A Twitter whistleblower came forward and the claims he made are bringing the heat to the Twitter vs. Elon Musk trial that’s coming up in a couple of months. The whistleblower said he was fired after flagging security concerns to Twitter’s leadership and board. Some of these concerns were about the bots.
It seems that for Twitter, the bots are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Lurking in the depths is a threat to users’ personal information, national security, and even democracy. CNN and The Washington Post obtained the whistleblower disclosure which was sent last month to Congress and federal agencies.
According to the reports by both, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, publicly came forward and said that Twitter has major security flaws that could pose a threat to its user’s personal information, national security, and even democracy.
Zatko is Twitter’s former head of security and once reported directly to the CEO. He wanted to help Twitter fix its technical shortcomings which have been a problem for years. According to Zatko, Twitter’s leadership misled its own board members about its security vulnerabilities; some of which allowed for hacking, disinformation campaigns, and foreign spying.
And when a Twitter user deletes their account, Twitter may not delete their data because it got lost. Additionally, Twitter executives don’t have the resources to fully understand the actual number of bots on its platform. They don’t even want to try, according to Zatko.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been smeared by many news outlets for pulling out of his deal with Twitter over the bot issue yet I’ve seen with my own eyes just how problematic these bots are. Every time he tweets, we see these verified crypto scammer bots trying to lure people to click a malicious website. Twitter does nothing. I’ve seen this. Critics of Elon Musk claim that this problem isn’t real and he’s just backing out because he’s a fraud. This, in my opinion, is not true. The bot problem is legitimate.
When CNN asked Twitter for a comment, the company did not hold back with its own spice. It said that Zatko was fired over poor performance and ineffective leadership. Twitter also claimed that Zatko’s narrative was “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks important context.”
Twitter also says that said that Zatko’s coming forward appeared designed to inflict harm on Twitter. Here’s the full statement from CNN:
“Mr. Zatko was fired from his senior executive role at Twitter for poor performance and ineffective leadership over six months ago. While we haven’t had access to the specific allegations being referenced, what we’ve seen so far is a narrative about our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks important context. Mr. Zatko’s allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders. Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
My 2.5¢
Both articles by CNN and The Washington Post are must-reads and I suggest you go back and read them. The statements that Zatko has made do not look good for Twitter. Neither does Twitter’s response to CNN. If anything, the response itself seemed a bit defensive and for a company that is tangled in a web of lawsuits over bots, it would have been better if Twitter didn’t comment.
Zatko was brought in after the 2020 hack to identify security issues. And when he did, he was fired for it? Speaking of the 2020 hack I’ll share my observations. I remember the uptick of the crypto scammers targeting Elon Musk. They were and still are a constant nuisance. Just before Twitter was hacked, the spamming intensified. And since that hack, the spamming has continued.
These scammers would not only impersonate Elon Musk, but also his followers. I’ve even been impersonated–before I became verified. Many others who Elon would reply to on Twitter were also impersonated. And all too often, when we reported them for impersonation, Twitter would find nothing wrong and give us the automated response saying that the impersonators did not violate Twitter’s terms.
What I find strange is that Twitter still has not solved this issue after having been hacked. At least, it appears that they didn’t solve it. And Zatko’s confirmation that Twitter has no desire to worry me.
Note: Johnna is a Tesla shareholder and supports its mission.
Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @JohnnaCrider1
Elon Musk
Tesla’s Elon Musk: 10 billion miles needed for safe Unsupervised FSD
As per the CEO, roughly 10 billion miles of training data are required due to reality’s “super long tail of complexity.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has provided an updated estimate for the training data needed to achieve truly safe unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD).
As per the CEO, roughly 10 billion miles of training data are required due to reality’s “super long tail of complexity.”
10 billion miles of training data
Musk comment came as a reply to Apple and Rivian alum Paul Beisel, who posted an analysis on X about the gap between tech demonstrations and real-world products. In his post, Beisel highlighted Tesla’s data-driven lead in autonomy, and he also argued that it would not be easy for rivals to become a legitimate competitor to FSD quickly.
“The notion that someone can ‘catch up’ to this problem primarily through simulation and limited on-road exposure strikes me as deeply naive. This is not a demo problem. It is a scale, data, and iteration problem— and Tesla is already far, far down that road while others are just getting started,” Beisel wrote.
Musk responded to Beisel’s post, stating that “Roughly 10 billion miles of training data is needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving. Reality has a super long tail of complexity.” This is quite interesting considering that in his Master Plan Part Deux, Elon Musk estimated that worldwide regulatory approval for autonomous driving would require around 6 billion miles.
FSD’s total training miles
As 2025 came to a close, Tesla community members observed that FSD was already nearing 7 billion miles driven, with over 2.5 billion miles being from inner city roads. The 7-billion-mile mark was passed just a few days later. This suggests that Tesla is likely the company today with the most training data for its autonomous driving program.
The difficulties of achieving autonomy were referenced by Elon Musk recently, when he commented on Nvidia’s Alpamayo program. As per Musk, “they will find that it’s easy to get to 99% and then super hard to solve the long tail of the distribution.” These sentiments were echoed by Tesla VP for AI software Ashok Elluswamy, who also noted on X that “the long tail is sooo long, that most people can’t grasp it.”
News
Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla emerged as one of the most recognized automakers at MotorTrend’s 2026 Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Innovator Awards.
As could be seen in a press release from the publication, two key Tesla employees were honored for their work on AI, autonomy, and vehicle software. MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla leaders and engineers recognized
The fourth annual SDV Innovator Awards celebrate pioneers and experts who are pushing the automotive industry deeper into software-driven development. Among the most notable honorees for this year was Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of AI Software, who received a Pioneer Award for his role in advancing artificial intelligence and autonomy across the company’s vehicle lineup.
Tesla also secured recognition in the Expert category, with Lawson Fulton, a staff Autopilot machine learning engineer, honored for his contributions to Tesla’s driver-assistance and autonomous systems.
Tesla’s software-first strategy
While automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Rivian also received recognition, Tesla’s multiple awards stood out given the company’s outsized role in popularizing software-defined vehicles over the past decade. From frequent OTA updates to its data-driven approach to autonomy, Tesla has consistently treated vehicles as evolving software platforms rather than static products.
This has made Tesla’s vehicles very unique in their respective sectors, as they are arguably the only cars that objectively get better over time. This is especially true for vehicles that are loaded with the company’s Full Self-Driving system, which are getting progressively more intelligent and autonomous over time. The majority of Tesla’s updates to its vehicles are free as well, which is very much appreciated by customers worldwide.
Elon Musk
Judge clears path for Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit to go before a jury
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder.
A U.S. judge has ruled that Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding nonprofit mission can proceed to a jury trial.
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder. These claims are directly opposed by OpenAI.
Judge says disputed facts warrant a trial
At a hearing in Oakland, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated that there was “plenty of evidence” suggesting that OpenAI leaders had promised that the organization’s original nonprofit structure would be maintained. She ruled that those disputed facts should be evaluated by a jury at a trial in March rather than decided by the court at this stage, as noted in a Reuters report.
Musk helped co-found OpenAI in 2015 but left the organization in 2018. In his lawsuit, he argued that he contributed roughly $38 million, or about 60% of OpenAI’s early funding, based on assurances that the company would remain a nonprofit dedicated to the public benefit. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages tied to what he describes as “ill-gotten gains.”
OpenAI, however, has repeatedly rejected Musk’s allegations. The company has stated that Musk’s claims were baseless and part of a pattern of harassment.
Rivalries and Microsoft ties
The case unfolds against the backdrop of intensifying competition in generative artificial intelligence. Musk now runs xAI, whose Grok chatbot competes directly with OpenAI’s flagship ChatGPT. OpenAI has argued that Musk is a frustrated commercial rival who is simply attempting to slow down a market leader.
The lawsuit also names Microsoft as a defendant, citing its multibillion-dollar partnerships with OpenAI. Microsoft has urged the court to dismiss the claims against it, arguing there is no evidence it aided or abetted any alleged misconduct. Lawyers for OpenAI have also pushed for the case to be thrown out, claiming that Musk failed to show sufficient factual basis for claims such as fraud and breach of contract.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers, however, declined to end the case at this stage, noting that a jury would also need to consider whether Musk filed the lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations. Still, the dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI is now headed for a high-profile jury trial in the coming months.
Tesla’s Elon Musk: 10 billion miles needed for safe Unsupervised FSD
Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
