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Change.org Petition Promotes Nobel Prize for Elon Musk
Edward Tanas of Calgary, Canada has begun a Change.org campaign to nominate Elon Musk for a Nobel Prize in Economic Science. The petition has already been signed by 374 supporters.
Following the unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 on March 31, Edward Tanas of Calgary, Canada, began to petition the Swedish Nobel Prize Committee to award Elon Musk with a prize in Economic Science.
There is no question Elon is one of the most gifted and creative thinkers of our time. If you would like to support Tanas’ petition, you may do so at Change.org. Here is the text of the petition.
We, the signed, would like you, the Swedish Nobel Committee, to award Mr. Elon Musk, a Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Mr. Musk has spent most of his life helping not only to help the economics of transportation flourish with technological breakthroughs but has done so in a manner that addresses climate change.
His ventures into the production of electric cars. most recently the more affordable Tesla Model 3, which at the time of writing this petition has over 253,000 orders, has helped to reduce the impact on the environment by replacing internal combustion engine vehicles.
Biography
Elon Reeve Musk is an American entrepreneur, inventor and investor. He is best known for his role as CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, and as co-founder of online money transfer system PayPal, and of commercial space program SpaceX.
Elon was born in South Africa, where he spent his childhood and adolescence. He was raised primarily by his father, who was an engineer. Elon became interested in computers at a young age and began programming in his teens. After high school, Elon emigrated to Canada, where he attended college, and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.
In 1995, Musk started a PhD in applied physics at Stanford University in California, but quickly dropped out to start his own company. He would go on to sell that company, called Zip2, to Compaq, for more than $300 million in 1999, of which he received $22 million. With that capital, Musk started X.com in 1999. It was an online banking site that later changed its name to PayPal. EBay purchased the company in 2002 for $1.5 billion in stock, of which $165 million went to Musk. That same year, he became an American citizen. (See also: Three Steps Elon Musk Took To Become Successful.)
Flush from the PayPal sale, Musk looked to the heavens, and began SpaceX, a private, for profit space program. After a few false starts, the company began developing its own rockets. The company launched a landmark commercial spacecraft in 2009 and again in 2012.
While planning his assault upon the heavens, Musk took an interest in more terrestrial matters, specifically the way people get across the surface of the earth. After a major investment in 2004, Musk joined the board of Tesla Motors as its chairman. Also contributing as a product architect, he played a role in the designs of the cars Tesla was building. Following the 2008 financial crisis, Musk assumed the mantle of Tesla Motors CEO, a position he still holds today. (For more, see: Is Elon Musk’s Hyperloop Economically Feasible?)
Beyond Tesla and SpaceX, Musk remains involved in a number of futuristic projects. He is connected with a high-speed transportation system called the Hyperloop. He has also been a proponent of a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) supersonic jet aircraft.
We thank you for your patience in reading about his past accomplishments and various ventures which have benefited society and will continue to do so.
Photo credit: Change.org
Elon Musk
SpaceX reportedly discussing merger with xAI ahead of blockbuster IPO
In a groundbreaking new report from Reuters, SpaceX is reportedly discussing merger possibilities with xAI ahead of the space exploration company’s plans to IPO later this year, in what would be a blockbuster move.
The outlet said it would combine rockets and Starlink satellites, as well as the X social media platform and AI project Grok under one roof. The report cites “a person briefed on the matter and two recent company filings seen by Reuters.”
Musk, nor SpaceX or xAI, have commented on the report, so, as of now, it is unconfirmed.
With that being said, the proposed merger would bring shares of xAI in exchange for shares of SpaceX. Both companies were registered in Nevada to expedite the transaction, according to the report.
On January 21, both entities were registered in Nevada. The report continues:
“One of them, a limited liability company, lists SpaceX and Bret Johnsen, the company’s chief financial officer, as managing members, while the other lists Johnsen as the company’s only officer, the filings show.”
The source also stated that some xAI executives could be given the option to receive cash in lieu of SpaceX stock. No agreement has been reached, nothing has been signed, and the timing and structure, as well as other important details, have not been finalized.
SpaceX is valued at $800 billion and is the most valuable privately held company, while xAI is valued at $230 billion as of November. SpaceX could be going public later this year, as Musk has said as recently as December that the company would offer its stock publicly.
The plans could help move along plans for large-scale data centers in space, something Musk has discussed on several occasions over the past few months.
At the World Economic Forum last week, Musk said:
“It’s a no-brainer for building solar-powered AI data centers in space, because as I mentioned, it’s also very cold in space. The net effect is that the lowest cost place to put AI will be space and that will be true within two to three years, three at the latest.”
He also said on X that “the most important thing in the next 3-4 years is data centers in space.”
If the report is true and the two companies end up coming together, it would not be the first time Musk’s companies have ended up coming together. He used Tesla stock to purchase SolarCity back in 2016. Last year, X became part of xAI in a share swap.
Elon Musk
Tesla hits major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions
Tesla has announced it has hit a major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions, shortly after it said it would exclusively offer the suite without the option to purchase it outright.
Tesla announced on Wednesday during its Q4 Earnings Call for 2025 that it had officially eclipsed the one million subscription mark for its Full Self-Driving suite. This represented a 38 percent increase year-over-year.
This is up from the roughly 800,000 active subscriptions it reported last year. The company has seen significant increases in FSD adoption over the past few years, as in 2021, it reported just 400,000. In 2022, it was up to 500,000 and, one year later, it had eclipsed 600,000.
NEWS: For the first time, Tesla has revealed how many people are subscribed or have purchased FSD (Supervised).
Active FSD Subscriptions:
• 2025: 1.1 million
• 2024: 800K
• 2023: 600K
• 2022: 500K
• 2021: 400K pic.twitter.com/KVtnyANWcs— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 28, 2026
In mid-January, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would transition away from giving the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, opting for the subscription program exclusively.
Musk said on X:
“Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14. FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter.”
The move intends to streamline the Full Self-Driving purchase option, and gives Tesla more control over its revenue, and closes off the ability to buy it outright for a bargain when Musk has said its value could be close to $100,000 when it reaches full autonomy.
It also caters to Musk’s newest compensation package. One tranche requires Tesla to achieve 10 million active FSD subscriptions, and now that it has reached one million, it is already seeing some growth.
The strategy that Tesla will use to achieve this lofty goal is still under wraps. The most ideal solution would be to offer a less expensive version of the suite, which is not likely considering the company is increasing its capabilities, and it is becoming more robust.
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Currently, Tesla’s FSD subscription price is $99 per month, but Musk said this price will increase, which seems counterintuitive to its goal of increasing the take rate. With that being said, it will be interesting to see what Tesla does to navigate growth while offering a robust FSD suite.
News
Tesla confirms Robotaxi expansion plans with new cities and aggressive timeline
Tesla plans to launch in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. It lists the Bay Area as “Safety Driver,” and Austin as “Ramping Unsupervised.”
Tesla confirmed its intentions to expand the Robotaxi program in the United States with an aggressive timeline that aims to send the ride-hailing service to several large cities very soon.
The Robotaxi program is currently active in Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area, but Tesla has received some approvals for testing in other areas of the U.S., although it has not launched in those areas quite yet.
However, the time is coming.
During Tesla’s Q4 Earnings Call last night, the company confirmed that it plans to expand the Robotaxi program aggressively, hoping to launch in seven new cities in the first half of the year.
Tesla plans to launch in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. It lists the Bay Area as “Safety Driver,” and Austin as “Ramping Unsupervised.”
These details were released in the Earnings Shareholder Deck, which is published shortly before the Earnings Call:
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi service in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas in the first half of this year pic.twitter.com/aTnruz818v
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
Late last year, Tesla revealed it had planned to launch Robotaxi in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston, but Tampa and Orlando were just added to the plans, signaling an even more aggressive expansion than originally planned.
Tesla feels extremely confident in its Robotaxi program, and that has been reiterated many times.
Although skeptics still remain hesitant to believe the prowess Tesla has seemingly proven in its development of an autonomous driving suite, the company has been operating a successful program in Austin and the Bay Area for months.
In fact, it announced it achieved nearly 700,000 paid Robotaxi miles since launching Robotaxi last June.
🚨 Tesla has achieved nearly 700,000 paid Robotaxi miles since launching in June of last year pic.twitter.com/E8ldSW36La
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 28, 2026
With the expansion, Tesla will be able to penetrate more of the ride-sharing market, disrupting the human-operated platforms like Uber and Lyft, which are usually more expensive and are dependent on availability.
Tesla launched driverless rides in Austin last week, but they’ve been few and far between, as the company is certainly easing into the program with a very cautiously optimistic attitude, aiming to prioritize safety.