Musk's troubled tryst with India: Tesla, Starlink in limbo for over a year

 Musk clearly needs to take a relook at his overall India plan

Last week, world headlines buzzed with Elon Musk’s announcement that he was shelving his audacious bid for social media platform Twitter. Away from the media spotlight, questions are being asked about the maverick billionaire’s plans in India, too. A few days ago, a Reuters report said Musk’s flagship Tesla had put on hold its plan to launch electric cars in India. Tesla has abandoned its search for showroom space, reassigned its small India team around the globe and set itself a deadline next year of February 1, when the Union Budget is usually announced, to check …

Twitter abuzz over Musk’s ‘if I die under mysterious circumstances’ post

 The post came a few days after the Tesla CEO announced acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion.

Twitter storms and Elon Musk seem to be old pals and it was no different on Monday morning. This time the Tesla CEO’s post about dying under “mysterious circumstances” is what made Twitter buzz. “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” he tweeted.

The post came a few days after the Tesla CEO announced his plans to acquire Twitter for $44 billion. Musk was in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his Twitter acquisition and tying up less of his wealth in the deal.

Before tweeting this, Musk shared a conversation in Russian media by Dmitry Rogozin, the former deputy prime minister of Russia, where it is being said that the SpaceX chief being involved in “supplying the fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment.” “And for this, Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult – no matter how much you’ll play the fool,” the post said.

Musk says Twitter may charge slight fee for commercial, government users

 “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet

Elon Musk said on Tuesday Twitter Inc will always be free for casual users but may charge a slight fee for commercial and government users, as the billionaire entrepreneur tries to boost the social media platform‘s reach from “niche” to most Americans. “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users,” Musk said in a tweet.

Twitter declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Tesla chief Musk has been suggesting a raft of changes to Twitter since last month. After adding the company to his cart recently, Musk said he wanted to enhance the platform with new features, make the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeat spam bots, and authenticate all humans.

Last month, even before reaching a deal with Twitter, Musk had suggested few changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including slashing its price. Earlier this week at the annual Met Gala 2022 in New York on Monday, Musk also said he would make Twitter transparent about how tweets are promoted or demoted and wanted its software to be publicly available for critique.

Elon Musk’s grand vision for Twitter faces reality check in Asian countries

 It’s not clear how Musk would reconcile his support for more free speech with strict government controls.

For all the furor about which way Elon Musk might tilt U.S. political discourse after getting the keys to Twitter Inc., his biggest challenges may emerge across the Pacific. Asia, home to more than half the world’s population, is Twitter’s biggest growth opportunity and arguably a far thornier challenge. If the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX billionaire makes good on promises to scrap censorship, he’ll encounter a plethora of perplexing regulations, wielded by sometimes authoritarian governments, pushed to the limits by a horde of first-time internet users.

The numbers alone suggest Musk’s biggest headaches lie abroad. Twitter’s monetizable daily active users numbered 179 million internationally — dwarfing the 38 million in the U.S. in 2021, according to its latest annual report. As a public company, Twitter has repeatedly emphasized it must abide by local regulations. Once it’s a private concern controlled by the world’s richest man, Musk will personally shoulder responsibility for navigating that thicket — and the fallout if he fails….Read More

Nearly half of Elon Musk’s 90 million Twitter followers are ‘fake’

 According to Twitter auditing tool SparkToro, of Musk’s 87.9 million followers (at the time of the research audit), roughly 48 per cent are fake, reports Time

As Tesla CEO and soon-to-be Twitter boss Elon Musk aims to crack down on spam bots, nearly half of his own followers on the micro-blogging platform are fake. According to Twitter auditing tool SparkToro, of Musk’s 87.9 million followers (at the time of the research audit), roughly 48 per cent are fake, reports Time. These are the accounts that are “unreachable and will not see the account’s tweets because they’re spam, bots, propaganda, etc. or because they’re no longer active on Twitter”. Musk currently has nearly 90 million followers on Twitter.

He has nearly 7 per cent more fake followers than the median 41 per cent accounts with a similar sized followings have, according to SparkToro. The auditing tool found that “accounts that are on an unusually small number of lists, accounts that have no url or a non-resolving url in their profile, and accounts that have a suspiciously small number of followers were some of the most frequently observed traits of a sample of 2,000 random accounts from the most recent 100,000 accounts that followed Musk”….

Elon Musk discusses 'job cuts' at Twitter with bankers to boost bottom line

 CEO Agrawal had told employees that there would be “no layoffs at this time”. However, according to reports, one area where Musk may make job cuts is the company’s policy department

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, during discussions with banks, has reportedly planned to cut jobs at Twitter to improve its bottom line once he takes over. The Washington Post reported that Musk discussed making “efficiencies” at the micro-blogging platform in the conversations with bankers, “which could include job cuts.”

Twitter or its CEO Parag Agrawal have not commented on the reports. Agrawal had told employees that there would be “no layoffs at this time”. However, according to reports, one area where Musk may make job cuts is the company’s policy department. Musk’s displeasure was reflected in his criticism of Twitter’s policy head Vijaya Gadde this week, over censoring exclusive stories related to US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s laptop in the wake of the Capitol Hill violence….

For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral: Musk

 “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk tweeted

Days after Tesla Chief Elon Musk take control over Twitter, he said that for the microblogging site to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral. “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk tweeted. Twitter on Monday (local time) confirmed the sale of the company to Musk for USD 44 billion. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive USD 54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38 per cent premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company, CNN reported.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said that he was proud of the employees who continue to do the work with focus and urgency despite the noise. “I took this job to change Twitter for the better, course-correct where we need to, and strengthen the service. Proud of our people who continue to do the work with focus and urgency despite the noise,” Agrawal tweeted.

Elon Musk on fun trail, says buying Coca-Cola, McDonald’s next

 In a flurry of tweets, Musk claimed that he has set eyes on Coca Cola to “put cocaine back in” and “McDonald’s to fix ice-cream machines”

In the last 48-hour of his buyout of the micro-blogging site Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk is again on a fun trail. In a flurry of tweets, Musk claimed that he has set eyes on Coca Cola to “put cocaine back in” and “McDonald’s to fix ice-cream machines”. After the multi-billion buyout of the microblogging website this week, only Musk knows whether he’s kidding or not. “Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in,” Elon Musk tweeted on Friday. Tagging to an old tweet, he said, “Listen, I can’t do miracles”. But, he promised to make “Twitter maximum fun”.

Musk is known for throwing ideas, sometimes light-hearted, on his Twitter timeline. His tweets often spark debates on various issues, including free speech that polarises the twitterities. Twitter on Monday confirmed the sale of the company to Tesla Chief Elon Musk for USD 44 billion. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive USD 54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38 per cent premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company, CNN reported.

Elon Musk not joining Twitter board; CEO Parag Agrawal reveals why

 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and now the largest shareholder in the micro-blogging site Twitter, has decided not to join the Twitter board. He owns a 9.2% stake, worth nearly $3 billion, in Twitter Inc

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, who was to officially become a member of the Twitter board from April 9, has decided not to do so, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote in a post on Monday. In his Twitter post, Agrawal said, “Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.” “I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.,” the CEO added.

Ex-Starlink India head now plans a white paper on broadband, poverty

 Sanjay Bhargava on Wednesday revealed that he now plans to write a white paper on how to ensure countrywide broadband access by 2023 and end poverty by 2030.

Sanjay Bhargava, who has quit as India Director for Elon Musk-run satellite internet company Starlink, on Wednesday revealed that he now plans to write a white paper on how to ensure countrywide broadband access by 2023 and end poverty by 2030. After announcing a dramatic exit as the India head of Starlink operations late on Tuesday, Bhargava posted on LinkedIn that he has always tried to give back to India by blaming no one and inspiring everyone over the last 17 years.

“As I retire, I am thinking of writing a short whitepaper on ‘Good Broadband Pan India by Dec 2023 & Ending Poverty by 2030’. Is this possible?” he wrote. “My concern is that even though my intentions are good my words will be twisted, and all kinds of motives will be ascribed even though my only motive is to provoke thinking to achieve the METRO’s (Measurable Timebound Real Outcomes) outlined in the title,” Bhargava added.

“My tentative deadline to publish (the white paper) is January 15, 2022,” he said. His resignation came after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications in December warned Starlink to get necessary permission required to offer satellite-based Internet services in India.

Tesla's Elon Musk says he'll pay over $11 billion in taxes this year

 The billionaire may face a tax bill of more than $10 billion for 2021 if he exercises all his options due to expire next year, calculations last week by Bloomberg News showed.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., said on Twitter that he’ll pay more than $11 billion in taxes this year, an amount that could constitute a record payment to the U. S. Internal Revenue Service. The billionaire may face a tax bill of more than $10 billion for 2021 if he exercises all his options due to expire next year, calculations last week by Bloomberg News showed.

The unusually high levy comes after Elon Musk Musk exercised almost 15 million options and sold millions of shares to cover the taxes related to those transactions. That was following a Twitter poll last month when he asked followers whether he should sell 10% of his stake in the electric carmaker, whose shares have rocketed more than 2,300% over the past five years.

Coronavirus update: Key developments in the last 24 hours and takeaways

Yesterday, in a video conference with chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated the nationwide lockdown could be extended beyond May 17, but with eased restrictions for businesses

The total number of Covid-19 cases in India has reached 70,765, with more than 3,600 cases being reported in 24 hours. Here are some key takeaways: Delhi has added 319 new cases in a day. It has consistently added more than 200 cases for 11 days. Total cases added on these days comes to 3718, which is 51.5% of all case tally of 7233.

Also Read: Centre releases Rs 6,195 crore to 14 states to fight coronavirus crisis

Gujarat has added 347 new cases in 24 hours. It has consistently added more than 300 cases on each of the past 13 days. Total cases added during this period, 4767, is 56% of its case tally of 8541. Maharashtra has added 1230 new cases in 24 hours. The state has consistently added more than 1,000 cases on seven of the past eight days. Its addition of cases in the past eight days is 10427, which is 44.5% of its case tally of 23401…

Click for Podcast

Zoom not a safe platform, says MHA advisory; SpaceX, Google ban use

The advisory further gives detailed instructions on the safe use of the platform including security configurations through website and app

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday said in an advisory that video-conferencing software Zoom was not a safe platform, and was not for use by government offices or officials. “Zoom is a not a safe platform and advisory of Cert-In on the same dated Feb 06, 2020 and March 30, 2020, may kindly be referred,” said the advisory from the Cyber Coordination Centre under the MHA, dated April 12. The advisory further gave detailed instructions on the safe use of the platform, including security configurations through website and app.

Responding to the MHA advisory, a Zoom spokesperson said: “Zoom takes user security extremely seriously. A large number of global institutions ranging from the world’s largest financial services companies and telecommunications providers, to non-governmental organisations and government agencies, have done exhaustive security reviews of our user, network and datacenter layers and continue to use Zoom for most or all of their unified communications needs.”

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) put out an advisory on March 30 about “Secure usage of Zoom video conferencing application,” detailing the steps users should take to ensure their data remains protected.Salman Waris, managing partner at New Delhi-based specialist technology law firm TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors, said the issue is the Government both at the Centre and individual state level working remotely and using Zoom to conduct official meetings and discuss the emergency response. This includes planning a critical official strategy to Covid-19 having to operate outside the secured workplace and managing machine sprawl— when the numbers of virtual machines on a network increase, securing hundreds of thousands of endpoints becomes a much bigger challenge…Read More

Tesla CEO Elon Musk to testify in defamation case over ‘pedo guy’ tweet

In his opening statement, Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro told the jurors that his client meant no harm when he hit out at Unsworth and that his words were spoken in anger.

Tesla co-founder Elon Musk went on trial in Los Angeles in a defamation case involving a British caver he allegedly called a pedophile during a spat on Twitter. A jury of six women and two men were selected to hear the case with the tech billionnaire set to testify early on in the trial, possibly Tuesday afternoon.

Musk will likely be asked about his state of mind when he called British diver Vernon Unsworth — who helped rescue youth soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand in July 2018 — “pedo guy” in a tweet. The 48-year-old entrepreneur had lashed out at Unsworth in a series of tweets after the latter dismissed Musk’s proposal to build a mini-submarine to rescue the youths as a “PR stunt.”

Unsworth said the custom-built device would never have fit in the cave and suggested that Elon Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts.” In his opening statement, Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro told the jurors that his client meant no harm when he hit out at Unsworth and that his words were spoken in anger. “The tweets are not allegations of crimes, they are joking, taunting tweets in a fight between two men,” Spiro told the court.

He noted that Musk had apologized for the ‘pedo guy’ tweet and removed it from his feed, repeating his clients’ claim that the term was a common insult in South Africa, where Musk grew up. “Pedo guy (means) creepy old guy,” in South Africa, Spiro said. He added that Musk felt compelled to write the tweets as he was hurt by the suggestion that he was seeking publicity when he offered to help in the cave rescue...

People may have to work just 12 hours a week thanks to AI, says Jack Ma

Just this year, Ma had endorsed the China tech sector’s infamous 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week routine, so common it earned the moniker 996

Billionaire Jack Ma, long an outspoken advocate for China’s extreme work culture, says that people should be able to work just 12 hours a week with the benefits of artificial intelligence.

People could work as little as three days a week, four hours a day with the help of technology advances, the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd co-founder said at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai Thursday. He spoke on-stage with Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc who is building manufacturing facilities in the city.

Just this year, Ma endorsed the China tech sector’s infamous 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week routine, so common it earned the moniker 996. In one blog post, China’s richest man this year dismissed people who expect a typical eight-hour office lifestyle, defying a growing popular backlash.

“I don’t worry about jobs,” Ma said on Thursday, making an optimistic case that AI will help humans rather than just eliminate their work. “Computers only have chips, men have the heart. It’s the heart where the wisdom comes from.”

Tesla launches new $45,000 version of Model 3 sedan with mid-range battery

Although Tesla has promised a base-level version of the Model 3 priced at $35,000, so far it has only produced higher-cost versions

Automobile News : Tesla Inc on Thursday introduced a new $45,000 version of its Model 3 sedan on its website, launching the car as U.S. tax breaks for Tesla cars are about to decrease.

According to the website, the rear-wheel-drive model has a “mid range” battery, a range of 260 miles, 50 miles less than the long-range battery that the more expensive Model 3 is equipped with. (BS) 

The new version has a delivery period of six to 10 weeks, according to the website, which would customers eligible for the current $7,500 U.S. tax credit if they take delivery by the end of the year. The tax credit for Tesla cars will drop by half on Jan. 1.

Although Tesla has promised a base-level version of the Model 3 Sedan priced at $35,000, so far it has only produced higher-cost versions starting at about $49,000. Tesla has said that it would not manufacture the base-level version of the Model 3 this year.

Adding the mid-priced version of the Model 3 appears to be a strategic way to lure possible buyers who had been waiting for the lower-priced version. It is not clear how many of the more than 400,000 reservations for the Model 3 are for the base models.

| Business Standard |