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Elon Musk Wants to Build an A.I. Satellite Factory on the Moon

10 February 2026 at 21:04
In a meeting with employees at his company xAI, Mr. Musk revealed a vision for a facility that includes a giant catapult to launch his satellites into space.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

Elon Musk told employees of xAI that he plans to put a factory on the moon as a steppingstone to colonizing Mars.

NLRB Dismisses Case Brought by Fired SpaceX Employees

10 February 2026 at 15:57
The National Labor Relations Board, having accused the company of unfair retaliation in 2024, now says it has no jurisdiction over Elon Musk’s space company.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Eight SpaceX employees were fired soon after asking the company to distance itself from comments made by Elon Musk, including one in which he made light of accusations of harassment directed at him.

After Merging xAI and SpaceX, Elon Musk Hopes He Can Win Over Wall Street

7 February 2026 at 20:27
The billionaire’s decision to merge his A.I. start-up with his rocket company will test investors’ interest in giant combinations of unalike businesses.

© Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

SpaceX’s launchpad near Brownsville, Texas. In addition to rockets and satellites, Elon Musk’s company now includes artificial intelligence and social media businesses.

At Ukraine’s Request, Starlink Denies Internet Access to Russian Troops

It’s unclear what effect the change will have on Russia’s ability to wage war, but Russian military bloggers said troops were experiencing internet outages that hampered frontline communications.

© Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier preparing a Starlink satellite internet system in the Donetsk region in 2024. Russians have been evading export restrictions to smuggle in Starlink devices and send them to the front.

Elon Musk Merges SpaceX With His A.I. Start-Up xAI

The deal further intermingles Mr. Musk’s companies and creates the most valuable private company on earth.

© Callaghan O'Hare for The New York Times

SpaceX’s rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Tesla’s Model S, Soon to Be History, Changed the Auto Industry

30 January 2026 at 10:52
The company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, said this week that it would stop making the car, an electric pioneer in 2012, as well as the Model X.

© Philip Cheung for The New York Times

“The Model S was a breakthrough and ushered in quite a number of technologies people hadn’t seen before,” said Sam Abuelsamid, an executive at Telemetry, a Detroit communications and research firm.

Tesla Profit Slumps, but Investors May Not Care

29 January 2026 at 15:21
The automaker also said it would invest $2 billion in xAI, the artificial intelligence company controlled by its C.E.O., Elon Musk, and stop making the two oldest models in its lineup.

© Annie Flanagan for The New York Times

Falling car sales have taken a toll on Tesla’s net profit. The company announced Wednesday that it would stop producing its S and X model cars within months.

G.M. Shares Rise as Investors Are Encouraged by 2026 Prospects

27 January 2026 at 10:22
The automaker said that it would buy back stock worth up to $6 billion and that it expected profit to rise this year after it pulled back from electric vehicle production.

© Brett Carlsen for The New York Times

A General Motors factory in Spring Hill, Tenn. G.M. said on Tuesday it planned to introduce a more advanced version of its Super Cruise driver assistance system in 2028.

Elon Musk’s X Faces EU Inquiry Over Sexualized AI Images Generated by Grok

26 January 2026 at 09:16
Regulators said the company’s lack of controls had led to the widespread use of deepfakes created with the chatbot Grok.

© Nicolas Tucat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The investigation is likely to escalate a confrontation between Europe and the United States over the regulation of online content.

The Drama at Thinking Machines, a New A.I. Start-Up, Is Riveting Silicon Valley

Defections, secret conversations, deal talks that fizzled and a battle for control: The turmoil at Thinking Machines Lab is the artificial intelligence industry’s latest drama.

© Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Ms. Murati with Mr. Altman and two other OpenAI colleagues in 2023. She co-founded Thinking Labs a year ago.

Elon Musk’s Grok A.I. Chatbot Made Millions of Sexualized Images, New Estimates Show

Over nine days, Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot generated and posted 4.4 million images, of which at least 41 percent were sexualized images of women.

© Andria Lo for The New York Times

The Grok chatbot was created by Elon Musk’s xAI start-up.

Elon Musk Spends $10 Million to Help Nate Morris in Kentucky Senate Race

19 January 2026 at 11:50
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, backed Nate Morris, a Republican businessman, in the primary race to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Elon Musk at the Kennedy Center in November. After his falling out with President Trump last year, he has inched back toward the Republican fold.

How Activists in Iran Are Using Starlink to Stay Online

Activists spent years preparing for a communications blackout in Iran, smuggling in Starlink satellite internet systems and making digital shutdowns harder for the authorities to enforce.

© Middle East Images/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Starlink receiver atop a house in Kurdistan, Iran, in 2023. About 50,000 Starlink terminals are now in the country, according to digital activists.

Elon Musk’s X Restricts Ability to Create Explicit Images With Grok

15 January 2026 at 09:42
Bowing to pressure, the company said it would restrict X users from generating explicit images of real people in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.

© Andria Lo for The New York Times

The prompt page for Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot made by Elon Musk’s xAI.

Starlink Users in Iran Get Free Internet Access, Nonprofits Say

13 January 2026 at 23:40
Under a near-total communications blackout, users of Elon Musk’s satellite service have gotten online without paying, organizations that work on tech issues said.

© Getty Images

The Iranian government has cracked down on protests like this one in Tehran last week with a communications blockade.

Elon Musk’s X Under UK Investigation Over Grok’s Sexualized A.I. Images

12 January 2026 at 17:25
A British regulator said it had started a formal investigation into Mr. Musk’s chatbot over the spread of illegal images.

© Andria Lo for The New York Times

Grok’s prompt page on a phone. In recent weeks, the chatbot has posted sexualized photos of real people, including children, in response to user prompts.

Grok, Elon Musk’s A.I., Is Generating Sexualized Images of Real People, Fueling Outrage

Late Thursday, Mr. Musk’s chatbot, Grok, limited requests for A.I.-generated images on X to paid subscribers of the social media site amid an outcry from victims and regulators.

© Andria Lo for The New York Times

Grok’s prompt page is displayed on a phone.

Grok’s Undressing Scandal + Claude Code Capers + Casey Busts a Reddit Hoax

“This is a story about how a tool can be used to try to affect politics and in particular to minimize women, denigrate them and push them out of the conversation.”

© Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Before Electric Vehicles Became Political, There Was the Toyota Prius

27 December 2025 at 05:00
The political polarization of battery-powered cars may have started when Toyota released its first hybrid model 25 years ago.

© Adam Riding for The New York Times

The marketing for the Toyota Prius may have inadvertently started the culture war around hybrid and electric vehicles by characterizing them as a way to save the planet, some experts say.

U.S. Bars 5 European Tech Regulators and Researchers

23 December 2025 at 20:34
The Trump administration, citing “foreign censorship,” imposed travel bans on experts involved in monitoring major tech platforms.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that five Europeans “have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Valued at $800 Billion, as It Prepares to Go Public

12 December 2025 at 19:55
A sale of insider shares at $421 a share would make Mr. Musk’s rocket company the most valuable private company in the world, as it readies for a possible initial public offering next year.

© Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

The SpaceX launchpad in South Texas in June 2024. The company said in a letter to employees on Friday that it could go public in 2026.

Elon Musk Tests Europe’s Willingness to Enforce Its Online Laws

12 December 2025 at 14:39
Backed by White House officials, the tech billionaire has lashed out at the European Union after his social media platform X was fined last week.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Elon Musk has grown increasingly confrontational toward Europe over the past year.
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