The mercurial billionaire turned off Starlink communications just ahead of a submersible drone attack, thinking that the assault might unleash nuclear war, according to a forthcoming book.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk reportedly caused a geopolitical crisis last year, when Ukrainian forces—which have relied heavily on the company’s Starlink satellite communications—were on the verge of striking Russian naval vessels off the coast of Crimea with submersible drones. Concerned that the attack would provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons, Musk unilaterally opted to sever the submarines’ satellite connection, throwing a wrench in the entire assault.

The incident—shared by CNN based on an adapted excerpt from an upcoming book by Walter Isaacson—demonstrates Musk’s increasing unwillingness to lend his satellite network to offensive maneuvers waged by Ukraine. “How am I in this war?” “Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars. It was so people can watch Netflix and chill and get online for school and do good peaceful things, not drone strikes.”

After foiling the attack, Musk reportedly received a desperate text from a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who asked that Musk reinstate the Starlink connection to the drones. “I just want you—the person who is changing the world through technology—to know this,” Fedorov wrote. But Musk refused to reverse course, telling Fedorov that Ukraine “is now going too far and inviting strategic defeat.”

Apparently he was worried that the assault would provoke nuclear war. Musk showing actual thought for the first time in ever.

  • GenXen [any, any]
    ·
    vor 1 Jahr

    I'm as far from a Musk fan as you can get, but this whole narrative of him causing serious damage to the Ukrainian effort because of Starlink smells like western media establishing a fall guy to point to for when the effort ultimately fails. The US gov has subsidized ALL of his businesses so heavily, if Starlink were really that valuable to the operation, they would have forced his hand one way or the other. I was equally as skeptical when they touted Starlinks value in the very beginning of the dispute.

        • jackmarxist [any]
          ·
          vor 1 Jahr

          I'll get all communists I know to vote for Biden if he promises to execute Elon Musk.

    • Zo1db3rg [comrade/them]
      ·
      vor 1 Jahr

      Yeah, weren't they hailing it as the saving grace for the efforts at the beginning? Imo they are about to start backtracking hard and admitting defeat and are getting all the scapegoats lines up.