"The world's richest man killing the world's poorest children"

In this week’s Musk Watch roundup: Bill Gates condemns Elon’s DOGE cuts, the Trump administration uses tariffs to help Starlink, and SpaceX forms a company town.

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A bust of Elon Musk that was recently vandalized is seen near the SpaceX projects in Brownsville, Texas, on May 3, 2025. (Photo by GABRIEL CARDENAS/AFP via Getty Images)

From the State Department to the Federal Communications Commission, members of the Trump administration have spent recent months lobbying on behalf of Starlink, the satellite broadband provider owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The widespread tariffs announced by President Trump last month appear to have been leveraged in that effort, as the administration urged countries facing hefty trade barriers to grant operating licenses to Starlink, according to a report from the Washington Post:

A series of internal government messages obtained by The Post reveal how U.S. embassies and the State Department have pushed nations to clear hurdles for U.S. satellite companies, often mentioning Starlink by name. The documents do not show that the Trump team has explicitly demanded favors for Starlink in exchange for lower tariffs. But they do indicate that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has increasingly instructed officials to push for regulatory approvals for Musk’s satellite firm at a moment when the White House is calling for wide-ranging talks on trade.

In India, government officials have sped through approvals of Starlink with the understanding that doing so could help them cement trade deals with the administration, according to two people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect private deliberations.

“It’s not likely to be an explicit element of the trade negotiations with the U.S., but the Indian side sees this as an important lubricant that facilitates a deal,” said one of the people briefed on the matter by Indian leadership.

The Post also obtained an internal State Department memo regarding the African country of Lesotho, which Trump hit with 50% tariffs that could devastate its tiny export-based economy. "As the government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with the United States," the memo stated, "it hopes that licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill and intent to welcome U.S. businesses."

In response to the Post, the State Department draped itself in the flag, describing Starlink as "an American-made product." According to the State Department, "[a]ny patriotic American should want to see an American company’s success on the global stage, especially over compromised Chinese competitors."

Bill Gates says Musk killed children by axing USAID funding

Referring to Musk's role in stifling the U.S. Agency for International Development, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that his fellow tech billionaire has blood on his hands. "The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one," Gates told the Financial Times. "I'd love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money."

House votes to kill emissions waiver that benefited Tesla. $7,500 EV credit could be next.

Despite the inroads that Musk has made with Republicans in recent years, the party is still not interested in an electric vehicle revolution. On Thursday, the GOP-controlled House voted to rescind an Environmental Protection Agency waiver for "Advanced Clean Cars." The waiver empowered California to police its own emissions standards, which by 2035 will require all new vehicles sold in the state to be electric or plug-in hybrid.

Currently, California requires that 35% of all cars sold by a manufacturer be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Companies that fail to meet this standard can buy credits from companies like Tesla that exceed the current standard. If California's emissions standards are canceled, Tesla would stand to lose a significant amount of money. Without sales of regulatory credits, Tesla's first quarter slump would have been far worse.

The Biden-era Clean Vehicle Credit is another boon for Tesla that Republicans are angling to phase out as they search for ways to afford the tax cuts desired by Trump. "I think there is a better chance we kill it than save it, but we'll see how it comes out," House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday. The $7,500 tax credit, which cost Washington an estimated $2 billion last year, is offered to taxpayers who purchase a qualifying electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. Most Teslas are eligible for the credit, including the Model Y and Model 3.

Tesla sales plunge in Europe; 'Made in China' sales pitch; Ballooning Cybertruck inventory

April was another bad month for Tesla sales in Europe. In the U.K., which had been Tesla's sole positive market on the continent in the first quarter, the automaker delivered 512 vehicles last month, a 62% decline year-over-year and a 65% plunge relative to the first month of Q1. That's despite Tesla launching its refreshed Model Y and offering sizable discounts on its old Model Ys in the country. Making matters worse for Tesla, the sales plunge occurred as the U.K. saw an 8.1% increase among overall EV sales in April. Of the 120,331 new cars registered in the U.K. in April, 24,558 were EVs.

In Germany, where Tesla operates its sole European factory, its sales declined 46% last month year-over-year, even as sales of EVs increased by more than 53% in the country. Musk's Nazi-esque salutes and outspoken support for the far-right AfD party in Germany's recent elections appear to have had a corrosive effect. In March, 94% of respondents in a survey of 100,000 Germans said they would not consider buying a Tesla.

Tesla sales in April also declined by 81% in Sweden, 73.8% in the Netherlands, 67% in Denmark, and 59% in France. The Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin purportedly has the capacity to pump out 375,000 vehicles annually. But at this rate, the company could be forced to pare back production. In addition, cratering sales in Europe have defied predictions from some analysts who believed Tesla's new Model Y would alleviate its sales troubles.

Trump's trade war appears to have hampered Tesla's image in China, the world's leading EV market. There, Tesla has sought to accentuate its local bona fides — the largest Gigafactory is in Shanghai — with the company writing in a social media post on Weibo, "This is Tesla, this is 'Made in China,'" according to Electrek. The China Passenger Car Association found that Tesla sales fell by 6% in April. Registrations of new Teslas in China declined slightly in Q1 amid stiff competition from indigenous EV companies.

In the U.S., Tesla is sitting on a massive inventory of Cybertrucks, the trapezoidal pick-ups beloved by Musk but loathed by many. To clear the backlog, Tesla is offering discounts of up to $10,550 on two of its 2024 models. But with an average sale price of $78,000, the Cybertruck is still a costly option within its class and has already experienced numerous recalls. Tesla also announced this week that it won't deliver a lane assist feature — Autosteer — that Cybertruck owners paid for, instead offering impacted customers a one-year free trial of its Supervised Full-Self Driving software.

While Tesla's long-rumored affordable model remains months away from launching, the company is offering a new, cheaper version of its best-selling line. The Long-Range RWD Model Y is going for $44,990 before including the $7,500 federal tax credit.

Trump administration to kill research into space pollution predominately caused by SpaceX

Federal research into pollution caused by rocket launches and satellite reentries is on the chopping block. Keeping the scientific community and public ignorant of these concerns would benefit SpaceX, the undisputed leader in global rocket launches and satellite deliveries.

From the Guardian:

The two research projects would have had the potential to eventually lead to new regulations, costs or logistical challenges for Musk’s companies and the commercial space industry, experts say.

They were part of the office of atmospheric research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which the Trump administration is now proposing to kill…

In late 2023, a Noaa-sponsored study discovered that metals from spacecraft vaporizing as they re-enter the atmosphere were accumulating in the stratosphere. Follow-up stratospheric measurement flights planned for February would have continued that research. Separately, a multi-space-agency workshop with private industry that aimed to understand the problem’s scope and consider solutions is also on the chopping block.

Both projects were delayed after funding freezes earlier in the administration, even before the broader Noaa cuts targeted them, former Noaa officials said.

On Tuesday, the FAA approved SpaceX's request to increase the launch cadence of its Starship — the largest rocket ever made — to 25 per year, which will undoubtedly increase its pollution footprint. Pollutants released in rocket launches are hundreds of times more potent than those from jet engines.

While Musk once presented himself as an environmentally concerned industrialist, he abandoned that identity in favor of explicitly right-wing politics in recent years. His ecological concerns are now oriented away from manmade climate change and toward more fantastical perils. "Mars is life insurance for life collectively," Musk said in a recent Fox News interview. "So, eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the Sun. The Sun is gradually expanding, and so we do at some point need to be a multi-planet civilization because Earth will be incinerated."

SpaceX incorporates company town in Texas

Over the weekend, the SpaceX employees and their families who populate a small community along the South Texas Gulf coast voted to incorporate as a city. "Starbase, Texas is now a real city!" Musk wrote in a celebratory post. Near the Mexico border, SpaceX's Starbase facility serves as the launch and test site for the company's Starship rockets. Musk also plans to move SpaceX headquarters from Southern California to Starbase.

Passing the measure to incorporate Starbase could grant SpaceX more freedom over its launch and test schedule. At present, the company has to receive permission from Cameron County before launching from Starbase. Ahead of a launch, municipal authorities must close three public areas: a nearby highway, Boca Chica Beach, and Boca Chica State Park. The Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and the South Texas Environmental Justice Network have protested the closures.

A state bill that would effectively allow SpaceX to close the beach for launches was voted down in committee last week, but it has since been reintroduced and referred to the Texas House for a general vote. The Texas Senate has already passed the bill.

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Musk Minutes

Neighbors abutting Musk's mansion in West Lake Hills, Texas, are not pleased with the hectic activity his presence has drawn. "Transporting service employees to other houses, leaving their cars on our quiet streets, hauling laundry to and fro to other houses has to stop," one neighbor wrote to the city's zoning and planning commission. Musk could be forced to take down a lofty chain-link fence he constructed around the home, as it exceeds local regulations by 10 feet. (New York Times)

xAI claims that it has removed some of the 35 natural gas turbines from its Memphis data center that are polluting the air of a nearby impoverished, predominantly Black neighborhood. "About half of the operating turbines will remain" in use until the construction of a new substation is completed sometime in the fall, according to a statement released through xAI's local partner. xAI has previously misled the public about its use of the turbines. (Data Center Dynamics)

OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, ceded a partial victory to Musk by ditching a plan to spin off its commercial operations into a for-profit company. The firm will instead remain governed by its non-profit board as it seeks to become a public benefit corporation. But OpenAI will change its investment model to allow investors to see uncapped returns and to ensure it can receive a $30 billion investment from SoftBank. A lawyer for Musk, who is suing OpenAI, called the changes "a transparent dodge that fails to address the core issues: charitable assets have been and still will be transferred for the benefit of private persons." (Washington Post)

xAI has announced a new partnership with Palantir and TWG Global aimed at increasing the use of AI in the financial services industry. Grok, xAI's chatbot, will be integral to the partnership, along with the Colossus GPU cluster that Musk built in Memphis. (Reuters)

On GitHub, an xAI employee leaked the API key for dozens of unreleased Grok models, including some that appear to have been built using internal data from SpaceX and Tesla. The leak was identified by a cybersecurity consultancy firm and reported to xAI. The key has since been taken down. (Krebs On Security)

Citing data Tesla filed with the SEC, Electrek published a breakdown of how the automaker's coffers have been used to benefit Musk's other companies and his associates. Tesla has given $3.8 million to the Boring Company to build a tunnel; $300,000 to Musk's brother, Kimbal, to produce a drone show; and $410,000 in payments to X for advertising. (Electrek)

Musk's Neuralink has received a "breakthrough" tag from the FDA, opening the door for the company to more rapidly develop and assess its brain-machine implant. (Reuters)

After a SpaceX Falcon 9 exploded on the ground in 2016, Musk urged investigators to look into whether the rocket had been targeted by a "sniper" working on behalf of the United Launch Alliance, SpaceX's leading competitor. The FBI looked into the theory but found it meritless, as did SpaceX engineers, who discovered the combustion was caused by the launch team fueling the rocket too quickly. (Ars Technica)