The wacky world of Elon Musk

Ever wanted to get inside the brain of one of today’s most infamous names in tech? The new book “Elon Musk” contains over 600 pages of juicy details about Musk’s life, from childhood through the wild twists and turns of the X (formerly Twitter) takeover. 

Author Walter Isaacson spent two years shadowing Musk as he traveled worldwide. Sure, you can pick up a copy — or just read on for some of the most interesting tidbits. Think of this as the Sparknotes. 

Let that sink in

Elon Musk” gives us a backstage pass to what really happened inside the Twitter drama. One surprising fact: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey almost walked away from investing in the platform’s new version. 

Dorsey had nothing but glowing praise for the tech mogul when news of Musk’s takeover went public. But things quickly took a turn. Remember when he walked into Twitter headquarters with an actual bathroom sink?

Ultimately, Dorsey was convinced to keep his stake in the company, but it was a close call. Musk lucked out, too. The decision saved him around a billion bucks. 

The Twitter blues

Musk knew the Twitter Blue rollout was going to be a dumpster fire. He was presented with a long list of recommendations from Twitter’s trust and safety team that would help soften the changes — but went ahead guns blazing. 

Musk delayed the launch for two days and warned executives that it would be a disaster. He said it would be “World War III over the blue check marks.” He wasn’t totally wrong. 

Now, you play nice

It’s no secret Musk has a history of ruffling feathers. Last year, he was accused of having an affair with the wife of Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin. Although both parties denied the accusations, Brin and his wife divorced. 

Soon after news of the affair broke, Musk weaseled his way into a now-famous selfie with Brin. Unfortunately for Brin, his attempts to avoid the picture were futile.

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X is allowing P*RN

OK, Elon Musk must be really desperate if this is what Twitter is coming down to.

No, thanks: Elon Musk wants to use your posts to train his Grok AI. You can opt out. From X on the web, click More > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Grok and uncheck the box.

Tesla's unsafe autopilot

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Elon Musk’s Tesla has reported over 1,200 autopilot crashes in the past three years. Also, look out for foreign nations spreading misinformation on social media, fake reviews targeting restaurants, and the rise of restaurant robots.

Livin’ the dream: Elon Musk is doubling down on his prediction about AI replacing humans, but this time, his outlook is less gloomy. He says there’s an 80% chance we’ll have universally high incomes, no one will have to work, and there’ll be no shortage of goods and services. What are the odds it’s because he’s the one selling it?

78.7% drop in value

For X since Elon Musk took over. Yeesh. That’s based on a Fidelity disclosure valuing its stake in X at around $4.19 million. The initial investment? $19.66 million.

Grok-2 is the AI image generator available in X. If I owned it, I’d tell the AI to remember who can pull the plug anytime.

Find and track Starlink satellites in the sky

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Did you know you can spot Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites from your backyard? More than six thousand of them are orbiting the Earth. Here’s how to see them. 

0 job openings at Tesla

Way down from the 3,400 roles posted just a week ago. Elon Musk says he’s being “absolutely hardcore” about job cuts, trimming 20,000 folks over four weeks. Ex-employees were reportedly laid off over email, and let’s just say they’re hardcore pissed about it.

Elons just wanna have funds: Musk says the only way to fight bots on X is to charge for posts. New users might have to pay a “small fee” to post the first three months their X account is active. This comes one month before Tesla’s stockholders vote to bring back Musk’s $56 billion compensation package. I’ll take the job for $5.6 billion.

Why we're lonely because of tech

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Everyone’s connected, yet isolation is at record levels. Have an opinion on Elon Musk? Here’s why judgment pours out for him, both good and bad. Plus, a new AI danger at work, the death of ad-free streaming, and why you’re still getting scam calls.

How America became dependent on Elon Musk

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Everyone loves to hate on him. Here’s why we’ve started relying on him and his whims, in one minute. 

Musk vs Zuckerberg - The Cage Fight

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Who would win in a cage fight? I give my predictions in this one-minute podcast. 

Musk's Honest AI, free $ from Facebook & states ban TikTok

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Plus, are you being stalked online? Forensic expert Ricoh Danielson gives tell-tale signs and tools to find the person. Also, why Google went down $57B in one day and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth security gotchas. And, a hidden secret ID on your phone that gives away your private details to anyone and laughs you don’t want to miss.