Elon Musk
Musk says German election could ‘decide fate of the world’ at AfD event
Elon Musk spoke at a campaign event for Germany’s controversial Alternative für Deutschland, or Alternative for Germany (AfD), party over the weekend, ahead of an upcoming election in the country next month.
On Saturday, AfD candidate Alice Weidel posted a video broadcast of the event on X, which included a roughly-ten-minute speech from Musk, following his appointment last week as an advisor for newly-inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump. The AfD, which advocates for German nationalism, halting immigration into the country, preserving German culture and other related topics, has drawn concern and been called a far-right populist party by some critics.
The appearance comes ahead of a German election being held on February 23, which Musk says could “decide the entire fate of Europe, maybe the fate of the world.” During the speech, he also spoke about preserving German culture and the removal of bureaucracy from Brussels, along with being affirmed by Weidel and the audience about the recent election of Trump, who has advocated for similar deregulatory and anti-immigration policies.
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You can see the full broadcast from Alice Weidel on X below with Musk’s speech starting around two and a half hours in, or you can read the full transcript below that.
Mega-Wahlkampfauftakt mit Alice Weidel live aus Halle! https://t.co/eHzMOShPHR
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) January 25, 2025
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Musk: Can you hear me? Okay, yes, unfortunately, I can’t hear you very well.
Wow, hello, everyone. I hope you can hear me well, the audio I’m hearing from my side is… I can’t hear you. So hopefully this, this is coming through. Please, please confirm that this you can hear me. Okay. I don’t know, raise your hand or something. Okay. All good. Okay, great.
Well, first of all, I wanted to really say that I’m very excited for the AfD and I think, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany. I think some things that… something I think that is just very important is that people take pride in Germany, and being German, this is very important. It’s, you know, it’s okay to be proud to be German. This is a very important principle.
It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything. I think we want to have unique cultures in the world. We want to have people that have… we don’t want everything to be the same everywhere, where it’s just one big sort of soup, you know, we want to have something where it’s… you go to different countries and you experience a different culture, and it is unique and special and good and that the German government takes actions to protect its citizens, and make sure that it seeks the health and well-being of the German people.
-->The German people are sort of, really an ancient nation. It goes back thousands of years. Read Julius Caesar’s account of, like, first encountering the German tribes in the Gallic campaigns. And he was like, “Very impressive. These are very, very powerful warriors.”
I think there’s, like, frankly, too much of a focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that. Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents or even, let alone their parents, their great grandparents, maybe even. And we should be optimistic and excited about a future for Germany.
That’s really what it is, to be excited, to be optimistic about the future, to preserve German culture and protect the German people. And you know, there are some other things that I think would be very helpful too, which is that, I think you want more self-determination for Germany and for the countries in Europe, and less from Brussels.
That’s my opinion. I think there’s too much bureaucracy from Brussels, too much control from sort of global elite. And you know, when I’ve given talks at these sort of global government conferences, what I’ve said is there should be “less global government, there should be more determination by individual countries.”
And so I very much hope that the AfD does well, and that Alice Weidel does become a chancellor. I think that would be very good for Germany, and I think it’s very important. I hope the German people unite and strongly support AfD.
-->You’re doing the right thing, is what I’m saying.
Let’s go guys, let’s go! Fight for a great future for Germany! Fight for a great future for Germany! Go go go, convince your friends, convince everyone, let’s go!
Get excited about the future, and if you want to make the future great, if you want the future to be great, you need to make it great, and fight for the future to be great. That’s how it becomes great.
Weidel: Let me try one thing, and I hope you can hear me. No, you can’t?
Musk: No, I think I can hear you now.
-->Weidel: Okay, yes, good. Entire audience, we wish you, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, all the best to make America great again. You’re the best. God’s blessing.
Musk: Exactly. I mean, I think we should fight for an exciting, bright future where people can be optimistic about what’s going to happen, where you wake up and you look forward to the future. And the best way to… ensure the future is good, you have to fight for a good future every day, and it will be great, and we’ll have a very exciting, wonderful future so…
I think this election coming up in Germany is incredibly important. I think it could decide the entire fate of Europe, maybe the fate of the world. That is the significance of this election. So that’s why it’s very important to talk to your friends and family and convince them to consider voting for AfD and then, and just go with it like a chain reaction, convince one friend, talk to another friend, and say “Hey guys, do you want more of the last ten years, or do you want something different?”
And I think the people in Germany want something different, and if you want something different, you have to vote for a different party. This is just a fact. This is logic.
So you are the future of Germany. Make it happen, but I can’t emphasize enough: go out there, talk to people, convince people, one vote at a time, there’s a need for change. It’s got to be done. And this election is so important, it’s extremely important. I do not say it lightly when I think the future of civilization could hang on this election.
-->So when something is so important, it’s you really need to say, “Okay, you’re going to go all out to convince people to vote for AfD.”
And you certainly… obviously you have my full support. I think the Trump administration is also supportive. So, you know, I think the policies that I’ve heard from AFD, they make a lot of sense.
They’re really just, it’s, you know… to me, when I look at the policies, they’re sort of, they’re common sense policies, and just like President Trump has common sense policies, getting things done, you know, getting the government out of people’s way so that you can get, you know, you can get things done, and giving people back personal freedom and protecting the people from dangers.
These are fundamental things that, frankly, the current government is not doing. Current government is suppressing speech very aggressively and really, when you suppress freedom of speech, it’s not it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to have a true democracy, because freedom of speech is the foundation of democracy.
People cannot be expected to vote in an informed manner if they are not able to know the truth. So, this is why it’s so important to have to have freedom of speech, so people can make an informed vote, and it can be a true democracy. But this is not what the current government has been doing. They have been suppressing freedom of speech and putting people in jail for even mild criticisms of politicians or social media posts. This is crazy. This is, this is, this is, frankly, a totalitarian approach. It is not a democratic approach.
-->So there needs to be… to restore freedom to the people of Germany and have freedom of speech and have less government oppression in general. So anyway, I think this is I can’t emphasize enough, go do everything you can, full blast. Put every effort you can into this election, this… the fate of the world, I think, rests upon this election in Germany. It’s extremely fundamental.
Everything you can, please go all out.
Weidel: Thank you, great. All the best for you, blessings.
Musk: Alright, and unfortunately, Alice, I can’t hear you. I wish I could hear you, but I can see the enthusiasm of the crowd. And… danke schoen. And, you know, go, go, go, fight, fight, fight.
Elon Musk’s past meetings with other world leaders and Donald Trump’s re-election
The speech follows Musk’s appearance at Trump’s inauguration earlier this week, during which the Tesla CEO performed what many said appeared to be a Nazi salute, which he later defended as a gesture meant to highlight his statement that his “heart goes out to all of you” after thanking the audience for helping to make Trump’s victory happen.
-->After the inauguration, Musk downplayed the gesture in a flurry of posts, including one on X, noting that he had apparently been called both a Zionist and a Nazi. In others, he reiterated his disdain for legacy media, adding that it would be “another nail in the coffin.”
“It was astonishing how insanely hard legacy media tried to cancel me for saying ‘my heart goes out to you’ and moving my hand from my heart to the audience,” Musk wrote in an additional post on X on Friday. “In the end, this deception will just be another nail in the coffin of legacy media.”
“Elon is a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu wrote on X following the event. “He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state. I thank him for this.”
Musk has also met with several world leaders over the past few years, even before his official endorsement of Trump last July. He has previously held meetings with Netanyahu and several others, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentina President Javier Milei, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, Hungary President Katalin Novák, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Namibia Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, and several officials in China, among many others still.
-->Many of these conversations have included similar concerns about immigration, population collapse and the need for people to have more children, the civilizational risks of AI and ambitions to make humans multiplanetary by landing on Mars, among many other adjacent topics.
During campaign events leading up to the November election, Musk used similar language to his January speech for the AfD, noting that “President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution” and “democracy,” and saying that it would “be the last election” if voters didn’t encourage others to register to vote.
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.
Elon Musk talks AI, birth rates and more at Italian conference
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship FL launch site will witness scenes once reserved for sci-fi films
A Starship that launches from the Florida site could touch down on the same site years later.
The Department of the Air Force (DAF) has released its Final Environmental Impact Statement for SpaceX’s efforts to launch and land Starship and its Super Heavy booster at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s SLC-37.
According to the Impact Statement, Starship could launch up to 76 times per year on the site, with Super Heavy boosters returning within minutes of liftoff and Starship upper stages landing back on the same pad in a timeframe that was once only possible in sci-fi movies.
Booster in Minutes, Ship in (possibly) years
The EIS explicitly referenced a never-before-seen operational concept: Super Heavy boosters will launch, reach orbit, and be caught by the tower chopsticks roughly seven minutes after liftoff. Meanwhile, the Starship upper stage will complete its mission, whether a short orbital test, lunar landing, or a multi-year Mars cargo run, and return to the exact same SLC-37 pad upon mission completion.
“The Super Heavy booster landings would occur within a few minutes of launch, while the Starship landings would occur upon completion of the Starship missions, which could last hours or years,” the EIS read.
This means a Starship that departs the Florida site in, say, 2027, could touch down on the same site in 2030 or later, right beside a brand-new stack preparing for its own journey, as noted in a Talk Of Titusville report. The 214-page document treats these multi-year round trips as standard procedure, effectively turning the location into one of the world’s first true interplanetary spaceports.
-->Noise and emissions flagged but deemed manageable
While the project received a clean bill of health overall, the EIS identified two areas requiring ongoing mitigation. Sonic booms from Super Heavy booster and Starship returns will cause significant community annoyance” particularly during nighttime operations, though structural damage is not expected. Nitrogen oxide emissions during launches will also exceed federal de minimis thresholds, prompting an adaptive management plan with real-time monitoring.
Other impacts, such as traffic, wildlife (including southeastern beach mouse and Florida scrub-jay), wetlands, and historic sites, were deemed manageable under existing permits and mitigation strategies. The Air Force is expected to issue its Record of Decision within weeks, followed by FAA concurrence, setting the stage for rapid redevelopment of the former site into a dual-tower Starship complex.
SpaceX Starship Environmental Impact Statement by Simon Alvarez
Elon Musk
Elon Musk and James Cameron find middle ground in space and AI despite political differences
Musk responded with some positive words for the director on X.
Avatar director James Cameron has stated that he can still agree with Elon Musk on space exploration and AI safety despite their stark political differences.
In an interview with Puck’s The Town podcast, the liberal director praised Musk’s SpaceX achievements and said higher priorities must unite them, such as space travel and artificial intelligence. Musk responded with some positive words for the director on X.
A longtime mutual respect
Cameron and Musk have bonded over technology for years. As far back as 2011, Cameron told NBC News that “Elon is making very strong strides. I think he’s the likeliest person to step into the shoes of the shuttle program and actually provide human access to low Earth orbit. So… go, Elon.” Cameron was right, as SpaceX would go on to become the dominant force in spaceflight over the years.
Even after Musk’s embrace of conservative politics and his roles as senior advisor and former DOGE head, Cameron refused to cancel his relationship with the CEO. “I can separate a person and their politics from the things that they want to accomplish if they’re aligned with what I think are good goals,” Cameron said. Musk appreciated the director’s comments, stating that “Jim understands physics, which is rare in Hollywood.”
Shared AI warnings
Both men have stated that artificial intelligence could be an existential threat to humanity, though Musk has noted that Tesla’s products such as Optimus could usher in an era of sustainable abundance. Musk recently predicted that money and jobs could become irrelevant with advancing AI, while Cameron warned of a deeper crisis, as noted in a Fox News report.
-->“Because the overall risk of AI in general… is that we lose purpose as people. We lose jobs. We lose a sense of, ‘Well, what are we here for?’” Cameron said. “We are these flawed biological machines, and a computer can be theoretically more precise, more correct, faster, all of those things. And that’s going to be a threshold existential issue.”
He concluded: “I just think it’s important for us as a human civilization to prioritize. We’ve got to make this Earth our spaceship. That’s really what we need to be thinking.”
Elon Musk
Elon Musk proposes Grok 5 vs world’s best League of Legends team match
Musk’s proposal has received positive reception from professional players and Riot Games alike.
Elon Musk has proposed a high-profile gaming challenge for xAI’s upcoming Grok 5. As per Musk, it would be interesting to see if the large language model could beat the world’ best human League of Legends team with specific constraints.
Musk’s proposal has received positive reception from professional players and Riot Games alike, suggesting that the exciting exhibition match might indeed happen.
Musk outlines restrictions for Grok
In his post on X, Musk detailed constraints to keep the match competitive, including limiting Grok to human-level reaction times, human-speed clicking, and viewing the game only through a camera feed with standard 20/20 vision. The idea quickly circulated across the esports community, drawing commentary from former pros and AI researchers, as noted in a Dexerto report.
Former League pro Eugene “Pobelter” Park expressed enthusiasm, offering to help Musk’s team and noting the unique comparison to past AI-versus-human breakthroughs, such as OpenAI’s Dota 2 bots. AI researcher Oriol Vinyals, who previously reached Grandmaster rank in StarCraft, suggested testing Grok in RTS gameplay as well.
Musk welcomed the idea, even responding positively to Vinyals’ comment that it would be nice to see Optimus operate the mouse and keyboard.
-->Pros debate Grok’s chances, T1 and Riot show interest
Reactions weren’t universally optimistic. Former professional mid-laner Joedat “Voyboy” Esfahani argued that even with Grok’s rapid learning capabilities, League of Legends requires deep synergy, game-state interpretation, and team coordination that may be difficult for AI to master at top competitive levels. Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng was similarly skeptical, publicly stating he doubted Grok could beat T1, or even himself, and jokingly promised to shave his head if Grok managed to win.
T1, however, embraced the proposal, responding with a GIF of Faker and the message “We are ready,” signaling their willingness to participate. Riot Games itself also reacted, with co-founder Marc Merrill replying to Musk with “let’s discuss.” Needless to say, it appears that Riot Games in onboard with the idea.
Though no match has been confirmed, interest from players, teams, and Riot suggests the concept could materialize into a landmark AI-versus-human matchup, potentially becoming one of the most viewed League of Legends events in history. The fact that Grok 5 will be constrained to human limits would definitely add an interesting dimension to the matchup, as it could truly demonstrate how human-like the large language model could be like in real-time scenarios.
Tesla has passed a key milestone, and it was one that CEO Elon Musk initially mentioned more than nine years ago when he published Master Plan, Part Deux.
As per Tesla China in a post on its official Weibo account, the company’s Autopilot system has accumulated over 10 billion kilometers of real-world driving experience.
Tesla China’s subtle, but huge announcement
In its Weibo post, Tesla China announced that the company’s Autopilot system has accumulated 10 billion kilometers of driving experience. “In this respect, Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot technology can be considered to have the world’s most experienced and seasoned driver.”
-->Tesla AI’s handle on Weibo also highlighted a key advantage of the company’s self-driving system. “It will never drive under the influence of alcohol, be distracted, or be fatigued,” the team wrote. “We believe that advancements in Autopilot technology will save more lives.”
Tesla China did not clarify exactly what it meant by “Autopilot” in its Weibo post, though the company’s intense focus on FSD over the past years suggests that the term includes miles that were driven by FSD (Beta) and Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Either way, 10 billion cumulative miles of real-world data is something that few, if any, competitors could compete with.
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Elon Musk’s 10-billion-km estimate, way back in 2016
When Elon Musk published Master Plan Part Deux, he outlined his vision for the company’s autonomous driving system. At the time, Autopilot was still very new, though Musk was already envisioning how the system could get regulatory approval worldwide. He estimated that worldwide regulatory approval will probably require around 10 billion miles of real-world driving data, which was an impossible-sounding amount at the time.
“Even once the software is highly refined and far better than the average human driver, there will still be a significant time gap, varying widely by jurisdiction, before true self-driving is approved by regulators. We expect that worldwide regulatory approval will require something on the order of 6 billion miles (10 billion km). Current fleet learning is happening at just over 3 million miles (5 million km) per day,” Musk wrote.
-->It’s quite interesting but Tesla is indeed getting regulatory approval for FSD (Supervised) at a steady pace today, at a time when 10 billion miles of data has been achieved. The system has been active in the United States and has since been rolled out to other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, China, and, more recently, South Korea. Expectations are high that Tesla could secure FSD approval in Europe sometime next year as well.
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