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Musk lawyers fight attempt to silence CEO in Tesla ‘funding secured’ tweet case
Elon Musk’s lawyers are pushing back against a request from Tesla shareholders to silence the CEO from talking about a lawsuit dealing with the “funding secured” Tweet of 2018. Musk and his attorneys argued he should be able to freely talk about the fight against the Securities and Exchange Commission, but shareholders suing the Tesla CEO think otherwise.
Shareholders pushed U.S. District Judge Edward Chen to keep Musk from making any additional comments regarding his “interpretation and opinions” of the case, which has to do with his idea to take Tesla stock private in 2018, until it is finished. The shareholders suing Musk allege the CEO manipulated the stock price and defrauded them, a report from Bloomberg said.
Musk and his lawyers are pushing back against the request, arguing it is a breach of his first amendment rights.
The Tesla frontman’s attorneys said the group of investors suing him “ask this court to trample on Elon Musk’s First Amendment rights by barring him from publicly discussing this case or its underlying facts,” arguing the request to muzzle the CEO “cannot be reconciled with the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech and should be denied.”
Elon Musk waves to fans in attendance to his TED interview on April 14. (Credit: Gilberto Tadday/TED)
It is the most recent development in the case, which also received additional developments last week. On Friday, Judge Chen ruled Musk’s claim that he was really considering taking Tesla private was false. Chen had pondered the legitimacy of Musk’s claims for some time before ultimately ruling Musk’s Tweet was not truthful. It was a major win for the shareholders.
The case will ultimately head to trial in San Francisco in January.
Filings from the suit state that Musk argued the investor group’s attorneys did not make any effort to show how comments made at the TED interview he participated in last week would make it to potential jurors in the case. During the interview last Thursday, Musk made several claims about the case, including he only accepted the terms of a consent decree with the SEC to save Tesla.
“Funding was indeed secured,” Musk said. “I should say, ‘Why do I not have respect for the SEC’ in that situation. I don’t mean to blame everyone at the SEC, but certainly the San Francisco office. The SEC knew that funding was secured,” Musk added. “They pursued an active public investigation, nonetheless.”
“I was told by the banks that if I chose not to settle with the SEC, the banks would cease providing working capital, and Tesla would go bankrupt immediately. That’s like having a gun to your child’s head.”
Elon Musk blasts the SEC for 2018 decree: ‘That’s like having a gun to your child’s head’
Musk was upset with the perception that agreeing to the decree was an admittance of guilt.
“It makes it look like I lied, when I did not, in fact, lie. I was forced to admit I lied to save Tesla’s life.”
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Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that Full Self-Driving (FSD) could receive regulatory approval in the Netherlands as soon as March 20, potentially marking a major step forward for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance rollout in Europe.
Musk shared the update during a recent interview at Giga Berlin, noting that the date was provided by local authorities.
“Tesla has the most advanced real-world AI, and hopefully, it will be approved soon in Europe. We’re told by the authorities that March 20th, it’ll be approved in the Netherlands,’ what I was told,” Musk stated.
“Hopefully, that date remains the same. But I think people in Europe are going to be pretty blown away by how good the Tesla car AI is in being able to drive.”
Tesla’s FSD system relies on vision-based neural networks trained on real-world driving data, allowing vehicles to navigate using cameras and AI rather than traditional sensor-heavy solutions.
The performance of FSD Supervised has so far been impressive. As per Tesla’s safety report, Full Self-Driving Supervised has already traveled 8.3 billion miles. So far, vehicles operating with FSD Supervised engaged recorded one major collision every 5,300,676 miles.
In comparison, Teslas driven manually with Active Safety systems recorded one major collision every 2,175,763 miles, while Teslas driven manually without Active Safety recorded one major collision every 855,132 miles. The U.S. average during the same period was one major collision every 660,164 miles.
If approval is granted on March 20, the Netherlands could become the first European market to greenlight Tesla’s latest supervised FSD (Supervised) software under updated regulatory frameworks. Tesla has been working to secure expanded FSD access across Europe, where regulatory standards differ significantly from those in the United States. Approval in the Netherlands would likely serve as a foundation for broader EU adoption, though additional country-level clearances may still be required.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk estimates Tesla Semi could reach Europe next year
“We’ve got the Tesla Semi coming out, the heavy truck, and that’ll be going to Europe hopefully next year,” Musk said.
Tesla is preparing to expand its all-electric Semi truck program to Europe, with CEO Elon Musk indicating that the Class 8 vehicle could arrive in the region 2027.
Musk shared his update during an interview about Giga Berlin with plant manager André Thierig, which was posted on X by the official Tesla Manufacturing account.
“We’ve got the Tesla Semi coming out, the heavy truck, and that’ll be going to Europe hopefully next year,” he said.
Tesla has already begun limited production and customer deployments of the Tesla Semi in the United States, with the company working to scale output through the Semi factory near Giga Nevada. Considering Musk’s comments, it appears that a European rollout would be the next phase of the vehicle’s expansion beyond North America.
Musk’s use of the word “hopefully” leaves room for flexibility, but the remark signals that Europe is next in Tesla’s commercial expansion plans.
Musk has consistently argued that electrification should extend beyond passenger vehicles. During the same interview, he reiterated his view that “all ground transport should be electric,” adding that ships, and eventually aircraft, would follow.
The Semi plays a central role in that strategy. Heavy-duty freight remains one of the most emissions-intensive segments of road transport, and European regulators have increasingly pushed for lower-emission commercial fleets.
Tesla recently refreshed the Semi lineup on its official website, listing two variants: Standard and Long Range. The Standard trim offers up to 325 miles of range with an energy consumption rating of 1.7 kWh per mile, while the Long Range version provides up to 500 miles, which should be more than ample for European routes.
Elon Musk
Tesla Cybercab coming next to Giga Berlin, Optimus possibly after
“From a next major product standpoint, I think most likely is the Tesla Cybercab,” Musk said.
Tesla could add the Cybercab and Optimus humanoid robot to the production lineup at Giga Berlin, as per recent comments from CEO Elon Musk.
During a recent interview with Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig, Musk identified the Cybercab as the most likely next major product for the German factory, with Optimus potentially following after.
“From a next major product standpoint, I think most likely is the Tesla Cybercab,” Musk said. He added that there are also “possibilities of Tesla Optimus” being produced in the facility.
Tesla has already begun production of the Cybercab in Giga Texas, with volume production expected to ramp this year. Based on Musk’s comments, it appears that if conditions align in Europe, Giga Berlin could eventually join that effort.
The CEO’s comments about Optimus coming to Gigafactory Berlin are quite unsurprising too considering that Musk has mentioned in the past that the humanoid robot will likely be Tesla’s highest volume product in the long run.
Giga Berlin will likely be able to produce mass volumes of Optimus, as the Model S and Model X lines being converted to an Optimus line in the Fremont Factory are already expected to produce 1 million units of the humanoid robot annually.
Apart from his comments about the Cybercab and Optimus, Elon Musk also confirmed that Giga Berlin has started ramping battery cell production and will continue expanding Model Y output, particularly as supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) gains regulatory approvals in Europe.
Taken together, the remarks suggest Berlin’s role could evolve beyond vehicle assembly into a broader multi-product manufacturing hub, not just a regional Model Y plant.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) could be approved in the Netherlands next month: Musk
Elon Musk estimates Tesla Semi could reach Europe next year
