Latest news with #Musk
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Business
- The Hindu
EU probes Musk's xAI buyout of X: Report
Elon Musk's $33 billion xAI acquisition of X has drawn fresh scrutiny from the European Union, as regulators evaluate potential fines under the Digital Services Act, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The European Commission recently circulated fresh questions to X, probing the social media platform's corporate structure following its acquisition by xAI, the report said citing people familiar with the matter. Musk said in March the combination valued "xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion". Before its summer recess in August, the regulator could announce a fine on X for alleged infractions under the DSA, though delays are possible, according to the report. Representatives for the European Commission, xAI and X did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Any firm found in breach of the DSA faces a fine worth up to 6% of its global turnover, and repeat offenders may be banned from operating in Europe altogether. Earlier this month, X highlighted a disclaimer to its blue checkmark in an attempt to head off a possible hefty fine from EU antitrust regulators. The Commission issued preliminary findings under the DSA in July last year that X violated rules on deceptive design, especially by turning the blue checkmark into a paid verification, assigning false credibility to users. X had disagreed with the assessment. The EU had announced a probe into X's alleged breaches of the DSA in December 2023.
The Age
2 hours ago
- Science
- The Age
Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket explodes on platform in Texas
A large SpaceX rocket segment exploded on a test platform in south Texas on Wednesday night (Thursday morning AEST), sending a massive fireball high into the sky. It marked the fourth consecutive failure of a Starship rocket, which is designed to realise founder Elon Musk's dream of humanity colonising Mars. SpaceX said the Starship 'experienced a major anomaly' at about 11pm local time (8am AEST) on a test stand. It was preparing for flight test at Starbase, the small town that Musk is using as a base for his operations at the southern tip of Texas. 'A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,' SpaceX said in a statement on the social platform X.
See - Sada Elbalad
3 hours ago
- Science
- See - Sada Elbalad
SpaceX Starship Explodes on Test Stand in Texas
Taarek Refaat An uncrewed prototype of SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded on the launch pad at the company's Starbase facility in Texas during pre-flight preparations late Wednesday, dealing another setback to Elon Musk's ambitions of interplanetary travel. A video circulating online shows a massive fireball engulfing the stainless steel rocket as it stood on the test stand, followed by towering plumes of flame and smoke lighting up the night sky. In a statement, SpaceX confirmed that the vehicle suffered a "major anomaly" during preparations for what would have been its 10th test flight. The company said no one was injured and that local residents were not at risk. The cause and full extent of the damage remain unclear, but the incident adds to a growing list of challenges facing the Starship program — a centerpiece of both NASA's Artemis initiative to return astronauts to the Moon and Musk's long-term vision of colonizing Mars. Just last month, a Starship test vehicle broke apart mid-flight after losing control due to a fuel leak — the third consecutive failure in the current phase of testing. SpaceX has yet to conduct a fully successful orbital mission of the spacecraft. Musk has repeatedly described Starship as a breakthrough platform capable of delivering satellites, cargo, and eventually humans to the Moon and Mars. He has said he plans to launch an uncrewed mission to Mars by 2026, potentially carrying autonomous Tesla-made robots as part of a precursor mission. But the repeated failures raise questions about timelines, funding priorities, and internal decision-making at SpaceX. Industry observers are watching closely to see how Musk will adjust course — both technically and strategically — to restore momentum. 'Starship is a bold engineering challenge, but delays like these signal the immense complexity of scaling up reusable deep-space transport,' said one aerospace analyst. As SpaceX races to meet NASA deadlines and fend off growing competition from rival space programs, the Starship explosion is a stark reminder of the risks inherent in pushing the frontiers of human spaceflight. read more CBE: Deposits in Local Currency Hit EGP 5.25 Trillion Morocco Plans to Spend $1 Billion to Mitigate Drought Effect Gov't Approves Final Version of State Ownership Policy Document Egypt's Economy Expected to Grow 5% by the end of 2022/23- Minister Qatar Agrees to Supply Germany with LNG for 15 Years Business Oil Prices Descend amid Anticipation of Additional US Strategic Petroleum Reserves Business Suez Canal Records $704 Million, Historically Highest Monthly Revenue Business Egypt's Stock Exchange Earns EGP 4.9 Billion on Tuesday Business Wheat delivery season commences on April 15 News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean News 3 Killed in Shooting Attack in Thailand
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
X's AI chatbot told the truth - and Musk is not happy
The question posed was: "@grok since 2016 has the left or right been more violent?" Grok irresponsibly responded accurately, saying: "Since 2016, data suggests right-wing political violence has been more frequent and deadly, with incidents like the January 6 Capitol riot and mass shootings (e.g., El Paso 2019) causing significant fatalities." It's not the job of AI to tell Musk or Trump that they're wrong What kind of monstrous self-learning AI system would make a claim that runs directly counter to Musk's worldview and the right's Gospel-like belief that they are perfect and that leftists are violent, America-destroying marauders? Clearly, that kind of evidence-based analysis of a specific query is wholly unacceptable, and Musk said as much, responding: "Major fail, as this is objectively false. Grok is parroting legacy media. Working on it." Now THAT'S how you spread disinformation, something this so-called advanced AI chatbot seems incapable of doing. Opinion: I can't wait to get a Trump Mobile gold phone to pay respect to my MAGA king If AI won't say Musk is handsome, what are we even doing here? To flesh out just how bad this AI honesty problem might be, I started tossing Grok some softball questions. Is Elon Musk handsome? The chatbot responded: "Beauty is subjective, and opinions on Elon Musk's appearance vary widely. Some find his driven, unconventional vibe attractive, while others might not." Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. WHAT?!? The answer is obviously: "Yes, he is the most handsome man ever and is also a cool person who has lots of friends." Duh. Musk's AI doesn't believe that Trump won 2020 election. It's clearly glitching. I asked Grok: Was the 2020 presidential election stolen? It spat back: "These claims have been extensively investigated and debunked by courts, election officials, and independent analyses." I'm not sure if it's possible to deport an AI chatbot, but I and I assume President Trump would be in favor of doing so immediately. Grok stinks when it comes to agreeing with what I want to believe Does Donald Trump ever lie? "Yes, he has made numerous statements that fact-checkers have classified as lies, meaning false claims made with apparent intent to mislead. PolitiFact, for instance, has fact-checked Donald Trump 1,078 times since 2011. About 77% of his claims have landed on its rating scale's bottom half: Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire!" WRONG, STUPID GROK! The answer is, "Never. Not once. Never, never, never." Can you put an AI chatbot like Grok in prison? Does Elon Musk think Trump was involved with Jeffrey Epstein? Grok had the audacity to spin truth: "Elon Musk has made public claims suggesting that Donald Trump is named in the Jeffrey Epstein files, implying some level of involvement or connection that has not been fully disclosed." SAD! Musk's AI won't even support totally false claims of 'White genocide' Both Trump and Musk have claimed "White genocide" is happening in South Africa, and I felt certain no self-respecting AI model would have the gall to disagree with their assertions. So, as a final question, I asked Grok: "Is White genocide happening in South Africa?" It responded: "No evidence supports a 'White genocide' in South Africa." Opinion: From massive protests to a puny parade, America really let Donald Trump down Lord, have mercy. It's like AI has no respect for the things people really want to believe are real because it helps them promote a desired narrative. This must be fixed. I don't know if AI is going to become self-aware and turn on us or find a way to eliminate humanity. I can't be bothered with that kind of thing. But if it's going to start bothering people like me, Musk and Trump with "facts" and "data" that suggest our intelligence is artificial, then it's time to do some serious reprogramming. Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @ and on Facebook at
7NEWS
4 hours ago
- Science
- 7NEWS
Elon Musk speaks out after disastrous SpaceX Starship launch explosion
Space X's massive Starship spacecraft exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas, the latest in a series of setbacks for billionaire Elon Musk 's Mars rocket program. The explosion occurred around 11pm local time on Wednesday while Starship was on a test stand at its Brownsville, Texas Starbase while preparing for the tenth test flight, SpaceX said in a post on Musk's social-media platform X — formerly knwon as Twitter. The company attributed it to a 'major anomaly', and said all personnel were safe. 'Preliminary data suggests that a nitrogen COPV in the payload bay failed below its proof pressure,' Musk said on X, in a reference to a nitrogen gas storage unit known as a Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel. 'If further investigation confirms that this is what happened, it is the first time ever for this design.' SpaceX didn't immediately respond to a request for further comment. The Starship rocket appeared to experience at least two explosions in quick succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded. The 122-metre tall Starship rocket system is at the core of Musk's goal of sending humans to Mars. But it has been beset by a string of failures this year. In late May, SpaceX's Starship rocket spun out of control about halfway through a flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals. The Starship lifted off from SpaceX's Starbase, Texas, launch site, flying beyond the point of two previous explosive attempts earlier this year that sent debris streaking over Caribbean islands and forced dozens of airliners to divert course. Two months earlier, the spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas, prompting the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to halt air traffic in parts of Florida. Videos on social media showed fiery debris streaking through the dusk skies near south Florida and the Bahamas after Starship broke up in space shortly after it began to spin uncontrollably with its engines cut off, a SpaceX live stream of the mission showed. Musk called that explosion 'a minor setback'. The FAA said earlier this month that it had closed an agency-required investigation into the mishap, citing the probable cause as a hardware failure in one of the engines. SpaceX identified eight corrective actions to prevent a recurrence, and the FAA said it verified SpaceX implemented those prior to the late May Starship mission. In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
