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Tesla’s ventilator donations are being used to provoke Elon Musk into another controversy

(Credit: Tesla/YouTube)

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5 years ago

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During a global pandemic, an optimist would hope that people would work together to help those in need out of the common good. A pessimist would suggest that such circumstances would bring out the worst in people instead. Recent developments in the media coverage of Elon Musk and Tesla’s ventilator donations suggest that the pessimist is right. At times like these, there are entities who choose to provoke people that are willing to help–all for the sake of controversy. 

Elon Musk is no stranger to controversy, both self-inflicted or otherwise. Over the past years, Musk has butted heads with several entities, from regulators like the SEC to journalists who tend to cover Tesla with pervading negative slant. Some of these bouts have resulted in a lot of pain for Musk and even Tesla shareholders. An example of this is Musk’s spat with British caver Vern Unsworth, whose defamation case against the CEO over comments following the Thailand cave rescue triggered some TSLA stock swings and extensive coverage from multiple premier news outlets. 

Musk has a strong tendency to correct misleading reports. Take CNN’s recent coverage of Tesla’s ventilator donations, for example. The news outlet published a report alleging that no ventilators have reached CA hospitals despite Musk’s commitment to do so. Musk then took it upon himself to correct the report, showing messages between Tesla and the medical professionals from the state communicating about the donated machines and their use. 

This, of course, triggered even more staff from CNN to double down, alleging that the non-invasive ventilators donated by Tesla weren’t ventilators at all, despite medical professionals stating that the machines are invaluable for non-critical coronavirus cases. The BiBAPs and CPAPs donated by Tesla could even be retrofitted using a simple modification to work for critical cases. Tesla has also started delivering actual invasive ventilators to hospitals, on top of the company’s efforts to develop its own ventilator using Model 3 parts. 

Anyone with an iota of sense would see that Tesla and Musk are pretty much doing what they can to address the needs of medical professionals as much as possible. Are the BiBAPs and CPAP’s donated by Musk useful in the battle against the coronavirus? Medical professionals, government officials, and CEOs of actual ventilator makers would agree. Can the machines be modified to work for more severe cases? The doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York say it’s actually pretty simple to do so. With this in mind, it seems like a no-brainer to conclude that the machines Tesla donated are indeed helping in the battle against the ongoing pandemic. 

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This point was lost entirely in critical articles that have been published about Musk and Tesla’s donations from outlets such as CNN. One who is unfamiliar with the events that led up to Musk’s recent Twitter interactions would likely think that the Tesla CEO brazenly lied when he committed to donating free ventilators, instead giving away cheap machines that are useless against the C-19 virus. Critics would even refuse to acknowledge non-invasive machines as actual ventilators, despite authorities such as John Hopkins listing them as such.

A key thesis against Musk alleges that he lied about ventilator donations to get some free PR and goodwill. This does not hold water, as Tesla and Musk already receive an insane amount of media coverage, and the company is scrutinized consistently by the media and critics from Wall Street. Thus, the idea of Musk wanting more media coverage to stroke his ego does not seem to make sense, considering that he and his companies actually get a little bit too much coverage. With this in mind, it appears that CNN’s recent reports about Tesla’s ventilator donations, as well as the succeeding tweets from the media outlet’s staff doubling down on their narrative, are designed to do one thing. They are posted to provoke Musk, until such a time when he actually responds with something concretely controversial. 

Something similar has happened before. Mention Musk’s name with the Thai cave rescue and many will likely remember the CEO’s incendiary comments against British caver Vern Unsworth. A popular narrative for the event also alleges that Musk stuck his nose into the rescue without prompting so he can get free PR, and that he “attacked” the caver just because he wanted to. The fact that Musk was invited to help, that his team was in close communication with rescuers, and that the caver initiated the verbal spat, are largely forgotten. These experiences, as painful as they may be, must now stand as a huge lesson to Elon Musk. 

Musk is no stranger to controversies with the media, and having gone through significant pains over the years because of them, he must handle the ongoing attempts to provoke him with extreme caution. At this point, Musk’s critics (and apparently, CNN staff) are practically salivating at the prospect of the CEO firing off a tweet that can be interpreted as a direct act of aggression against the news outlet or any of its staff. So far, Musk’s responses have been sarcastic, and that’s fine and true to his personality. But the Tesla CEO must be aware that he is not playing a fair game here. Every point of syntax and semantics can and will be exploited to fit a narrative, even if it means twisting the context of a statement. With this in mind, Musk’s best strategy for now is to proceed with a ton of caution, or complete silence. 

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Tesla owners across the globe prepare for Robotaxi launch with this neat customization

Tesla will eventually have Robotaxis worldwide. Some owners are already preparing.

Published

18 minutes ago

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June 12, 2025

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Credit: @HanChulYong | X

Tesla owners are already preparing for the company’s launch of the Robotaxi platform with a new, neat customization that is appearing around the world.

On Tuesday, the first Tesla Robotaxi test mule was spotted in Austin, where the company will launch the first driverless rides of this ride-hailing service. At first, it will be a limited rollout, reserved for a select few. CEO Elon Musk said public rides could occur as soon as June 22.

First Tesla driverless robotaxi spotted in the wild in Austin, TX

However, the Tesla Robotaxi platform is not one that will be confined to cities and geofenced to certain areas.

Eventually, Tesla will gain enough confidence to roll the Full Self-Driving software straight to every car in the customer fleet that paid for it. Owners will be able to generate income for themselves while they sleep, as the cars will operate as ride-hailing vehicles for people to use for transportation.

In an effort to prepare for the launch of Robotaxi, Tesla owners across the globe are installing Tesla’s ‘Robotaxi’ word art on their cars.

Here’s one in South Korea:

Here’s another in the U.S.:

Obviously, this is more of a symbol of support for the Robotaxi launch, but many owners are recognizing that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software will extend to them the ability to use their personal cars as ride-hailing vehicles, becoming a part of the global fleet of self-driving chauffeurs.

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Elon Musk

Tesla sues former Optimus engineer for stealing trade secrets

Tesla is suing a former engineer who worked on Optimus after he left and immediately started a robotics company that achieved quick development of a hand.

Published

8 hours ago

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June 12, 2025

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

Tesla is suing former Optimus engineer Jay Li in federal court after accusing him of stealing trade secrets and using them to enable a startup he founded after he left.

Li is accused of stealing confidential files and using them to help get his company, “Proception,” off to a rocking start. Tesla says the files Li took helped his new startup “shortcut the typical development process” for robot hands, something that took Tesla years to develop and evolve.

The company said in the complaint (via Reuters):

“Through Li’s pilfering, Defendant Proception purportedly achieved in a matter of months what it has taken Tesla over four years, hundreds of employees, and billions of dollars to achieve.”

Li was an employee at Tesla for several years, working on the Optimus sensor team from 2022 to 2024. The company says it utilized and devoted “extraordinary resources” to the development of Optimus, which has come a long way since its unveiling several years ago.

Tesla Optimus to receive hands with 22 degrees of freedom later this year

Li allegedly downloaded confidential files related to Optimus’ robotic hand movement research before departing the company. He did not work on the hands at the time. However, he left and swiftly started Proception, as the suit states the company was founded just six days after he left Tesla.

Proception was gloating about its ability to build robotic hands just five months after the company was founded. Tesla says the hands have “striking similarities” to its own design for Optimus.

The company is looking for monetary damages and a court order that would block Proception from misusing the secrets it accuses Li of taking.

This is not the first suit Tesla has filed over trade secrets and confidential information theft. Recently, it accused German-Canadian dual citizen Klaus Pflugbeil of stealing battery-related secrets. He was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison.

Men accused of selling Tesla battery secrets arrested in undercover sting

The U.S. Department of Justice used an undercover sting to arrest Pflugbeil.

Tesla is being represented by Josh Krevitt, Orin Snyder, and Angelique Kaounis of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

The case is Tesla Inc. v. Perception Inc., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:25-cv-04963.

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Tesla teases new Model Y seating option potentially coming soon

Tesla appears to be ready to launch the new Model Y seating option in the coming weeks.

Published

9 hours ago

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June 12, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla teased a new Model Y seating option earlier this week in a promotional email, potentially hinting that it could introduce an arrangement offered on the legacy version of the vehicle.

Back in 2021, Tesla started offering a seven-seat configuration of the Model Y, and there was a lot of speculation about its orientation and the space it would provide. The two additional seats were truly a tight fit for anyone, even kids, as the space for a third row was extremely limited in the Model Y.

Tesla Model Y third-row seats first impressions shared by EV owner

Eventually, Tesla started building the seven-seater with forward-facing seats and very tight legroom dimensions. It was beneficial for some, but many still considered the arrangement to be too confined for their needs.

The company confirmed earlier this year in an interview with Jay Leno that the car would get other configurations, including Rear-Wheel-Drive, which has already launched, a Performance trim, which has been spotted with bumper covers several times this year, and a seven-seat version:

The new seven-seater could be coming soon as well, according to a recent email Tesla sent to customers and fans. In it, Tesla writes:

“Ready for anything with long range seating for up to seven and enough room for everyone’s gear.”

Tesla did have a mysterious Model Y roaming around the Fremont Factory’s test track recently with covered bumpers and what appeared to be strange dimensions.

We thought it might be the compact, affordable model that is set to launch in the first half of the year, but now it seems that the car could have either been the Model Y seven-seater or the Model Y Performance configuration, as they are both expected soon.

We are interested to see if Tesla can squeak out a few more inches of legroom in the new seven-seater, but we’re not holding our breath. Nevertheless, the new Model Y came with quite a few improvements, including suspension changes, acoustic-lined glass for a better cabin experience, and a front and rear bumper redesign, among other things.

There is no doubt it will be a better car than the legacy version.

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