There are some hilarious moments in Musk's Tesla testimony, but as a lawyer I especially loved this one:
"Q. Okay. Can you tell me whether you know — are you trained as a lawyer?
A. I have some familiarity with the legal system.
Q. I suspected that might be the answer. You know, once upon a time, you could read the law and become a lawyer. Even in Delaware, it was not so long ago that you didn’t actually need a law degree. So maybe you’re on your way."
Mocked on the stand. Classic.
"Q. It’s true, isn’t it, that during the same time you were working on getting the 2018 Tesla plan before stockholders, you were also helping The Boring Company sell flamethrowers. Is that right?
A. I mean, for a split second."
...according to The Verge, this is real
"Q. And you were spending at least some of your average workweek working on OpenAI at the time the plan was being developed. Correct?
A. Very small amount of time, but yeah.
Q. You also co-founded and led, and lead currently, Neuralink. Is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And that’s a company which develops brain computer interfaces whose long-term goal is to help address the human species level threat posed by AI. Is that right?"
This confirms a suspicion I've long had (ctd)
which is that Musk is not actually interested in saving humanity from anything. He's interested in staying rich and relevant, and he's realized that playing opposing ideas against each other is the way to do that.
See: Tesla. Tesla sells every one of its carbon credits. Its effect on total US automaker carbon emissions is actually zero, despite his "clean energy save humanity" claims.
Similarly, investing in both OpenAI and tech to save us from AI? Playing both ends against the middle.
Also, there's a reasonable argument to be made that Tesla is selling at least one of its cars (I forget which model) at a loss to convince the auto industry to make electric cars so that Tesla can pivot to being a battery maker. If so, he's lying to generate demand where otherwise rational economics would find none. (See Tesla's comments on the recent EPA emissions rules.)
"Q. At the time the plan was being worked on, is it true that your typical workweek was to spend Monday and Thursday at SpaceX, Tuesday and Wednesday at Tesla, Friday afternoon at Tesla’s LA design studio, and then weekends doing catch-up work?"
(His answer is yes, basically)
...this has to dump a shitton of plane emissions into the environment. Again, the man cares about being seen as the savior of humanity more than actually mitigating issues.
@danialexis If the Muskrat truly cared about the environment, Tesla wouldn't have grossly contaminated so many sites in California. Of course, it's probably cheaper for them to settle for a $1.5 million fine instead of doing it the right way in the first place. (Kind of like most entities with information security)