Elon Musk skipped his preferred platform of Twitter for this latest round of corporate diplomacy,Watch The Lion King Online so you know he's serious.
Musk spoke up over the weekend after a Friday report from the Wall Street Journalrevealed that China would bar "military staff and employees of key state-owned companies" from using Tesla vehicles. There's concern that they present a national security risk, since Tesla is an American company and its vehicles collect data.
(You might remember the former Trump administration using similar justification when the ex-president threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. — a legally questionable mandate, it should be said — if the China-based ByteDance refused to sell the social media platform to an American buyer.)
Speaking on Saturday at the Chinese Development Forum, an annual event hosted by the Chinese government that connects the country with global business leaders, Musk attempted to make it clear that sharing data with government entities of any stripe would undermine Tesla's business interests.
"Whether it’s Chinese or U.S., the negative effects if a commercial company did engage in spying — the negative effects for that company would be extremely bad," Musk said (h/t WSJ). He added that the risk of Tesla being shut down for spying creates "a very strong incentive for us to be very confidential."
Musk also played down worries about commercial espionage in general, pointing specifically to the TikTok case as an example.
"Even if there was spying, what would the other country learn and would it actually matter? If it doesn’t matter, it’s not worth thinking about that much," he said, adding that TikTok is primarily a place where people are "just doing silly dances."
SEE ALSO: Every carmaker that's truly going all electric to compete with TeslaMusk isn't the first person to ask this question. While there are bipartisan concerns in the U.S. related to China's authoritarian rule, some viewed Trump's decision to move against TikTok as personally motivated. Just weeks before announcing the ban, a segment of TikTok users seemingly banded together to inflate the expected turnout for a then-upcoming Trump rally in Tulsa, Okla.
Similarly, it's possible that China's stance toward Tesla is more about indirect retribution than any legitimate fear of the company engaging in espionage. The recent first face-to-face meeting between Chinese officials and the new Biden administration was dogged by reports of tense and perhaps not always friendly discussions between the two nations.
Whatever the truth may be, Musk wants the powers-that-be to rest assured that Tesla isn't in the business of espionage.
Topics Tesla Elon Musk
Summer with a Thousand JulysUnconventional, Part 4: William S. Burroughs in ChicagoPatrick Cowley’s hiRevisited: Alan Watts, ‘This Is It’A Rediscovered Book Mocks Bickering British ColonistsPoem: “First Breakfast at Home Following an Emergency Appendectomy”Unconventional, Part 8: The Court Objects to Allen GinsbergIs Kanye’s McDonald’s Poem a Parable of Class Struggle?Michael Kidner’s “Visual Anarchy”Secrets of the TradeLou Pearlman and His DreamStaff Picks: Scott McClanahan, Abner Dean, Todd SolondzAmiri Baraka Is in ContemptEmma Cline Wins Plimpton Prize; Ben Lerner Wins Terry Southern Prize by The Paris ReviewCool Struttin’ with Sonny Clark#ReadEverywhere, Even UpsidePrison Lit: Jones Very’s Words from the AsylumAmerican Girl Night at the Saratoga Performing Arts CenterPoem: “First Breakfast at Home Following an Emergency Appendectomy”Now Online: Our Interviews with Robert Caro and Luc Sante Android 11 reveal delayed, Google says 'now is not the time' Trump signs executive order targeting social media companies BBC launches voice assistant that will learn regional accents Macron annihilates Trump in the most awkward handshake battle of all time Another startup just joined the tech exodus from Sean Hannity’s show Mexico politician's campaign hashtag is so wrong it's perfect Where to watch your favorite Steve Carell movies Artist transforms 'cones of shame' into dog 'Purrmaids' combine everything great about the internet into one cute necklace Did you spot the man quietly photobombing Donald Trump and the Pope? George R.R. Martin says Trump is like a King Joffrey that never grew up Harvard newspaper hacked just to make fun of grad speaker Mark Zuckerberg Google launches new AR tool to visualise social distancing rules The FBI must be stoked about Zoom's encryption policy Sarah Hyland responds to body shamers with powerful message Greg Gianforte wins Montana and apologises for allegedly body Encrypted Signal app downloads skyrocket amidst nationwide protests Genius figures out how to use a fidget spinner to conquer Tinder Pink pineapples are here to make fruit even more Instagrammable $51 million in bushfire donations reveals Facebook fundraiser problem
2.4346s , 8225.8046875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Watch The Lion King Online】,Openness Information Network