Page 15 - Elon Musk

Grok's focus on South Africa's racial politics 'unauthorised': Musk's xAI

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company said an unauthorised modification to its chatbot Grok was the reason why it kept talking about South African racial politics and the subject of white genocide on social media this week. An employee at xAI made a change that directed Grok to provide a specific response on a political topic, which violated xAI's internal policies and core values, the company said in an explanation posted late Thursday that promised reforms. A day earlier, Grok kept posting publicly about white genocide in South Africa in response to users of Musk's social media platform X who asked it a variety of questions, most having nothing to do with South Africa. One exchange was about streaming service Max reviving the HBO name. Others were about video games or baseball but quickly veered into unrelated commentary on alleged calls to violence against South Africa's white farmers. It was echoing views shared by Musk, who was born in South Africa and frequently opines o

Tesla tightens rules to limit shareholder suits after Musk pay battle

Tesla changed its bylaws to require investors to hold at least 3% of shares to file or maintain a derivative lawsuit, aiming to limit future legal challenges like those over Musk's pay package

Humanities groups sue Trump administration to reverse local funding cuts

A humanities federation and a state council have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reverse local funding cuts made by Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Portland, Oregon, by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Oregon Council for the Humanities, names DOGE, its acting administrator, Amy Gleason, and the NEH among the defendants. The plaintiffs ask the court to "stop this imminent threat to our nation's historic and critical support of the humanities by restoring funding appropriated by Congress." It notes the disruption and attempted destruction, spearheaded by DOGE, of a partnership between the state and the federal government to support the humanities. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, maintains that DOGE and the National Endowment for the Humanities exceeded their authority in terminating funding mandated by Congress. DOGE shut down the funding and lai

Tesla board forms panel to explores new pay deal for CEO Elon Musk: Report

Musk kicked off an appeal in March against the order, claiming a lower court judge made multiple legal errors in rescinding the record compensation

Tesla eyes new pay deal for Musk as legal row over $56 bn package drags on

A special board committee has been established to explore compensation options amid leadership uncertainty

Game in the sky: Will Musk's Starlink disrupt India's broadband universe?

Many suggest that geopolitical relations between India and the United States played a role in facilitating the tieups between Starlink and the Indian telcos

Tesla scouts for land in Satara to set up completely knocked down unit

Last week, Tesla's India head Prasanth Menon stepped down. A Tesla's China team will now oversee the EV maker's India operations

'Let's be friends': Sam Altman to Elon Musk amid years-long AI rivalry

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman signals truce with Elon Musk, says AGI is too important to let personal feuds get in the way; the two tech rivals had recently clashed over past political stances

Judge pauses much of Trump admin's massive downsizing of federal agencies

The Republican administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday. Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed by labour unions and cities last week, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive. The Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime, Illston wrote in her order. The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the president's workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management. The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people. ...

'Killing children': Bill Gates rips Elon Musk over aid cuts to poor nations

Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of endangering millions by shutting down USAID, warning that the move could reverse decades of progress in child health and survival globally

Bill Gates to donate $200 bn by 2045, says Musk 'killing' poorest kids

The 69-year-old billionaire co-founder of Microsoft said he was speeding up his plans to divest almost all of his fortune and would close the foundation on December 31, 2045

Starlink requires IN-SPACe nod to launch satellite communication services

Firm needs all approvals before Trai brings guidelines

Tesla India head Prashanth Menon resigns as EV maker prepares India entry

Prashanth Menon's resignation comes as Tesla plans entry into Indian markets

Musk's Starlink gains from Trump tariff as nations try to ease tensions

Even a modest share of India's broadband market could yield close to $1 billion in annual revenue for Starlink, internal cables accessed by The Washington Post find

Tesla's 'Robotaxi' trademark refused for being too generic: Report

Another application by Tesla to trademark the term "Robotaxi" for its upcoming ride-hailing service is still under examination by the office, the report said

Govt issues Letter of Intent to Starlink for satellite internet rollout

The government has issued Letter of Intent to Starlink for satcom services, sources said on Wednesday. Starlink is a satellite internet service developed by SpaceX -- the American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded in 2002 by world's richest man Elon Musk. It provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet worldwide using satellite technology. Sources told PTI that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has now issued Letter of Intent to Starlink. Prior to this, the government had issued licences to Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications. Unlike conventional satellite services that rely on distant geostationary satellites, Starlink utilises the world's largest low earth orbit or LEO constellation (550 km above earth). This constellation of LEO satellites (7,000 now but eventually set to grow to over 40,000) and its mesh delivers broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, and video calls.

Starlink approval in final phase, to serve remote areas: MoS Telecom

Granting approval to Elon Musk-led satellite internet provider Starlink is a complicated issue but it is in the final stages, Union Minister Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Tuesday while allaying apprehensions of any threat to existing telecom service providers. While speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the Bharat Telecom event, the Minister of State for Telecom said that the government's security norms for satcom are important, especially in the present scenario where hostile nation Pakistan is making an attempt to hack the country's system. "It is a little complicated issue (permit for Starlink). We have to look from multiple angles. Security is one of them. Definitely, since it is in the final stages, we will get back on that," the minister said. He said that Starlink will have a minuscule role in connectivity compared to traditional telecom networks. "Starlink or the others, I wanted you to understand that in the entire world the number of subscribers Starlink has is l

Airtel Africa partners with Starlink to provide satcom across continent

Starlink has secured necessary licences to provide satcom in 9 of the 14 countries Airtel Africa operates in

Elon Musk's lawyer says OpenAI's reform proposal 'changes nothing'

Earlier in the day, the ChatGPT maker said it would move forward with an effort to restructure its for-profit division as a public benefit corporation

US labour dept to end mental health, child care benefits for own staff

DOL's Worklife4You programme, which offers prenatal kits for expecting parents, nurse visits to help with eldercare, and personal finance and wellness advice, is being discontinued effective May 9