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Elon Musk pledges $1 million to #TeamTrees viral tree-planting initiative
In May of 2019, popular YouTube creator “MrBeast” – real name: Jimmy Donaldson – reached 20 million subscribers. His followers quickly challenged him to plant as many trees as he had followers. In response, the YouTuber did what YouTubers do best: formed a collaborative effort of other well known YouTubers and legitimate foundations to crowdfund a viral challenge. The viral challenge has been so successful in just four days that it now has the backing of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Sounds cool. Where are the trees being planted & what kind of trees?— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2019
With the help of multiple partners, Donaldson paired up with The Arbor Day Foundation to create a fundraising campaign that would plant 20 million trees. TeamTrees.org was created and went live on Oct. 25th following an announcement video posted to the MrBeast Youtube channel. As stated on the site’s FAQ page, the organizers have promised all donors that “for every dollar you donate, one tree will be planted in a forest of high need around the world.”
In just four days the TeamTrees.org official Twitter account has garnered nearly 12 thousand followers when the challenge first caught the eye of Musk. Donaldson posted an update that “almost 6 million” trees had been planted accompanied by a screencap of what just 5,000 trees appeared as in the popular online game “Fortnite.” Musk responded “sounds cool,” but wanted more information and asked, “where are the trees being planted & what kind of trees?”
Of course, it comes as no surprise that the prospect of planting 20 million trees piqued the interest of the billionaire that founded Tesla. Musk has long been a supporter of the premise that electric vehicles could help reduce emissions and preserve the earth of the future. Combining an initiative to save Mother Earth by planting trees and using Fortnite as a visual reference was as genius as it could get to guarantee to grab the billionaire’s attention.
The factor that really drove it home was an almost immediate response by the influential tech review Youtuber, Marques Brownlee. Brownlee, who has had the opportunity to interview Musk at a Tesla factory, responded by linking the billionaire directly to the TeamTrees.org website. Musk then, almost as immediately, pledged to “donate 1M trees,” in other words, donate $1 million to the cause.
Ok, sounds legit, will donate 1M trees— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2019
Musk’s promised donation quickly gained appreciation all over the internet. The official Youtube Twitter account soon confirmed the legitimacy of Musk’s pledge. Then, larger than life social media platform – owned by parent company Google – promised to match every one of the following million donations to keep the support of TeamTrees.org going.
While pledging to plant 20 million trees is surely an effort in the right direction of combating global climate change, it may be just a drop in a bucket. As suggested in a fortuitous and completely unrelated article, WIRED.com suggests that more than just planting trees would need to be done in order to really address the issue of excess carbon in the atmosphere. An overarching theme of the article is that “seedlings and fancy agriculture” won’t even make a dent in the issue if emissions aren’t reduced.
“It’s possible to imagine agriculture as a kind of geoengineering, of improving on nature’s yields and productivity. If it could also improve on nature’s ability to put carbon in the ground, that would be transformative. But there’s no evidence yet people can do it at a scale that it can by itself save the planet.” – WIRED.com
Perhaps it won’t completely save the planet from the destruction that has already been done but surely vowing to plant sustainable trees in forests of high need is a step in the right direction. Especially when the cause has gained the attention of thousands of internet users and some very influential creators including MythBusters’ Adam Savage and SmarterEveryday’s Destin Sandlin.
If you would like more information about the campaign backed by Elon Musk, you can view the announcement video below or visit TeamTrees.org to pledge your own donation.
Elon Musk has publicly questioned Moody’s credit assessments following the rating agency’s decision to assign SpaceX a Baa1 investment-grade rating, two notches above Tesla’s Baa3. The comments came amid discussions comparing the two companies’ financial profiles.
SpaceX earned its first-time Baa1 rating with a stable outlook from Moody’s. The agency highlighted the company’s leadership in orbital launches, the growing recurring revenue from its Starlink satellite network, strong vertical integration, U.S. government contracts, and emerging opportunities in AI infrastructure.
These factors were cited as supporting robust cash flows, margin expansion, and financial flexibility.
Musk responded directly: “Tesla’s credit rating is ridiculously low tbh,” and added, “Yeah, makes no sense. Tesla has over $40B in cash, no debt, and is consistently profitable!” His remarks underscored Tesla’s balance sheet strength and profitability at a time when many traditional automakers continue to report losses in the shift to electric vehicles.
Yeah, makes no sense.
Tesla has over $40B in cash, no debt and is consistently profitable!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2026
Tesla maintains a leading position in the global EV market, with diversification into energy and storage, battery technology, and robotics through projects like Optimus. Recent financial updates show the company generated positive free cash flow of $1.4 billion in Q1 2026, supported by operating cash flow of $3.9 billion. Cash and short-term investments stood at approximately $44.7 billion.
Moody’s has affirmed Tesla’s Baa3 issuer rating with a stable outlook in periodic reviews, acknowledging the company’s EV leadership, technology strengths, including AI for autonomous vehicles, solid profitability, and strong liquidity.
Tesla (TSLA) scores Baa3 Moody’s rating for ‘stable’ outlook
However, the agency has also noted challenges in the automotive segment and expectations for margin pressures.
Musk’s critique highlights a common debate about how traditional rating methodologies apply to high-growth, capital-intensive technology companies. SpaceX benefits from long-term government-backed contracts and diversified, recurring revenue streams, while Tesla’s valuation reflects heavy investment in future technologies such as autonomy and robotics.
Both ratings remain investment-grade, yet the one-notch difference has fueled online discussion about potential inconsistencies in evaluating innovative firms.
The exchange comes as SpaceX explores financing options following its recent valuation milestones, while Tesla continues executing on its multi-year roadmap. Musk’s pointed response serves as a reminder that credit ratings, though influential for borrowing costs, represent one lens through which markets assess corporate strength—and that company leaders often view their financial positions through the lens of long-term innovation and cash generation rather than short-term risk metrics alone.
A new report from Reuters claims that a transport authority in Sweden is pushing back against the approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite because it will travel over speed limits.
The report says the Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) recommends the European Union votes against FSD’s approval. TRV believes it should not be approved until Tesla disables FSD’s ability to speed.
TRV sent a letter to the European Union’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles (TCMV), which is set to meet on June 30 to discuss the potential approval of the Tesla FSD suite in the country. Tesla, which has received various approvals in Europe over the past two months, has not provided a comment.
Teslas operating on FSD do travel over the speed limit, depending on the Speed Profile that is chosen. Drivers have the ability to disengage FSD at any point; Tesla specifically states that those supervising the suite are responsible for its actions.
Let’s cut to the chase: humans operating any vehicle speed almost daily in the United States. Realistically, speed limits in the U.S. are more frequently treated as speed minimums. However, other countries are different, and driving behaviors are less aggressive.
TRV believes that “allowing automated systems to systematically exceed legal speed limits…risks undermining both the legal framework and the expected safety benefits of vehicle automation,” the report stated. It’s surprising that Tesla has not received this claim from other countries previously.
This could be a good argument to bring Max Speed back, the setting that previously allowed the driver to choose the absolute fastest the car would travel.
This would still put the responsibility of supervision in the hands of the driver. It would allow the driver to choose whether the car would travel over the speed limit or not, acknowledging that they set the speed, and if they get pulled over, there would be no ability to argue it.
However, it does not seem as if this is something Tesla will do, especially considering many U.S. drivers have requested the feature in an effort to eliminate speeding or at least tone it down. The company has not shown any interest in bringing it back.
Tesla has approvals for FSD in Europe in Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
Tesla is going to let you guide Full Self-Driving with Grok in 3 months, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.
The response from Musk, which revealed Tesla plans to allow drivers to effectively control the car and its navigation more explicitly using Grok, puts the feature for about September.
A Tesla owner said that Full Self-Driving is great, but owners should be able to “converse with Grok like we can with an Uber driver.” She then used examples like, “Grok, turn right here,” and “Drop us off right here, we’ll walk due to traffic,” and finally,” Drop at entrance first, then park far away.”
Coincidentally, the final piece of dialogue would also mean features like Banish are potentially on the way soon.
This functionality will be there in about 3 months or so
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2026
Banish is also referred to as “Reverse Summon,” and would enable the car to self-park while dropping occupants off at their destination.
This would be a great way to improve the overall experience while supervising FSD. Navigation is already a major painpoint that many owners complain about. Manual overrides when a maneuver is requested or canceled (like using the turn signal stalk to override a navigation route), do not always work.
The feature could be especially useful in street parking scenarios in a city, where spots are sometimes tough to come by. Many of us who grab dinner in a more populated area will park a street or two over from wherever we’re going, because sometimes you know that’s the best you will get. If a driver using FSD could say, “Hey Grok, turn right here on Queen St. and park in that open spot on the right,” it could save a lot of confusion FSD might have on its own.
Musk teased that a similar feature was “coming” back in February:
Tesla Full Self-Driving set to get an awesome new feature, Elon Musk says
It is certainly surprising that Tesla is doing it at this point. The company’s more recent moves have been more evident of taking control and inputs away from humans and putting them in the AI’s hands more frequently. The biggest example of this was taking away Max Speed in AI4 cars, giving us Speed Profiles, and not having any input on the fastest speed the car will travel.
Of course, giving navigation preferences to Grok is availble already in Teslas, but not at the drop of a hat. Instead, you can suggest a certain route at the beginning of your drive.
Here’s an example of that from December:
🚨🏈 I am taking my parents and Fiancee to the @Ravens game next weekend and asked @Grok to help me route my @Tesla through a specific neighborhood to reach the correct Lot we will park in.
This is a great example of the new @grok nav integration with the Tesla Holiday Update: pic.twitter.com/rPp4I7q8Yv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 13, 2025
Finally, the original post that Musk responded to mentioned a parking preference after dropping off the occupants, which describes the Banish feature that Tesla has teased for years.
We’re not sure if Musk was responding more to the ability to guide the car with Grok, or whether he also was including Banish in the three-month prediction timeframe.
Elon Musk challenges Tesla credit rating from Moody’s after SpaceX gets a higher one
Tesla faces Full Self-Driving pushback in EU over ‘speeding’
