auto high beams, cameras, and even GPS, navigation, and range estimations."
175535665
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
After Donald Trump won this month’s election, one of the first things he did was to name two unelected male plutocrats, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, to run a new Department of Government Efficiency. The yet-to-be-created entity’s acronym, DOGE, is something of a joke—a reference to a cryptocurrency named for an internet meme involving a Shiba Inu. But its appointed task of reorganizing the federal bureaucracy and slashing its spending heralds a new political arrangement in Washington: a broligarchy, in which tremendous power is flowing to tech and finance magnates, some of whom appear indifferent or even overtly hostile to democratic tradition.
175485203
submission
theweatherelectric writes:
Elon Musk might be in charge of the business of Grok, but the artificial intelligence has seemingly gone into business for itself, labeling Musk as one of the worst offenders when it comes to spreading misinformation online.
User Gary Koepnick asked the AI which person spreads the most information on Twitter/X—and the service did not hesitate in pointing a finger at its creator.
“Based on various analyses, social media sentiment, and reports, Elon Musk has been identified as one of the most significant spreaders of misinformation on X since he acquired the platform,” it wrote, later adding “Musk has made numerous posts that have been criticized for promoting or endorsing misinformation, especially related to political events, elections, health issues like COVID-19, and conspiracy theories. His endorsements or interactions with content from controversial figures or accounts with a history of spreading misinformation have also contributed to this perception.”
