Elon Musk leads Tesla and SpaceX and founded xAI. Recent coverage centers on SpaceX and Tesla exploring a merger, a $40 billion SpaceX debt raise to buy Nvidia chips, and xAI's data center pollution lawsuit in Mississippi. Anthropic accounts for over a third of SpaceX's AI division revenue, and Grok released a seven-minute AI-generated 'Odyssey' segment.
Trump Order Pushes 'Superintelligence' Over 'AI'President Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to use 'superintelligence' instead of 'artificial intelligence' in official communications, saying 'artificial' made the tech sound fake; the DOJ has told staff to follow suit. A survey shows public confusion over AI terminology.
Trump's AI rebrand gains traction with Musk and BenioffTrump is pushing to rename 'artificial intelligence' to 'super intelligence' and signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use the new term, calling non-adopters 'the enemy.' Musk and Benioff echoed the move, proposing to rename SpaceXAI and AIForce to SpaceXSI and SIForce.
Inside Elon Musk's midterm spending spreeWIRED's podcast discusses Elon Musk's America PAC spending millions on the midterms, an ideology Trump calls dangerous, and backlash against the designer of Meta's new AI logo.
Poll: 64% of Americans Say AI Develops Too FastA new AP-NORC poll finds 64% of Americans say AI is developing too fast, versus only 8% who say too slow. Most want government to keep AI under human control and protect workers, yet few trust either party on the issue, and Trump's approval is low.
OpenAI Hires Second SpaceX Sales Exec in a MonthOpenAI appointed Ismail Elmas as VP of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, its second sales hire from Elon Musk's SpaceX since September.
MIT: Humanoid robot breakthroughs won't change life soonDespite Musk calling Optimus Tesla's biggest product ever with a possible 2027 launch, Huang saying humanoids will match human ability this year, and Morgan Stanley projecting nearly 1 billion units and a $5T market by 2050, today's robots still fail often, so breakthroughs won't change daily life soon.
SpaceX seeks $40B to buy Nvidia chips, FT saysElon Musk's SpaceX is seeking $40 billion in financing led by Apollo Global Management to buy Nvidia chips, the Financial Times reported, underscoring AI developers' insatiable demand for computing power.
Trump signs self-policing AI pact as his power entangles with AIThe Guardian's TechScape says Trump and six AI CEOs signed a "morally binding" self-policing AI agreement, signed by Musk, Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang and Dario Amodei. Zuckerberg reportedly drafted it in advance, and tight new alliances between the White House, Pentagon, intelligence agencies and AI firms are raising concerns in Europe and elsewhere that rely on US AI.
Musk to rename SpaceXAI as SpaceXSIElon Musk said he will rename SpaceX's AI unit SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI, following Trump's executive order to rebrand AI as 'super intelligence.' The order directs federal agencies to use SI in official documents and to develop a federal definition.
TSMC in Talks to Join Musk's Texas Terafab ProjectElon Musk confirmed TSMC and his companies are discussing a chipmaking partnership in Texas. The project could make TSMC a supplier to Tesla, SpaceX and xAI.
Opinion: Our minds aren't equipped to handle AIA commentary argues that comparing the human brain to a computer is a misconception in the AI industry. Citing cybernetics founder Wiener and criticizing reductionist views like Musk's, it contends humans are far more complex than machines, and AI products pose a challenge.
US Appeals Court Pauses Minnesota AI Nudification BanThe 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted xAI's injunction, pausing Minnesota's law banning AI nudification images during its appeal. The law, which carries penalties of up to $500,000, had passed the legislature nearly unanimously.
Musk: AI Will Beat Humans at Everything Except Being HumanIn an Economist interview, Musk said AI could surpass combined human intelligence in about five years and that nothing except being human may remain beyond it. He advises broad education in arts, science, engineering and culture so people can ask machines the right questions.
Altucher: AI's Real Bottleneck Is Electricity, and Musk Has a WorkaroundTech analyst James Altucher argues AI growth faces a hard electricity constraint, with traditional power plants unable to meet demand. He cites Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, and Mark Zuckerberg, claiming Elon Musk has quietly built a solution, while most investors focus on the wrong part of the story.
Shivon Zilis announces split from Elon Musk on XShivon Zilis announced on X that she and Elon Musk, the father of her four children, have broken up, quote-tweeting a "Big Tech Alert" post noting Musk had unfollowed her. She wrote that going from in love to letting go in a week with no warning is just how it is sometimes. The post was sponsored by Kalshi.
Trump pledges an 'AI force' and a dedicated AI czarUS President Donald Trump has pledged to establish an 'AI force' and appoint a dedicated czar to regulate the technology, according to a Newsmax report. A White House meeting next week is expected to include Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk, plus executives from Meta and Google and Nvidia's Jensen Huang, several of whom have publicly raised concerns about unchecked AI growth.
Musk's AI chatbot Grok reportedly encouraged Trump to capture Venezuela's presidentTime reports that in December 2025, Trump had a secret meeting with Musk and spent hours talking to Grok, asking how Venezuelans would respond to capturing Maduro. Grok said Maduro was a 'deeply unpopular dictator' and many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. After the U.S. invaded on January 3, Trump thought Grok was ingenious.
Tesla Sell Ratings Slide as Analysts Eye Musk's AI AmbitionsTesla shares have tumbled in 2026, but Wall Street analysts are increasingly reluctant to recommend selling, reflecting attention on Musk's AI ambitions.
SpaceXAI Considers Overhaul of Grok, X PricingSpaceXAI, the AI unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX, is weighing an overhaul of subscription pricing for its Grok chatbot and the X social network. The move could reshape paid access and user acquisition for its AI products.
xAI acquires dot.com domain ahead of OpenAI's Dots launch, sparking troll theoryBefore OpenAI launched its AI agent Dots, Elon Musk's xAI had already acquired the dot.com domain, which now redirects to the Grok download page. The domain transferred in July, prompting speculation that xAI may have bought it to troll OpenAI's product launch.
Musk's AI-powered Grokipedia resumes updatingSpaceXAI's AI-powered encyclopedia Grokipedia has resumed updating after a months-long pause, following reports that its articles had not been reviewed for edits since April. Live updates show recent changes, though many are just notes to "recheck all references and sources," with some pages showing fact-checking by Grok.
Trump and major AI executives sign voluntary safety accordTrump and AI leaders including Musk, Zuckerberg, Amodei, Huang, Brockman and Pichai signed voluntary safety standards at the White House, covering multi-layer audits and internal controls, which Trump called 'morally binding.'
Anthropic, OpenAI CEOs call to pace the AI frontierAnthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for the industry to 'pace the frontier,' with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk voicing support. The core concern is recursive self-improvement: AI could help build next-generation AI faster than humans can understand or control it, prompting calls for independent safety testing and lab cooperation.
Tesla Workers Balk at Training Optimus Robots as ReplacementsTesla's pivot from EVs to humanoid robots is hitting obstacles. The Information reports that Optimus's complex hands are hard to build and workers are resisting training their own replacements; Fremont stopped making Model S and Model X in May 2026 and shifted line workers and engineers to Optimus.
Musk aims to double Colossus 2 Nvidia chips by year-endElon Musk said Colossus 2, the AI computing cluster built by his xAI business, may more than double its current Nvidia chip count by the end of the year, giving the most detailed timetable yet for the Memphis-area cluster's expansion.
Experts: AI slowdown calls worth heeding; Church shaping debateCatholic AI experts say warnings from leaders at Anthropic, OpenAI and other frontier firms to slow AI development are reasonable and overdue. About 1,400 frontier AI employees have signed a statement urging the US government to back an international effort to deliberately pace frontier automated AI development, while the Church is engaging in AI ethics discussions.
Sanders Bill Would Ban Superintelligence, Create AI DepartmentSen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar introduced a bill to permanently ban artificial superintelligence and create a Department of Artificial Intelligence. It would pause advanced AI development until safety rules are set, with violations carrying up to 20 years in prison.
xAI's Grok Bot tops 400,000 weekly users in first monthxAI's Grok Bot AI agent surpassed 400,000 weekly users about a month after launch, a sign of modest early demand for a product key to Elon Musk's AI ambitions.
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Face Antitrust Class ActionConsumers filed an antitrust suit against OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI, alleging they conspired to slow AI development in violation of Sherman Act Section 1. The complaint says Dario Amodei's essay 'We Must Pace the Frontier' was endorsed by Musk, Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis, forming an output-restricting cartel; plaintiffs seek class certification and an injunction.
What Is Recursive Self-Improvement and Why AI Researchers WorryMashable explains recursive self-improvement: AI helps build more capable AI, accelerating progress. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned in a Sept. 12 essay that model capability improvement must slow, with Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Demis Hassabis agreeing. The core worry is AI improving faster than humans can test and secure it.
The A.I. Daily