There have been quite the instances with high-profile Musk technology ending up in Russian hands (in latest news, a Cybertruck for Chechen wannabe-dictator/strongman Kadyrow), and Musk's personal ... deep dive into madness, as well as his questionably legal voter bribery, just add fuel to the fire of both companies appearing not really trustworthy under Musk's control.
The knowledge that even if Elon Musk goes completely off-script, Starshield/Starlink/SpaceX will still be there. Right now, there is nothing stopping Musk - whose shares control 78% of the voting rights [1] - to wind down shop at his will. Maybe he'll have to pay out the other investors, but like at Twitter he may just end up sticking the finger to anyone whom the company is in debt to.
Having the future of space flight, low-latency civilian and military communication and low-orbit recon satellites all held together in the hand of one increasingly erratic billionaire is not something the US can afford to accept.
Don't confuse the SouthAfrikanManBad Reddit-driven fanfic in your head with reality.
>(in latest news, a Cybertruck for Chechen wannabe-dictator/strongman Kadyrow)
Really? Your example is said Chechen strongman buying an automobile, readily available on the open market, containing zero secret technology? Really?
I look forward to your prediction of the Japanese government nationalizing Toyota, because Hilux trucks are the vehicles of choice among terrorists and other warring parties around the world.
PS - If your reply contains any variant of "Musk turned off Starlink in Ukraine!", please delete your HN account immediately.
Musk himself has stated he's regularly using ketamine [1], and it's obvious just how hard he spiralled down in personality over the last years. I don't care much if it's ketamine, megalomania, too many children, not enough sleep, falling down conspiracy rabbit holes, barely medicated ADHD or whatever that's causing this, he's clearly not fit for the position. Dude should have went on a sabbatical after the fuck-up that forced him to buy Twitter, instead he went full steam ahead.
> Really? Your example is said Chechen strongman buying an automobile, readily available on the open market, containing zero secret technology? Really?
Considering that Russia has been on sanctions lists for over two years now, and Kadyrow since 2017 [2], there is a question how that car ended up in Kadyrow's hands despite the sanctions - and to what degree Tesla is involved or can be held liable otherwise.
> I look forward to your prediction of the Japanese government nationalizing Toyota, because Hilux trucks are the vehicles of choice among terrorists and other warring parties around the world.
There's a difference between readily available vehicles and ones that are still rare in supply.
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/18/tech/elon-musk-ketamine-u...
