I'm sure it'll all trickle down though

  • Coincy [they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    What is musk doing that makes money other than Tesla? Is the idea that your companies will some day possibly make a lot of money enough to make you the 3rd richest person?

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      the idea that your companies will some day possibly make a lot of money

      yes.

      • BoxedFenders [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        SpaceX is privately owned and Musk has no intentions of exposing it to public scrutiny. It is speculated to be worth many times more than Tesla once Starlink is fully operational- which would be terrifying even if it was a completely benevolent company (which of course it isn't).

        But his OTHER venture Neuralink has potential to eclipse even that.

        • Corbyn [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          But his OTHER venture Neuralink has potential to eclipse even that.

          I still believe that the whole company is built on bullshit promises. They have yet to show anything. Even their ideas sound like crap so far.

          • BoxedFenders [any, comrade/them]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Well, Elon's greatest talent is selling far-fetched ideas to investors until enough money comes rolling in to make it seem feasible. Who knows where Neuralink will be in 20 years, but one thing is for sure- brain to computer interfaces will eventually become reality. It will probably not be advanced enough to fulfill its grander sci-fi objectives within Elon's remaining lifespan, but it does inch us closer to the dystopian cybernetic future that he fantasizes about.

            • cuckfucker93 [none/use name]
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              1
              ·
              4 years ago

              Brain to computer interfaces are unironically a good idea though. Not a fan of Elon but one of the issues with the world right now is it's sheer complexity and interlinked nature makes it impossible for anyone to really grasp it, something like that can absolutely help

              • BoxedFenders [any, comrade/them]
                ·
                4 years ago

                All scientific progress is beneficial to mankind in a vacuum. It's just difficult to trust such potent technology in the hands of a libertarian hypercapitalist who is increasingly intoxicated on public adulation.

                And as much as I dislike Elon as a human being, Tesla is magnitudes better as a company than the fossil fuel industry and the automakers who sucked at their teet for decades.

              • 420sixtynine [any,comrade/them]
                ·
                4 years ago

                Fuck that, not to be too much of a luddite but I already hate smart phones leads going through my brain before a computer

          • TheCaconym [any]
            ·
            edit-2
            4 years ago

            I still believe that the whole company is built on bullshit promises

            Here's a biomedical engineer explaining that the recent neuralink "breakthroughs" are basically what academics were already doing in the 90s.

        • PowerUser [they/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          SpaceX and starlink are shit mate.

          Americans are celebrating because their shitty space program no longer to be humiliated while paying at least 400% markup ($80m per seat, was $20m in 2007) to Russia to fly a cold war era Soyuz.

          Starlink is another dumb idea because virtually everywhere that is profitable to deploy high speed internet already has it. Low earth orbit means that you need an obscene investment to have consistent coverage, except we live on a planet with extreme wealth inequality so starlink will be unaffordable for the vast majority of the world.

          The pentagon will probably love it though.

      • Mardoniush [she/her]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Yeah, there are some pretty smart guys in SpaceX. So smart even Musks shitty ideas can't stop them. It's basically bankrolling everything else.

        • ssjmarx [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Let's not forget, let's also not forget, Dude, is that what's "bankrolling" SpaceX is government contracts.

          • Mardoniush [she/her]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Love it when taxpayer money goes to military spy sats AND worse trains.

            • ssjmarx [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              "actually, let's just dig a tunnel a drive cars through it, then they'll be on the hook to buy parts from us forever!"