The all-in view of Tesla Inc. was summed up in a line from a report this summer by one of the more all-in analysts covering the company: “The car is to Tesla what the video game chip is to Nvidia. The car is to Tesla what selling books is to Amazon.” Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas was arguing that Tesla is morphing from a maker of electric vehicles to an artificial intelligence and robotics powerhouse. On this reading, a Tesla isn’t just a box-on-wheels with a battery but an AI-delivery vehicle. Chief Executive Elon Musk also touts this thesis, declaring with typical bravado: “If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company.”

An asterisk on that statement might be in order. This weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence side gig to his social media side gig, X, has floated the possibility of licensing its models to aid Tesla’s autonomous driving ambitions in exchange for a revenue-sharing deal. Musk dismissed the story over the course of several tweets, including calling it “nonsense.”

On the other hand, only five months ago, Musk accused Reuters of “lying” when it reported that Tesla had scrapped plans for a sub-$30,000 EV model, only for the company to soon after announce a pivot from a very cheap EV toward robotaxis. Plus, Musk has already polled that body of impartial sages known as his followers as to whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI (the majority answered in the affirmative).

That flapping sound you hear is the wind blowing through a resplendence of red flags.

Musk has a habit of treating his various separate companies as parts of a unified whole. The most egregious example was Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity Corp. in 2016, whereby the EV company bought a spiraling rooftop solar business that was chaired by Musk, owed him (and Space X) money and was run by his cousin. Even Jonas later characterized that deal as a “controlled detonation.” When Musk first bought Twitter Inc., which became X, he brought in engineers from Tesla to review its code. A few months ago, he redirected thousands of Nvidia Corp. chips destined for Tesla to xAI, explaining it away as a logistical hiccup.

If Tesla were to now actually invest billions in xAI, and/or share revenue with it, the potential conflict of interest could hardly be clearer. X has struggled as a business since Musk’s takeover, with advertising revenue under pressure and Fidelity, one of the co-investors, marking down the value of its stake enormously. Musk has indicated that the shareholders of X would own 25% of xAI, though it isn’t clear if that would be individually or collectively through X itself. Either way, any infusion of cash or revenue potential from Tesla would be useful not only to xAI but to the broader X project.

Such a deal would also make a mockery of Tesla’s justification for awarding a gigantic options package to Musk and then pushing for its reinstatement after a Delaware court struck it down. Chairwoman Robyn Denholm exhorted shareholders to vote yes by arguing, in part, that it would keep Musk’s roving eye focused on Tesla: “We want those ideas, that energy and that time to be at Tesla, for the benefit of you, our owners,” she wrote. This followed Musk’s unsubtle threat to take his AI vision elsewhere if he didn’t get a bigger stake in Tesla (after he had sold off a chunk during the takeover of Twitter).

If Tesla were to end up investing in, or contracting with, another Musk-controlled venture that literally has AI in its name, that rather suggests at least some of his AI ideas went elsewhere, options or no. Beyond the conflicts and governance-trolling, though, there’s a more fundamental problem here.

Jonas, like similarly bullish analysts, ascribes only a fraction of his Tesla valuation to the making and selling of EVs, even though this accounts for the vast majority of the company’s revenue and profit. The only way to remotely justify the almost $700 billion market cap is to believe that Tesla isn’t a mere automaker but instead an AI pioneer.

Yet if that is the case, if Tesla is going to “solve autonomy,” why would it consider outsourcing core AI functions or feel the need to invest billions of dollars into a startup launched only last year? Automakers do partner with other companies for certain technologies. But Musk has been saying for years that Tesla is already on the cusp of cracking vehicle autonomy under its own steam. Putting money, or revenue, into xAI undercuts that narrative and would divert some of the promised value away from Tesla’s shareholders to Musk’s own ventures.

Perhaps these are mere proposals and polls that stay just that. Still, there was another line in that Jonas report that sticks, telling investors to prepare for the company’s new strategy “to more conspicuously connect Tesla with Elon’s other controlled enterprises such as SpaceX/Starlink, X and xAI.” Autonomy is, after all, about just doing what you want.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Elon Musk, the charismatic CEO of electric car maker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX, may become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, while Indian tycoon Gautam Adani may attain that status in the following year, and Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani may do so in 2033, according to an Informa Connect Academy report.

For Elon Musk, the richest in the world with USD 237 billion net worth, to become the world’s first trillionaire needs to grow at an average annual growth rate of 110 per cent, the report said.

Gautam Adani, who is ranked 13th on the world billionaire index with a wealth of just under USD 100 billion, maybe the second trillionaire (net worth equal to at least one trillion US dollars) if his ports-to-power conglomerate was to continue growing at the current 123 per cent average annual rate, it added.

Rival Mukesh Ambani, now ranked Asia’s richest with a networth of USD 111 billion, may achieve the same status in 2033, according to the report.

His oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate is slated to hit trillion-dollar market cap status in 2035. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd is the only Indian company projected to hit that mark.

The companies that will hit the trillion-dollar market cap mark include Taiwan’s semiconductor maker TSMC, which has a market cap of USD 893.7 billion now and is expected to achieve that status in 2025.

It will be closely followed by Berkshire Hathaway, pharma giant Eli Lilly, technology company Broadcom and electric automobile firm Tesla.

The report said, “No one in the world has claimed trillionaire status – at least not yet. However, there are some likely candidates. The following are multi-billionaires who will probably become trillionaires sooner or later”.

After Elon Musk and Gautam Adani, NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang, Indonesian mogul Prajogo Pangestu, French businessman Bernard Arnault, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg come next as prospective trillionaires.

Currently, there are only a handful of companies that have crossed the USD 1 trillion in valuation. This includes Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Saudi Aramco, and Meta. The most recent case is that of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in late August.

Nvidia also joined the USD 1 trillion club in May 2023 and reached USD 3 trillion in June, becoming the second most valuable company in the world, with Microsoft ahead and Apple behind.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Elon Musk denied a report that his artificial intelligence startup xAI has held talks for a share in future Tesla revenue in return for giving Musk’s electric vehicle maker access to xAI’s technology and resources.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Tesla would license xAI’s artificial-intelligence models to help power its driver-assistance software, full self-driving technology and share some of that revenue with the startup, according to the proposed arrangement as described to investors.

“Tesla has learned a lot from discussions with engineers at xAI that have helped accelerate achieving unsupervised FSD, but there is no need to license anything from xAI,” Musk posted late on Saturday on his social media platform X, adding that the report is “not accurate.”

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter whom it did not identify, said xAI would support the development of other features for Tesla, including a voice assistant in its electric cars and software to power its humanoid robot Optimus.

The terms of any revenue-sharing agreement between xAI and Tesla would depend in part upon how extensively Tesla relied on xAI’s technology as opposed to its own, the report said, adding that xAI executives have discussed an even revenue split from Tesla’s FSD.

xAI could not be reached for a comment.

Musk launched xAI last year to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI. It sparked concerns that he might allocate some resources of the automaker to the AI company.

He has said xAI would be “helpful in advancing full self-driving and in building up the new Tesla data center,” adding that there were opportunities to integrate xAI’s chatbot, Grok, with Tesla’s software.

In July, the billionaire CEO said he and the Tesla board would discuss a $5 billion investment in xAI.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Apple, the Cupertino tech giant, relies on the vast manufacturing network in China for the mass production of its iPhone and other devices. In recent times, the company has also shifted focus to other key markets, including India, to diversify its manufacturing base.

Now, days ahead of the highly-anticipated launch of the iPhone 16 series, an old video of Apple CEO Tim Cook has gained significant attention on social media. In the viral video, Cook is seen addressing the common misconception about why the US-based company has invested heavily in China for its product manufacturing.

Debunking the common belief that companies flock to China for cheap labour, Mr Cook said, “There is a confusion about China. And let me at least give you my opinion. The popular conception is that companies come to China because of low labour costs. I am not sure what part of China they go to, but the truth is China stopped being a low labour cost country many years ago.”

The Apple CEO elaborated on the advanced tooling and precision required to produce the products and highlighted China’s vocational expertise in these areas.

“The reason is because of the skill, the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill it is,” he said.

Mr Cook noted that the product it makes requires “really advanced tooling and the precision that you have to have in tooling and working with the materials that we do are state of the art.” 

“And the tooling skill is very deep here. You know, in the US, you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I am not sure we could fill the room. In China, you could fill multiple football fields. It’s that vocational expertise is very, very deep here,” he added.

The throwback clip of Tim Cook was shared on social media site X and has garnered six million views so far. It also caught the attention of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who agreed with his views.

In the comments section, Mr Musk wrote, “True”.

True

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 6, 2024

Mr Musk’s comment on the Chinese manufacturing sector came just months after his surprise visit to the Asian country where he plans to introduce Tesla’s self-driving technology to a market with ferocious competition.

On his trip, he met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who praised Tesla as a “successful model” for US-China collaboration.

Meanwhile, Apple is currently gearing up for its mega event, ‘It’s Glowtime’. The tech giant will roll out its all-new iPhone 16 series, besides setting the stage for a new artificial intelligence platform.

The event will take place at 10:30 PM on September 9 in India.

Washington:

Donald Trump has revealed his initial plans, should he be voted to power in the 2024 US presidential election. Mr Trump said he will set up a task force shortly after assuming office, aimed at conducting a thorough financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.

Donald Trump went on to say that once the audit is complete, the new task force will then make recommendations for drastic reforms, which he believes, is the need of the hour.

Elaborating his plan about the committee and who will head it, Donald Trump said that SpaceX, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk shall head the task force, adding that Mr Musk has already agreed to take up the responsibility. A video of Donald Trump announcing this was shared on social media website X by local media outlet CSpan News Network.

Elon Musk too, welcomed Donald Trump’s decision stating that such a move is “badly needed.”

This is badly needed https://t.co/H9AKYbDssZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2024

Talking more about his plans for the United States, Mr Trump said he aims to “Make America the world’s capital for crypto and bitcoin.” He also said he plans to eliminate at least ten old regulations and will bring in ten new ones to replace them.

Addressing the Economic Club of New York, Donald Trump said on September 5, “To stop this onslaught at lower prices, I’m pledging today that in my second term we will eliminate a minimum of ten old regulations. For every one new regulation, we’ll be able to do that quite easily. Actually, and instead of attacking industries of the future, we will embrace them, including making America the world capital for crypto and bitcoin.”

Donald Trump heaped praise on Elon Musk saying, “At the suggestion of Elon Musk, who has given me his complete and total endorsement, that’s a nice smart guy. He knows what he’s doing. Very much appreciated. I will create a Government Efficiency Commission task with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms we need to do. It can’t go on the way we are now. And Elon, because he’s not very busy, has agreed to head that task force, be interesting if he has the time be good one to do it, but he’s agreed,” Donald Trump said.

“At the suggestion of @elonmusk…I will create a Government Efficiency Commission tasked with conducting a complete financial & performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms. And Elon…has agreed to head that task force.” pic.twitter.com/ep2WU9ySRT

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 5, 2024

Mr Trump spoke about how improper and fraudulent payments cost US taxpayers an estimated “hundreds of billions of dollars” in 2022. He announced that the commission will create an action plan to eliminate payments within months and added that it will “save trillions of dollars”, according to the video posted by CSpan on X.

Donald Trump said, “In 2022, fraud and improper payments alone cost taxpayers an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars. As the first order of business, this commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months. This will save trillions of dollars trillions. It’s massive for the same service that you have right now, trillions of dollars is wasted and gone, and nobody knows where it went further, taming inaction and bringing prices way down.”

He also pledged to make ‘Trump tax cuts’ permanent and announced that there will be no tax on tips. He alleged that US Vice President Kamala Harris copied his plan and announced to impose no tax on tips. He claimed that Kamala Harris will not move ahead with it and will stick to her plan.

Mr Trump said, “The 5th pillar of my plan is to make the Trump tax cuts permanent. They are massive tax cuts, biggest ever permanent and to cut tax even more, and we will have no tax on tips, something which they copied four weeks after I said it. She got upset and said no tax on tips. I said I just said that she is actually copying a lot of my plan. In fact, we’re going to send her a MAGA sometime in the next week….But we also know she doesn’t mean it. She’s going to stick with what has been about and also no tax on Social security benefits.”

Pledging to save social security, Donald Trump said that he will not impose tax on the benefits of people in social security, stressing that they have been wiped out by inflation.

Mr Trump said, “People in social security have been wiped out by inflation and now on top of it, we tax their benefits. We’re not going to tax their benefits. We have so many different ways of making so much money. This country, the potential is so incredible. We don’t have to take it away from people on social security. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to save social security. She’s going to destroy Social Security.”

The former US President said that his administration has proved that targeted tax cuts do not increase the deficit. He said that it reduces the deficit by growing the economy and raising revenue, according to the video posted by CSpan on X.

He said, “After we gave the massive tax cuts, we took in the following year with a much lower rate. Billions and billions of dollars more than we did the previous year with a high rate, think of that. So, with a much lower rate, we took in more money because people were incentivised.”

Speaking about reducing the corporate tax burden, Mr Trump said he plans to reduce the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 15 per cent for companies that make their product in the US.

“Corporate tax revenues are 31 per cent higher today than before, my tax law was signed with all of those cuts 31 percent higher. To further support the revival of American manufacturing, my plan calls for expanded R&D tax credits, 100 percent bonus depreciation, expensing for no manufacturing investments, and a reduction in corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 15 per cent solely for companies that make their product in America,” he said.

Responding to the video which shows Donald Trump announcing his plans, Elon Musk took to X to post, “This is badly needed.”
 

In today’s world, when many youngsters aim to create billion-dollar unicorns – and some become successful – mental health and physical well-being have taken a backseat. Psychiatrists and leading voices from the industry blame “hustle culture”, the mantra for ambition, as the reason behind it and warn youngsters against following it. Hustle culture is again in focus after Kritarth Mittal, who tasted success at the age of 25 with Soshals app, landed in hospital for a health scare. In a post on X, the 25-year-old blamed poor lifestyle choices and unhealthy diet and urged his followers and other social media users to take care of their health.

Tech Leaders Who Challenge Hustle Culture

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is often celebrated as the embodiment of hustle culture. However, his own experiences have served as a cautionary tale. In a candid interview with The New York Times, Mr Musk revealed the toll that overwork has taken on his health and well-being. He admitted to working 120-hour weeks and relying on Ambien to sleep, a practice he described as “not wise”. His admission sparked discussions on whether the relentless pursuit of success is sustainable or worth the cost to personal health.

David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of Basecamp and creator of Ruby on Rails, is a vocal critic of hustle culture. Mr Hansson has spoken out against the glorification of overwork in the tech industry, arguing that it leads to burnout and diminishes creativity. In his book, It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work, co-authored with Jason Fried, he advocates for a calmer, more sustainable work environment. Hansson has repeatedly emphasized the importance of work-life balance, stating in The Guardian that “work should not be your life”.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has also been vocal about the dangers of hustle culture. After stepping down from his role at Reddit, Mr Ohanian has focused on promoting mental health awareness and work-life balance, particularly in the tech industry. He has spoken at length about how hustle culture can lead to burnout and has encouraged entrepreneurs to prioritise their well-being. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Mr Ohanian said the so-called “hustle porn” online perpetuates an unhealthy culture of posturing in the tech industry.

The Hidden Costs of Hustle Culture

Mental health strain: Hustle culture glorifies relentless work, often at the expense of mental well-being. The constant pressure to be productive can lead to burnout, anxiety, and depression. According to Forbes, the obsession with work can create a toxic environment where employees feel guilty for resting.

Impact on relationships:The Guardian said in an article that hustle culture can strain personal relationships, as time with loved ones is sacrificed for work. The pursuit of success often leads to isolation, eroding social connections and increasing stress.

Long-term consequences: While short-term gains may be celebrated, the long-term effects of overworking include chronic health issues and diminished life satisfaction.

If you’ve been wondering why you see only a certain kind of content on your X feed, its owner Elon Musk has the answer. The billionaire, in a post on Monday, shed light on the platform’s inner workings.  

The X algorithm operates on a simple yet effective principle: “If you interact with content, you want to see more of that content.” This means your engagement such as likes, comments, and shares with posts directly influences the algorithm’s decisions on what content to display.

Mr Musk elaborated on one of the algorithm’s key signals – sharing content. “One of the strongest signals is if you forward X posts to friends, it assumes you like that content a lot because it takes effort to forward,” he wrote. This means that when users share a post, the algorithm interprets that action as a strong endorsement of the content, pushing similar items into their feed frequently.

However, Mr Musk also acknowledged a significant flaw in this logic. He pointed out that the algorithm does not understand the intent behind a user’s interaction, particularly when the motivation is negative. “Unfortunately, if the actual reason you forwarded the content to friends was because you were outraged by it, we are currently not smart enough to realise that,” he admitted.

The ???? algorithm assumes that if you interact with content, you want to see more of that content.

One of the strongest signals is if you forward ???? posts to friends, it assumes you like that content a lot, because it takes effort to forward.

Unfortunately, if the actual reason…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024

In a follow-up post, Mr Musk shared his support for “freedom of speech”. “I like content that supports freedom of speech,” he declared, adding, “Long live X. Long live freedom of speech.”

I like content that supports freedom of speech

Long live ????

Long live freedom of speech

I’ll cage fight the dictator in Brazil if I have to

— Elon Musk (Parody) (@ElonMuskAOC) September 2, 2024

Going a step further, he wrote, “I’ll cage fight the dictator in Brazil if I have to.” This remark was aimed at Brazil’s Chief Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom Mr Musk has previously labelled a “tyrant” and a “dictator.” 

The feud between the two began in April when Elon Musk announced he would unsuspend accounts linked to the 2023 Brazilian Congress attack in Brasilia, despite a court order to keep them blocked. 

In response, Alexandre de Moraes opened an investigation into the X owner, accusing him of spreading fake news, obstructing justice and inciting criminal activities. He also ordered Brazilian internet service providers to block access to X, threatened daily fines for users trying to bypass the ban by using VPNs, and even froze the finances of Mr Musk’s company, Starlink, in Brazil. 

Elon Musk fired back by accusing Mr Moraes of undermining democracy and has used X to criticise the judge’s actions.

After a months-long standoff over disinformation, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge banned billionaire Elon Musk’s social media network X in the country on Friday. The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the “immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of the operation of” X in the country and told the national communications agency to take “all necessary measures” to implement the order.

Alexandre de Moraes also threatened a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,900) to anyone who used “technological subterfuges” to get around the block, such as a VPN or the virtual private network.

The Elon Musk-Brazil Judge Controversy

The Elon Musk-Alexandre de Moraes controversy began when the Supreme Court judge ordered the suspension of several accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system in the 2022 election, which he lost.

Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Bolsonaro plotted a coup attempt to prevent current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from assuming office in January 2023.

In April, Moraes ordered an investigation of Musk, accusing him of reactivating some of the banned accounts.

ALSO READ | Elon Musk Compares Brazil’s Chief Justice To Harry Potter Villain Voldemort

X claims that Moraes threatened to arrest one of the company’s legal representatives in Brazil if it did not comply.

Musk’s platform had shut all of its Brazil offices due to what it called “censorship” by the judge, though its service had remained available for users in the country.

“We have a right to defend fundamental rights. Those who violate democracy, who violate fundamental human rights, whether in person or through social media, must be held accountable,” Moraes said in a speech on Friday, apparently referring to X.

Ban On Elon Musk’ X In Brazil

The Brazilian Supreme Court judge said the suspension would remain until all related court orders on X were complied with, including the payment of fines amounting to 18.5 million reais ($3.28 million), which he had previously slapped on the social media network for ignoring judicial orders.

The order will also be valid until a representative of the company in the country is appointed, he said.

Moraes also froze the financial assets of Musk’s Starlink by issuing an order to block the accounts of the satellite internet network that has rapidly expanded the number of its users in Brazil.

On Wednesday, he told Musk he had 24 hours to find a new representative or he would face suspension. However, as the deadline passed, X said in a statement that it expected Moraes to shut it down “simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents.”

X reportedly has more than 22 million users in Brazil.

What Elon Musk Said

Elon Musk, who took over X in 2022, reacted sharply to the ban and branded Alexandre de Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge”.

He also accused him of “trying to destroy democracy in Brazil.”

“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” he wrote on X.

“They’re shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil,” Musk added.

(With agency inputs)

Brasilia:

A Supreme Court judge on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s X social media network in Brazil after the billionaire failed to comply with an order to name a new legal representative for the company.

Musk has been locked in a months-long feud with the judge, Alexandre de Moraes, who is leading a battle against disinformation in South America’s largest nation.

Moraes ordered the “immediate, complete and comprehensive suspension of the operation of ‘X Brasil Internet LTDA’ in the national territory.”

He ordered the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to “adopt all necessary measures to implement” the order within 24 hours.

He also asked Google, Apple, and internet providers to “introduce technological obstacles capable of preventing the use of the X application” and access to the website.

The social media platform formally known as Twitter has more than 22 million users in Brazil.

Musk shut X’s business operations in Brazil earlier this month, claiming Moraes had threatened the company’s previous legal representative with arrest to force compliance with “censorship orders.”

On Wednesday, Moraes told Musk “to appoint the company’s new legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours” or face suspension.

The South African-born Tesla boss fired off tweets calling Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and accusing him of “trying to destroy democracy in Brazil.”

“Soon, we expect Judge Alexandre de Moraes will order X to be shut down in Brazil – simply because we would not comply with his illegal orders to censor his political opponents,” X said in a statement shortly after the passing of a 24-hour deadline.

– ‘Who does Musk think he is?’-

The standoff with Musk began when Moraes ordered the suspension of several X accounts belonging to supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who tried to discredit the voting system in the 2022 election, which he lost.

Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Bolsonaro plotted a coup attempt to prevent current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from assuming office in January 2023.

Online users blocked by Moraes include figures like far-right ex-congressman Daniel Silveira, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2022 on charges of leading a movement to overthrow the Supreme Court.

In April, Moraes ordered an investigation of Musk, accusing him of reactivating some of the banned accounts on the network formerly known as Twitter.

Musk and other critics accuse Moraes of stifling free speech.

“Any citizen from anywhere in the world who has investments in Brazil is subject to the Brazilian Constitution and laws,” Lula told a local radio station on Friday.

“Who does (Musk) think he is?”

– Starlink finances frozen –

On Thursday, Musk’s satellite internet operator Starlink said it had received an order from Moraes that “freezes Starlink’s finances and prevents Starlink from conducting financial transactions” in the country.

Starlink, which operates in Brazil, particularly in the Amazon, alleged that the order “is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied — unconstitutionally — against X.”

The company said on X that it intended “to address the matter legally.”

Musk is also the subject of a separate judicial investigation into an alleged scheme where public money was used to orchestrate disinformation campaigns in favor of Bolsonaro and those close to him.

The proliferation and amplification of misinformation and conspiracy theories on social media have sparked debate over the need for content moderation and a balance between calling out falsehoods and veering towards censorship or curbing free speech.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mission Rhumi 2024 launch in East Coast Road, Chennai
| Photo Credit: Johan Sathyadas

Satrajit Samy clapped and cheered as Mission Rhumi 2024 took off in Thiruvidanthai in Chennai’s scenic East Coast Road.

Satrajit had come all the way from Dubai for this momentous occasion. It might have lasted just a few seconds or so, but the event was, in this 13-year-old’s words, “exhilarating”.

He was part of the ‘Edutech for Space’ programme that worked on Mission Rhumi for more than a year. So were many other space-crazy children; for, Mission Rhumi – launched in Chennai on August 24 – is India’s first reusable hybrid rocket on a mobile launchpad.

An initiative of Space Zone India and Martin Group, Rhumi-1 carried three cube satellites designed to monitor and collect data on atmospheric conditions. The rocket also deployed 50 different Pico satellites, each dedicated to studying various aspects of atmospheric conditions.

At the helm of things was mission mentor Mylswamy Annadurai, former ISRO scientist and affectionately called the ‘moon man of India’, who said, “Till now, only Elon Musk was doing a reusable launch vehicle but today, we have demonstrated it right here in Chennai. What we witnessed today is almost like the rocket launches at Sriharikota. Rocket science can be taught in schools too because there are many opportunities here. Like how Chennai’s schools throw up champions in sports, music and arts, rocket scientists can be honed too.”

Weighing about 80 kilograms and 3.5 metres tall, the single-piece Rhumi-1 rocket combines the advantages of both liquid oxidiser and solid fuel propellant systems, making it a milestone in aerospace technology, he added. The mobile launch system allows scientists to adapt to various launch scenarios with ease from any location. Explained Anand Megalingam, Founder and CEO of Space Zone India, “By introducing a reusable hybrid rocket, we are not only reducing the financial burden of space exploration but minimising its environmental impact.”

Mission Rhumi has another goal: awareness about rocket science among students. Satrajit, for instance, underwent online classes on orbits and planets, before heading to BITS Pilani for a hands-on session with satellites. He says, “It was amazing to know that whatever I had in my hand was probably going to be in space somewhere. With this rocket being made in such a cost-effective manner, who knows, the day that children can build rockets with our own allowance is not far away.”