Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk discussed his planned acquisition of Twitter, recession fears and the US presidential race with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the chat he also clarified how much of Tesla\u2019s workforce would be laid off and said he hoped to unveil his prototype humanoid robot to the world by the end of September. Here\u2019s the Q&A session in full:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q:<\/strong> Elon Musk, thank you very much for coming and talking to us. You could argue at the moment that we in the media have at least three Elon Musks to deal with: We have the proposed buyer of Twitter; we have the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and much else; and we have Musk, the emerging political force \u2014 and that\u2019s before we discover or discuss all the different provocations and tweets and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But maybe we can run through those three, and let\u2019s begin with Twitter. And I suppose my question for you is, what is the status of the $44 billion (\u20ac41billion) deal to buy the company? If you look at the deal spreads at the moment, the investors seem to be betting that it won\u2019t happen, I suppose. And right here you have the Qataris, who are among your backers. What are you going to say to them and to us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> First of all, I\u2019d like to say, Your Highness, Your Excellencies and distinguished guests, thank you very much for hosting me virtually. It\u2019s an honour to be here, or be there virtually, and I actually wish I could be there in person. So with respect to the Twitter transaction, there\u2019s a limit to what I can say publicly given that it is somewhat of a sensitive matter. So I like to be measured in my responses here, such as not to generate incremental lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> That seems to be a risk you sometimes manage to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A<\/strong>: Yes, deposition minimisation, I think, is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Has Twitter given you enough information?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well, there are still a few unresolved matters. You\u2019ve probably read about the question as to whether the number of fake and spam users on the system is less than 5% as Twitter claims, which I think is probably not most people\u2019s experience when using Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So we\u2019re still awaiting resolution on that matter, and that is a very significant matter. So we\u2019re awaiting resolution on that. And then of course, there is the question of, will the debt portion of the round come together? And then will the shareholders vote in favour? So I think those are the three things that needto be resolved before the transaction can complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q<\/strong>: What about the general state of the economy? Does that weigh on you when you think about this? I mean, you described you have a super-bad feeling about the economy. Are you still in that position? I just said to you earlier, Joe Biden has just come out and said that a recession in United States is not inevitable. How do you feel about the economy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well, I think a recession is inevitable at some point. As to whether there is a recession in the near term, I think that is more likely than not. It certainly isn\u2019t a certainty, but it appears more likely than not. And what do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019m with you. I agree with you, I think it\u2019s more likely. Can I ask you one particular thing to do with the Twitter bid, which is you are one of the biggest and fastest-growing investors in China. Tesla \u2014 you\u2019ve talked about it being a third of your sales going forward. You\u2019ll now buy Twitter, the kind of public forum for free speech. The Chinese historically don\u2019t tend to be very enthusiastic about free speech. Are you worried about whether you can keep those two particular horses running? Is buying Twitter going to get you in trouble with the Chinese?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well, Twitter does not operate in China. And I think China does not attempt to interfere with the free speech of the press in the US, as far as I know. Because I assume you\u2019re not under pressure at Bloomberg from China. I don\u2019t think this is going to be an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> In terms generally of that issue of freedom of speech and Twitter, you\u2019ve talked about Twitter, making it even freer and letting more people on to it. Is there a limit at all to who you think should be allowed on to Twitter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well, my aspiration for Twitter or in general for the digital town square would be that it is as inclusive \u2014 in the broader sense of the word \u2014 as possible. That it is an appealing system to use. So I mean, ideally, I\u2019d like to get like 80 percent of North America and perhaps half the world or something ultimately on Twitter in one form or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that means it must be something that is appealing to people. It obviously cannot be a place where they feel uncomfortable or harassed, or they\u2019ll simply not use it. And I think there\u2019s this big difference between freedom of speech and freedom of reach in that one can, obviously, let\u2019s say in the United States go in the middle of Times Square and pretty much yell anything you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll annoy the people around you, but you\u2019re kind of allowed to just sort of yell whatever you want in a crowded public place, more or less, apart from \u201cthis is robbery\u2020 \u2014 probably that would get you in trouble. So but then whatever you say, however controversial, does not need to then be broadcast to the whole country. So I think generally the approach of Twitter should be to let people say what they want to do within the bounds of the law, but then limit who sees that based on any given Twitter user\u2019s preferences. So if your preferences are to see anything, or read anything, then well, you\u2019ll get that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if your preferences are well, you prefer not to see comments that you find offensive in one form or another, then you can have that as a setting and not see it. But I think one way or another, one needs to take the steps that entice most people to want to be on Twitter, and enjoy it and find it informative and entertaining and funny and useful \u2014 as useful as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> It sounds like you want to be involved. Is your plan to be CEO of Twitter? And if you do that, would you still keep being CEO of Tesla and SpaceX?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/strong>Well, I would drive the product, which is what I do at SpaceX and Tesla. So I\u2019d drive the product and technology. Whether I\u2019m calledthe CEO or something else is much less important than my ability to drive the product in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Can I jump toward Tesla then? For most people, it\u2019s very obvious that you have changed the car industry in a dramatic way. I\u2019m quite intrigued by one thing \u2014 your competitors. Where do you see competition coming from? Do you see it coming from the old carmakers coming back at you? I just saw a forecast that maybe in a couple of years\u2019 time, Volkswagen would be bigger than you in electric cars. Or do you see it coming from a new place? Do you believe that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I believe that forecast was from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Yes, it was. And do you agree with that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I would not agree with that forecast, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: <\/strong>But do you see people like Volkswagen and General Motors as the opponents or do you see people like China, the new Chinese companies? Where do you see the most vibrant competition in electric cars?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I have to say that I am very impressed with the car companies in China and just in general with companies in China. I think they\u2019re extremely competitive, hardworking and smart. And I think there\u2019s going to be just a large wave of Chinese products going out into the world. There already are. For example, almost all the iPhones are made in China by contract manufacturers for Apple. But I think we\u2019ll see just a large wave of products being exported from China in many industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong>\u00a0In electric cars, do they have an advantage at all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well I should say from a Tesla perspective, we don\u2019t really think about other competitors. Our constraints are much more in raw materials and being able to scale up production. So our constraints are not imposed upon us by competitors, but rather just imposed upon us by the realities of the supply chain and building up manufacturing capacity. So as anyone knows who has tried to order a Tesla, the demand for our cars is extremely high and the wait list is long. And this is not intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are increasing production capacity as fast as humanly possible. So like I said, we really don\u2019t think about competition at all, we just think about how do we address the limiting factors in the supply chain and in our own industrial capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, we need to build the factories faster, and then we need to look ahead to whatever the choke points are in the whole lithium-ion battery supply chain, from mining and refining to cathode and anode production and cell formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: <\/strong>Can you set the record straight on one thing, which is this issue about the lay-offs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think you\u2019ve said initially that at Tesla, 10 per cent of the workforce would be cut; then 10 per cent of salary would be cut; then salary would stay flat and overall headcount would go up. What is the number?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know there\u2019s already a lawsuit about the 10 per cent. Is 10 per cent the goal to reduce the workforce? What is the number that we should think about or that you\u2019re planning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/strong>Tesla is reducing the salaried workforce roughly 10 per cent over the next probably three months or so. We expect to grow our hourly workforce, and I should be quite clear that we expect to grow our hourly workforce. But we grew very fast on the salaried side. And we grew a little too fast in some areas, and so it requires a reduction in the salaried workforce. We\u2019re about two thirds hourly and one third salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I guess technically a 10 per cent reduction in the salaried workforce is only roughly a 3 per cent, 3.5 per cent reduction in total headcount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> I think that number is important legally, isn\u2019t it? Because I think people are trying to say, ifyou\u2019re going to lay off 10% of your workforce, you have \u2014 even in United States \u2014 to make an announcement about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/strong>We did make an announcement on that. Let\u2019s not read too much into a pre-emptive lawsuit that has no standing, that is a small lawsuit of minor consequence. Anything related to Tesla gets big headlines, whether it is, you know, a bicycle crash or something much more serious. It seems like anything related to Tesla gets a lot of clicks, whether it is trivial or significant. I would put that lawsuit you\u2019re referring to in the trivial category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So a year from now, I think our headcount will be higher in both salary and obviously in hourly, but in the short term of the next few months, we expect to see, like I said, roughly a 10 per cent reduction in salaried workforce, which is actually just really only a 3%, 3.5% reduction in total headcount and not super material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Should we jump to that third Elon Musk, the uncontroversial one in politics? You\u2019ve indicated that the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is someone you could get behind if he ran for president. I\u2019m wondering if you\u2019re still in that position, and whether you would, for instance, think about supporting Donald Trump if he were to run?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/strong>Well, I was simply asked if I had decided on who I would be supporting in the next presidential race, and I said I had not decided who I would support. Then I was asked, well, who might you be leaning towards? I said possibly DeSantis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Now I\u2019m asking you about Trump, whether you would consider him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I think I\u2019m undecided at this point on that election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> You talked about putting money behind a super-moderate super PAC in the US. And I wondered, how much money do you think you\u2019re going to put into that? What kind of support would you push?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I\u2019ve not decided on an amount, but it would be some non-trivial figure, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Non-trivial could mean a lot of money with you, I was guessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/strong>Well, I\u2019ve not decided on an exact amount, but perhaps it would be $20 million (\u20ac19 million) or $25 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: <\/strong>Just on that issue. I mean, again, you look at what DeSantis says, you look at what Trump says. And those sort of politicians, they are, again, the people who make a large noise about China, and I wondered whether you thought that was also an issue for you in terms of business in China?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well, no, I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> You\u2019re a brave man. Can I ask you, over the weekend, you tweeted your support of one cryptocurrency. You\u2019ve seen the kind of carnage that has been happening in cryptocurrencies at the moment. What is happening? And do you still think people should invest, or is it a more selective approach?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:\u00a0<\/strong>Well, I have never said that people should invest in crypto. In the case of Tesla, SpaceX, myself \u2014 you know, SpaceX and Tesla, for example, all did buy some Bitcoin, but it\u2019s a small percentage of our total cash and near-cash assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, you know, not all that significant. I also bought some Dogecoin and Tesla accepts Dogecoin for some merchandise and SpaceX will do the same. And I intend to personally support Dogecoin because I just know a lot of people who are not that wealthy who, you know, have encouraged me to buy and support Dogecoin. So I\u2019m responding to those people and just people that, when I\u2019ve walked around the factory at SpaceX or Tesla, they\u2019ve asked me to support Dogecoin, so I\u2019m doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Because Dogecoin, I think, has come down a lot. It\u2019s down about 80%, 90%, or it\u2019s down a lot. And that\u2019s the reason why you came out and said that you still thought there was value there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I said I support Dogecoin and I\u2019m doing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Can I ask you one last question as I notice that you\u2019re going to unleash a humanoid robot, to be unveiled on September 30. I wonder if there\u2019s anything more you could tell us about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Well, I hope that we will have an interesting prototype to show people. We have a very talented team at Tesla that I\u2019m working with closely to have a prototype humanoid robot ready by the end of September. And I think we are tracking to that point. And there\u2019ll be a few other exciting things that we talk about at the Tesla AI Day. We have these sort of AI Day events to just emphasise that Tesla is a lot more than a car company and that we are, in my view, the leading real-world AI company that exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:<\/strong> Did you see at all the drama at Google where at least one engineer thought that what was happening in terms of their AI machinery was closer to human thought than had been seen before and had a personality? Is that something that you think about at all or you worry about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> I think we should be concerned about AI. And I\u2019ve said for a long time that I think there ought to be an AI regulatory agency that oversees artificial intelligence for the public good. And I think that for anything where there is a risk to the public, whether that\u2019s say, the Food and Drug Administration or Federal Aviation Administration or the Communications Commission, whether it\u2019s a public risk or a public good at stake, it\u2019s good to have a sort of a Government referee and a regulatory body. And I think we should have that for AI, and we don\u2019t currently. And that would be my recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: <\/strong>Elon Musk, you\u2019ve been incredibly kind with your time, not least because I think it\u2019s 3am in the morning in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong> Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s been a heroic performance. Thank you very much for talking to the Qatar Economic Forum and for talking to Bloomberg, thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A:<\/strong>\u00a0You\u2019re most welcome, thanks for having me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Qatar\u2019s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Qatar Investment Authority and Investment Promotion Agency Qatar are the underwriters of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg. Media City Qatar is the host organisation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Bloomberg<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk discussed his planned acquisition of Twitter, recession fears and the US presidential race with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday. During the chat he also clarified how much of Tesla\u2019s workforce would be laid off and said he hoped to unveil his prototype humanoid robot to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":17585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[294,494],"class_list":["post-17584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-38","tag-elon-musk","tag-qatar"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albayanmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}