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Elon Musk

Elon Musk to speak at this global government conference this week

Credit: Justin Pacheco | U.S. Air Force Academy

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Elon Musk is scheduled to take part in a global conference later this week, and the speech is expected to focus on subjects surrounding his tunneling company, artificial intelligence (AI), the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the U.S., and other related topics.

On Thursday, Musk is set to make his third appearance at the World Government’s Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a 30-minute segment with the country’s Minister for AI, Omar Sultan AlOlama. The speech segment is titled “Boring Cities, AI, and DOGE,” and it’s scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Gulf Standard Time.

The Tesla, SpaceX and Boring Company executive will likely appear virtually to speak at the summit, following suit with the other two times he has done a live-streamed speech at the conference. In past World Government Summit appearances in 2017 and 2023, Musk has talked about his companies’ products, including the Neuralink brain implant, city design and electric vehicles (EVs), and he has even commented on having world governments avoid being too centralized.

“I know this is called the World Government Summit, but I think we should be a little concerned about becoming too much of a single world government,” Musk said in his speech in 2023. “If I may say, we want to avoid creating a civilizational risk by having, frankly — this may sound a little odd — too much cooperation between governments.”

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This year’s conference kicks off on Tuesday, with three days’ worth of additional appearances from government officials, influential business owners, and other world leaders from around the world. You can check out the conference’s full schedule here on its website.

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In recent months, Musk has made a handful of public appearances, recently including a virtual speech at a campaign event for the controversial Alternative for Germany party. He also spoke during the U.S. inauguration ceremony for President Donald Trump last month, after campaigning with him throughout much of last summer and fall, leading up to the November election.

In recent weeks, Musk has been working under the Trump administration with the newly created DOGE division to cut government spending and identify areas of government “waste and fraud.” He and his DOGE team have been making cuts to a number of federal programs and departments, recently including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk shares timeframe for X Money early public access rollout

X Money is expected to enable financial transactions within the app, expanding the platform’s capabilities beyond social media features.

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Credit: UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk has stated that X Money, the digital payments system being developed for social media platform X, is expected to enter early public access next month. 

The update was shared by Musk in a post on X. “𝕏 Money early public access will launch next month,” Musk wrote in his post.

As noted in a Reuters report, X Money is being developed as a digital payment service that’s directly integrated into the X platform. 

The system is expected to enable financial transactions within the app, expanding the platform’s capabilities beyond social media features.

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Musk has previously discussed plans to introduce payments and financial services as part of X’s broader development.

Since acquiring the platform in 2022, Musk has discussed expanding X to include a range of services such as messaging, media, and financial tools.

Elon Musk has shared his goal of transforming X into an “everything app.” During a previous podcast interview with members of the Tesla community, Musk mused about turning X into something similar to China’s WeChat, which allows users to shop, pay, communicate, and perform a variety of other tasks.

“In China, you do everything in WeChat… it’s kickass… Outside of China, there’s nothing like it, people live on one app. My idea would be like how about if we just copy WeChat,” Musk joked at the time.

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To prepare for the rollout of X Money, X has partnered with payment company Visa to support the development of payment services for the platform’s users. The move could allow X to tap into the growing demand for digital and in-app financial transactions as the company builds additional services around its existing user base.

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NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline

The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.

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Credit: SpaceX

A NASA watchdog report stated that continued development work on SpaceX’s Starship could affect the timeline for the agency’s planned Artemis moon missions. The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before the spacecraft can serve as a crewed lunar lander.

The findings were detailed in a report from NASA’s Office of Inspector General, as noted in a report from Reuters.

NASA selected SpaceX’s Starship in 2021 to serve as the Human Landing System (HLS) for its Artemis lunar program. The vehicle is intended to transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back as part of future Artemis missions.

According to the watchdog report, Starship’s development has experienced roughly two years of schedule delays compared to earlier expectations. Still, NASA is targeting 2028 for the first crewed lunar landing using the Starship lander.

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One of the most significant technical milestones for Starship’s lunar missions is in-space refueling.

To support a crewed lunar landing, multiple Starship launches will be required to deliver propellant to orbit. Tanker versions of Starship will transfer fuel to a storage depot spacecraft, which will then refuel the lunar lander.

The report noted that this approach could require more than 10 Starship launches to fully refuel the spacecraft needed for a single lunar landing mission.

NASA officials indicated that demonstrating cryogenic propellant transfer in orbit remains one of the most important technical steps before Starship can be certified for lunar missions.

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SpaceX has conducted 11 Starship test flights since 2023 as the company continues developing the fully reusable launch system. A 12th test flight, this time featuring Starship V3, is expected to be held in early April. 

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Elon Musk’s xAI wins permit for power plant supporting AI data centers

The development was reported by CNBC, citing confirmation from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

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Mississippi regulators have approved a permit allowing Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI to construct a natural gas power plant in Southaven. The facility is expected to support the company’s expanding AI infrastructure tied to its Colossus data center operations near Memphis.

The development was reported by CNBC, citing confirmation from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

According to the report, regulators “voted to approve the permit” of xAI subsidiary MZX Tech LLC to construct a power plant featuring 41 natural gas-burning turbines “after careful consideration of all public comments and community concerns.”

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality stated that the permit followed a regulatory review process that included public comments and community input. Jaricus Whitlock, air division chief for the MDEQ, stated that the project met all applicable environmental standards.

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“The proposed PSD permit in front of the board today not only meets all state and federal permitting regulations, but goes above and beyond what is required by law. MDEQ and the EPA agree that not a single person around our facilities will be exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution,” Whitlock stated.

The planned facility will help provide electricity for xAI’s AI computing infrastructure in the Memphis region.

The Southaven project forms part of xAI’s efforts to scale computing capacity for its artificial intelligence systems.

The company currently operates two major data centers in Memphis, known as Colossus 1 and Colossus 2, which provide computing power for xAI’s Grok AI models. xAI is also planning to build another large data center in Southaven called Macrohardrr, which would be located in a warehouse previously used by GXO Logistics.

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Large-scale AI training requires substantial computing power and electricity, prompting technology companies to develop dedicated energy infrastructure for their data centers.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell previously stated that xAI plans to develop 1.2 gigawatts of power capacity for its Memphis-area AI supercomputer site as part of the federal government’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge. The commitment was announced during an event with United States President Donald Trump.

“As part of today’s commitment, we will take extensive additional steps to continue to reduce the costs of electricity for our neighbors. xAI will therefore commit to develop 1.2 GW of power as our supercomputer’s primary power source. That will be for every additional data center as well. We will expand what is already the largest global Megapack power installation in the world,” Shotwell said.

“The installation will provide enough backup power to power the city of Memphis, and more than sufficient energy to power the town of Southaven, Mississippi where the data center resides. We will build new substations and invest in electrical infrastructure to provide stability to the area’s grid.”

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