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Elon Musk’s efforts of giving back continue with $5M COVID-19 research donation
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has continued a trend of giving back with a $5 million donation to Boston researchers who aim to create a COVID-19 vaccine and diagnostic tool.
The Musk Foundation donated to Dr. Dan Barouch, the Director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Barouch is also a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Additionally, Galit Alter, a Ragon Institute Professor of Medicine, also received the donation.
The two researchers have made several large strides in the fight against the pandemic. Dr. Barouch developed a COVID-19 vaccine with Johnson & Johnson, and it is currently in the late-stage clinical trial. Alter has developed tests to screen for COVID antibodies that indicate exposure to the virus. One is begin used by Musk’s SpaceX to prevent the spread of the virus, Boston Globe reports.
The $5 million donation will be split equally between Barouch and Alter’s labs. “We’re delighted that he has provided this generous support for our program,” Dr. Barouch said about the donation.
Musk has had several conversations with both doctors. Alter said that Musk was always “polarizing” to her, but conversations showed that the Tesla CEO is caring as he opened up plenty of dialogue on how COVID can be attacked with vaccines. Barouch agreed and was impressed with Musk’s desire to learn about vaccines and how fighting the virus can make the world a better place. “[Elon] has always been very open to the emerging science,” Barouch said.
It is not the first time that Musk has donated some of his substantial net worth to others. Over the past few weeks, Musk has been using his money to contribute to the development of other programs, including the Khan Academy and Barstool’s #BarstoolFund that aims to help small businesses survive the pandemic. Musk, a humanitarian whose goal was to save the Earth from dependency on fossil fuels, obtained the “World’s Richest Person” label in January 2021. Evidently, money was never a concern for Musk. He has spent the last several weeks giving back to various charitable causes and research facilities to expedite small business survival and COVID-19 prevention.
Elon Musk donates to Barstool Fund in support of small business relief fund
Musk was one of the earliest proponents in the fight against COVID-19. The CEO offered ventilators to any hospital that could prove it needed breathing assistance machines and had them shipped to those within Tesla’s delivery regions. Tesla even made an effort to build its own ventilators with car parts, but the project was never completed, and it is unclear if the automaker will ever attempt to release a version of the breathing apparatus.
Musk’s humanitarian efforts continue as the pandemic continues to heat up. 400,000 deaths have been reported in the United States alone, and vaccines and other measures have been taken to prevent the virus’s spread. However, the development of new technologies is emerging forward in the fight against the Coronavirus, and Musk’s donation could help the Boston doctors uncover the true cure to the illness.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
