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Elon Musk Weekly News Update: Tesla, SpaceX, X, Neuralink, and More · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
• 0:05
  This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads, the
• 0:08
  Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The Boring Company and Neurolink.
• 0:13
  I'm your host Will Walden. At precisely 4:37 PM Central
• 0:18
  time, the massive 403 foot tall Starship system Block 2 Road to
• 0:23
  life. Now this is powered by 33 Raptor
• 0:26
  engines. the Super Heavy booster lifted off the pad with what
• 0:30
  SpaceX described as a nominal ascent for the first phase of
• 0:35
  the mission. Everything seemed to go
• 0:36
  according to plan. The booster separated cleanly
• 0:39
  from the upper stage and what is known as a hot stage separation
• 0:42
  where the upper stages engines ignite just as the booster
• 0:46
  finishes its roll. Now shortly after separation
• 0:48
  though, the Super Heavy booster executed a boost back burn,
• 0:52
  relighting 12 of its 13 planned engines to begin its return to
• 0:57
  the launch site. Now in a moment.
• 0:59
  This showcased the company's reusability strides.
• 1:02
  The booster performed a controlled descent through its
• 1:05
  actual plume that flew it to where it was in almost space in
• 1:11
  a reignited all thirteen of its central engines for the landing
• 1:15
  phase. It successfully slowed itself
• 1:17
  down and precisely maneuvered onto the chopstick arms of
• 1:22
  Spacex's launch and couch tower, the Meccazilla.
• 1:27
  Now. This marked only the second time
• 1:28
  that a Super Heavy booster had been caught using this method, a
• 1:32
  huge achievement for the company's goal of reusing the
• 1:36
  Super Heavy boosters now. Meanwhile, the upper stage of
• 1:39
  Starship carried on with its portion of the mission.
• 1:42
  This spacecraft, which is powered by 6 Rapture engines,
• 1:45
  began its ascent burn towards space.
• 1:48
  The PLAN sequence seemed on track until approximately 8 1/2
• 1:51
  minutes into the flight, when telemetry from the vehicle
• 1:54
  abruptly ceased. Initial data suggests that a
• 1:57
  fire broke out in the AF section of the spacecraft, ultimately
• 2:01
  leading to SpaceX describing it as a Rapid Unscheduled
• 2:05
  Disassembly, or a RED, which is a technical term for basically
• 2:10
  an explosion. Now, observers as far as the
• 2:13
  Turks and Caicos Islands reported seeing the upper stage
• 2:17
  break apart in a dramatic display, sort of like fireworks
• 2:21
  over the Atlantic Ocean. Now, the cause of the explosion
• 2:25
  is believed to be a propellant lake.
• 2:27
  SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk provided further insights just
• 2:31
  hours after the flight, stating via X preliminary indication is
• 2:36
  that we had an oxygen slash fuel leak in the cavity above the
• 2:40
  ship engine firewall. It was large enough to build
• 2:43
  pressure in excess of the vent capacity.
• 2:46
  He also indicated plans for improvements, including adding
• 2:49
  fire suppression systems to the affected area and expanding vent
• 2:52
  capacity to prevent similar incidents in the future.
• 2:55
  Musk said nothing so far suggest pushing next launch past next
• 3:00
  month now, despite the loss of the upper stage, the Starship
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  system operated within the boundaries of its designated
• 3:07
  launch corridor, an area specifically designed to protect
• 3:10
  public safety on the ground, in the air and at sea.
• 3:13
  And according to SpaceX, any surviving debris would have
• 3:16
  fallen into a predetermined hazard area.
• 3:19
  The US Federal Aviation Administration, or the FAA,
• 3:23
  which overseas Space Flight Safety, briefly rerouted air
• 3:27
  traffic in the vicinity but confirm that normal operations
• 3:31
  resume shortly afterwards. Now the set back has not slowed
• 3:34
  SpaceX though. Company has applied for
• 3:36
  permission to launch Starship up to 25 times this year, and it's
• 3:40
  determined to get this design operational and reliable.
• 3:45
  SpaceX is already preparing the hardware for the 8th flight
• 3:48
  test, with both the booster and the upper stage undergoing pre
• 3:51
  launch testing. This rapid iteration process is
• 3:54
  a cornerstone of Spacex's approach to developing what it
• 3:57
  envisions is a fully reusable space transport system capable
• 4:01
  of supporting missions to Mars and beyond.
• 4:05
  Now, the Starship program, which aims to make life multi
• 4:08
  planetary, continues to be the most powerful rocket ever
• 4:11
  constructed. Each flight test provides
• 4:14
  critical data that informs future improvements.
• 4:17
  SpaceX has already begun reviewing the data from Flight 7
• 4:20
  to determine the precise cause of the anomaly.
• 4:23
  This review will be conducted in collaboration with the FAA and
• 4:26
  the findings will be used to implement corrective actions for
• 4:29
  subsequent missions. Now, the scale of the explosion,
• 4:32
  though significant, is not unusual for a development stage
• 4:35
  spacecraft of this complexity. Starship, which is powered by
• 4:39
  liquid oxygen and liquid methane, represents A next
• 4:42
  generation designed focused on full reusability.
• 4:45
  The integration of the booster's successful return and catch
• 4:48
  mechanism with the upper stages mission to space is a
• 4:51
  challenging engineering fee. The SpaceX continues to revine
• 4:54
  with each test flight. Now Spacex's progress and
• 4:59
  reusability has been steady, particularly with the success of
• 5:03
  the Super Heavy booster. Catching a rocket stage with the
• 5:06
  launch towers arms reduces the need for ocean landings or
• 5:08
  barges, which is a method used for the Falcon 9 rocket and also
• 5:13
  Blue Origins New Glen rocket. This approach aligns with
• 5:16
  Spacex's overreaching goal of reducing the cost of space
• 5:19
  travel and making high frequency launches more economically
• 5:22
  viable. Now, the decision to conduct a
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  hot stage separation is another example of the program's
• 5:28
  innovative approach. This method increases efficiency
• 5:31
  by reducing the time required for stage separation, also
• 5:34
  introduces new technological challenges.
• 5:37
  SpaceX engineers will likely focus on how the hot stage
• 5:40
  separation is. Subsequent ignition of the upper
• 5:42
  stage engines may have contributed to this anomaly.
• 5:45
  The aftermath of the Starship explosion has drawn attention
• 5:49
  not only for the fiery upper stage, but also for what it
• 5:52
  means for the broader mission of SpaceX.
• 5:55
  Musk's remarks suggest that SpaceX remains undeterred.
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  They're going to keep going forward, and it's important to
• 6:01
  learn from these failures. The rapid pace of testing allows
• 6:04
  the company to iterate quickly, addressing issues and
• 6:07
  implementing fixes in a matter of weeks rather than months.
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  Now, SpaceX analyzes the telemetry and video data from
• 6:14
  Flight 7. The lessons learned will
• 6:16
  undoubtedly shape the design and procedures for future launches.
• 6:21
  Yeah, Musk comments about fire suppression and event capacity
• 6:24
  suggests that changes will be made to prevent similar
• 6:27
  incidents from occurring in the future.
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  These adjustments, while technical, are crucial for
• 6:32
  advancing the reliability and safety of Starship.
• 6:35
  The FAS involvement in the investigation is important their
• 6:38
  regulatory oversight committee and they do it for all of
• 6:41
  spaceflight coming from the United States.
• 6:44
  And while SpaceX has led the charge in reusable rockets, it
• 6:47
  operates with any framework designed to prioritize public
• 6:50
  safety. The agency's role is certifying
• 6:53
  launch operations ensures that lessons from incidents like this
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  one are shared across the industry, contributing to the
• 6:59
  collective advancement of space technology.
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  Now, the high stakes game of Super Heavy rockets is real.
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  The rocket is central to several of the company's key missions,
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  including deploying the next generation of Starling
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  satellites and conducting missions for NASA.
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  Starship is slated to play a pivotal role in the art of this
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  program, which aims to return humans to the moon later this
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  decade. Reminder of the challenges with
• 7:27
  all rocketry. Every test flight is a balance
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  between risk and reward, with a potential for groundbreaking
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  achievements often accompanied by groundbreaking setbacks like
• 7:36
  maybe a giant rocket blowing up over the ocean.
• 7:40
  But for SpaceX, the path to a fully reusable space
• 7:43
  transportation system is paved with lessons learned from both
• 7:47
  success and failure from earlier flights.
• 7:57
  Here with the fire command team at the Palisades Fire.
• 8:02
  Hey guys and see, so this is I I was asked if if we could bring
• 8:14
  some more Stallings here. So we've brought some more
• 8:17
  Stallings here and I'm just here with the the team and they're
• 8:20
  they're going to provide a briefing of the Palisades fire.
• 8:24
  So please go ahead all. Right.
• 8:27
  Hello. Good evening.
• 8:28
  My name is Christian Litz. I'm with LA County Fire,
• 8:32
  cooperating with the partnership with Cal Fire Team 2, and I'm
• 8:36
  operating section chief on this Palisades Fire.
• 8:40
  So Palisades Fire, I'll just go. We've been here since the
• 8:43
  beginning of the fire on Tuesday.
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  We were looking at extreme damaging winds, erratic fire
• 8:49
  behavior coming through and blowing in from about midway on
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  this map and blowing all the way down to the coastline there.
• 8:58
  When did that? So when's that start?
• 8:59
  Just the frame of the thing for people, like I said, I assume
• 9:02
  people like it's, it's like great to get the story from like
• 9:05
  basically it's like straight shooter and, and like, you know,
• 9:09
  and, and so like how, how did it start?
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  And, you know, and, and then maybe after, how did it start
• 9:16
  then like what are some of the things that can be done to
• 9:18
  prevent it in the future? But how, but how did it start
• 9:20
  out? Like what's this?
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  What's the story? So.
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  Honestly we don't know yet. It's still under investigation.
• 9:24
  We don't know how it started OK, but because of the wind,
• 9:28
  honestly just allowed it to outpace anything possible.
• 9:31
  The winds are so strong, air resources, which we use to keep
• 9:34
  it small, ineffective. OK.
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  So it blew at record. Break it.
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  It grew at a record break breaking pace.
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  Resources put themselves probably in a bigger danger than
• 9:45
  they've ever done saves as many structures.
• 9:47
  But you can see it started about here with the wind and pushed it
• 9:51
  straight through the Palisades and it allowed it to grow.
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  Larry as the wind slowed down, it allowed it to grow back the
• 9:59
  go back the other way. But now the wind came back out
• 10:02
  of the north and blew down again.
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  So we have several wind shifts resources are all around trying
• 10:07
  to both structure the fence, which is down along the coast
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  where the structure is more heavy.
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  We do have communities all along the top that we have.
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  We've just been working as hard as we can from beginning that to
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  now without any stop any rest resources working 3648 hours at
• 10:25
  times just because of the need of the of what we had to do.
• 10:29
  Right now the fire is is looking good.
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  We still have heat all around the perim.
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  We still have resources all over and try to to secure those
• 10:39
  edges, make sure that there is limited the potential for any
• 10:42
  kind of growth. So we're still out there, but
• 10:45
  the activity is way down. And then with these winds over
• 10:48
  the next couple days, honestly this fire we have to watch it
• 10:52
  and give you it, but it's going to blow down at least most of it
• 10:54
  into its own self. But any new fire it's going to
• 10:58
  do the same thing. We have the winds that's going
• 11:00
  to push it. It's not as strong as it was on
• 11:02
  Tuesday, but there is still going to be movement.
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  So we're speaking, keeping all the resources available, and
• 11:07
  we're ready to actually not only respond to where the fire is
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  now, yeah, but any new fires that start, we're able to
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  respond and help. OK, so it is the so fires are
• 11:15
  currently under control. This fire, we're not calling it
• 11:18
  control, OK, but there is lying around almost all of it, OK,
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  very much almost all of it. But resources we're still
• 11:26
  working. So about the excitement is about
• 11:29
  10% of the fire where the flames were there, but 90% of the work
• 11:33
  is done after those planes are gone and we have to secure those
• 11:36
  edges. Did you ever watch a campfire
• 11:38
  where the wind comes in and it's out?
• 11:40
  Yeah. Then the wind comes and it blows
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  embers. Sure.
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  Same thing can happen. OK.
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  You have to keep pushing and pushing and pushing deeper and
• 11:46
  deeper and stay around all these homes and bond Anito Fernwood
• 11:49
  all the way. Up when you when you when you
• 11:50
  when you build like full of barriers to stuff the fire going
• 11:53
  is you just you clear the brush and and the and the trees and
• 11:56
  like what like what what actions do you take around the perimeter
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  that. So along the trimmer we cut, we
• 12:01
  call it cutting line, we use bulldoze.
• 12:02
  But really what we're doing is taking everything out down to
• 12:06
  bare mineral soil. So there will be a path of dirt
• 12:10
  from where the pipeline is. Exactly.
• 12:12
  We're building a fire break along the edge of the block.
• 12:15
  OK, got it. So there's nothing left to burn.
• 12:18
  So the only danger at that point was if the wind blows an ember
• 12:21
  over that line. So we have to build it
• 12:23
  appropriately big enough to secure that, to stop that from
• 12:27
  happening, and then push into the black to take all the heat
• 12:30
  away so it gives us a bigger buffer as much as possible.
• 12:33
  How how big is a fire break needs to be?
• 12:35
  It depends on the size of the fuel.
• 12:37
  If you like a textbook size of fuel, it's anything that we see
• 12:40
  and, and it's different for terrain, size of fuel,
• 12:44
  everything like that. Usually it's a couple times, 1,
• 12:46
  1/2 times the size of the fuel. But we have fuel in the Topanga
• 12:51
  Canyon area, the Palestine area. There hasn't been fire there in
• 12:55
  60 years. So you're really wow 15.
• 12:59
  Very quite a rare fire, correct? Like it's a half century fire or
• 13:02
  something. Absolutely.
• 13:03
  OK. The last major fires I have
• 13:05
  really pushed through Topanga is 9396.
• 13:08
  OK, But there is there is part of these hillsides that there
• 13:13
  hasn't been recorded fire in 60 years.
• 13:15
  OK, wow. All right.
• 13:19
  And, and are, are there things that like would be flex?
• 13:22
  Like, I think what a lot of people are curious about is like
• 13:24
  what things can be done in the future to ensure that houses are
• 13:29
  less susceptible to burning down?
• 13:32
  I mean, it's like like, like as we rebuild for the future,
• 13:34
  because it's like, there's one thing about like past
• 13:36
  recriminations and all that, but like we can't go, we can't
• 13:38
  rewind the clock. But what we can do is say, like
• 13:41
  in the future, what what, what should we do to minimize the
• 13:45
  probability that, you know, people's homes and businesses
• 13:48
  will burn down? Yeah, great question.
• 13:50
  And that's that's really what we want.
• 13:52
  So throughout history as fire, as fire prevention gets better,
• 13:55
  we we do better at safety structures.
• 13:57
  So when you look at the LA County website, LA City has
• 14:00
  references out there as well. We call it, you always say the
• 14:02
  term defensible space. That is the biggest thing to
• 14:06
  safe structures. So and hardening your home.
• 14:08
  So defensible space, we'll start there.
• 14:10
  That is basically clear and brush as low as possible to
• 14:15
  about 100 feet is what our minimum standard, say 100 feet
• 14:18
  away. You can you start at 10 feet,
• 14:19
  but you limit it out about 100 feet is the best.
• 14:22
  OK, so then when it hits there, you're basically building that
• 14:25
  100 foot buffer of fuel brakes around your home?
• 14:27
  So like no, no kindling for 100 feet basically correct that
• 14:32
  sounds. That sounds pretty sensible.
• 14:34
  It it it is and then you Harding your home.
• 14:37
  We call harness is don't stack firewood right against against
• 14:42
  the wall. The firewood yeah really a big
• 14:45
  part of when we lose structures on a typical maybe not 100 mile
• 14:49
  winds, but a typical is there something by the house flammable
• 14:53
  fire? Yeah OK wood furniture something
• 14:56
  like that and it can burn up and gets into the attic and then we
• 15:00
  lose the house. OK or it gets in the porch
• 15:02
  system right. You might have a wood deck and
• 15:04
  it goes up and it just allows the flame to go into the house.
• 15:06
  So OK a lot of times we talk about or ember cast that gets in
• 15:10
  the ember. So you you put screens around
• 15:13
  every opening so you have vents on your house put screens very
• 15:15
  small screens so the air can get through there.
• 15:17
  But embers? Good sized embers that will
• 15:19
  actually catch house. Yeah, get in there.
• 15:21
  OK. So there's stuff like that move
• 15:23
  everything break from your house, OK.
• 15:25
  And the vegetation in this area is, is astonishing beautiful,
• 15:29
  and we understand that. Yeah.
• 15:30
  But, well, yeah, there's things. You have to do for.
• 15:33
  I mean, I haven't like some things, like some of the issues
• 15:35
  with fire breaks were like there's like some endangered
• 15:38
  like plant or something and then we can't do a fire break or
• 15:41
  that's an issue like like, like, is there stuff that would be
• 15:44
  helpful from a regulatory reform standpoint that would help with
• 15:47
  fire prevention in the future? Well, LA County, I mean, we do
• 15:52
  have standards. We go in certain areas, we
• 15:54
  actually have these lists of residences like this is what we
• 15:57
  have to do, OK. I think it's just an awareness.
• 16:00
  So when people good and bad about the, the bad thing is this
• 16:03
  happened, the good thing, maybe it'll bring a greater awareness
• 16:06
  that there is a way to help defend your homes.
• 16:09
  There is a way to help this from stop happening in the future in
• 16:13
  that defensible space. Building that and building
• 16:16
  those. That's that's the way to do it
• 16:18
  as far as. Well, I guess, I guess people
• 16:22
  are like, obviously we definitely want to give people a
• 16:25
  sense of, of hope for the future and if the things get rebuilt,
• 16:28
  that their house is not going to burn down again.
• 16:30
  It's like a reasonable thing. So, so, so it's so it's like,
• 16:33
  like if there are things that should we should push for from a
• 16:35
  regulatory reform standpoint, this would be good to to know,
• 16:39
  you know, and, and yeah. Clearance phase OK building
• 16:43
  building material, right we can we can now these are newer
• 16:46
  things so now the up to the standards of building
• 16:49
  construction codes have been brought and have changed over
• 16:52
  the years. So maybe when their house was
• 16:53
  built they weren't there OK, now we have new the new codes.
• 16:56
  There's going to be certain fire return materials, there's going
• 16:59
  to be certain things that they can do if you look a lot
• 17:02
  concrete buildings don't burn. So there's some of these people
• 17:05
  that have built their concrete in the middle and it is right on
• 17:07
  the middle of black all around and nothing was done, but they
• 17:10
  did burn because of the building material.
• 17:12
  Yeah, you can't. You can't burn concrete.
• 17:14
  Correct. So Space City, Yeah, and and
• 17:17
  return materials. Ceiling concrete is going to be
• 17:19
  OK, yes. Great things.
• 17:22
  They have other materials out there now that will definitely
• 17:25
  help. Like what?
• 17:27
  I think you'll just like, like, I'm like hopeful that this video
• 17:29
  can be like, helpful to people, you know?
• 17:33
  Like what, what should people do differently?
• 17:35
  Like if it's not sealed concrete, You said there's some
• 17:36
  new materials like like like synthetic materials or or what?
• 17:39
  Absolutely. And.
• 17:40
  There's stuff that they put in to the to the materials to be
• 17:42
  able to do it. Hi, yeah, I really like help my
• 17:46
  partner around this over. Here, Yeah.
• 17:47
  Yeah, you know. Anyways, I just wanted to kind
• 17:49
  of point something out. Back in 1962, we had a fire, it
• 17:51
  was called the Bel Air fire that burned from this area into kind
• 17:54
  of the same burn pattern, OK. And then after that fire, that's
• 17:57
  when they basically in the city of Los Angeles, they outlawed
• 18:00
  wood shaped roofs. So wood signal roofs were
• 18:02
  outlawed. Yeah.
• 18:03
  I mean, that's the, I mean, that's the nightmare.
• 18:06
  Yeah, that's true. Partners saying there's a roof.
• 18:08
  A roof made of kindling. Right.
• 18:09
  So we we update the building standards as a fire close there
• 18:12
  as a fire prevention standard. Sure.
• 18:13
  And then, and that's up to you and the people out there that
• 18:17
  are a little more into the architecture and to find some
• 18:22
  something that actually could be potentially more fire saving,
• 18:25
  you know, and then maybe the silver lining around the grey
• 18:27
  cloud is that that may happen. Maybe we'll live in a safer Fire
• 18:30
  Zone or area where there's prone to fires, but in a safer type of
• 18:33
  structures. That's kind of what we're hoping
• 18:35
  to come out of this, you know, as maybe one of the very small
• 18:38
  but good things. All right, sounds good.
• 18:39
  Well, I mean, and do you have any any guidance for for people
• 18:44
  like if there's like obviously steel and concrete not are not
• 18:46
  going to burn, but like are there the new synthetics that
• 18:51
  you think would be better than like or or besides steel and
• 18:54
  concrete, is there anything else?
• 18:55
  I I no, I really am not an. Expert or stones, actually.
• 18:58
  Like, OK, it's pretty hard to burn stone.
• 19:02
  I mean, steel and concrete, there's some stuff out there.
• 19:06
  Yeah, we're worried about putting it out.
• 19:08
  OK. But yeah, and I think that
• 19:09
  there's some. Some people come together and
• 19:12
  find something, but yeah, there's certainly some stuff out
• 19:14
  there. We just.
• 19:17
  All right, sounds good. All right.
• 19:21
  Hey, everyone. So all right, what about what
• 19:27
  about order availability? Was water availability?
• 19:29
  I understand that was like not not an issue in in Malibu.
• 19:31
  Is that correct? Was it water?
• 19:33
  Yeah. So there was water.
• 19:36
  We have several reservoirs that seen as we use a lot now just an
• 19:40
  example, if we have one building burning, we could flow 1000
• 19:46
  gallons a minute on that one building with the hose legs that
• 19:48
  we put in to stop it. You can imagine 1000 gallons per
• 19:52
  house we can do right. So the amount of water we're
• 19:54
  flowing, there really is no water system that's going to
• 19:57
  keep that pace. So we have to bring in water
• 19:59
  tenders for to these big tank water tanks that you know, 25103
• 20:03
  thousand gallon trucks and they'll come in and that's what
• 20:06
  we have to do to overcome to compensate.
• 20:08
  So they park out there, do it. DWTP did a great job.
• 20:12
  They brought in big water trucks for us and we use them as
• 20:16
  basically mobile hydrants. All right, all.
• 20:19
  Right. And then we have our own agency
• 20:21
  as well that has water tenders. OK.
• 20:24
  Am I saying is that that like along the maybe correct me if
• 20:29
  I'm wrong, along in Malibu, along the coast, there was no
• 20:32
  shortage of water. In the Palisades there was a
• 20:34
  shortage of water at at a certain point, or is that not?
• 20:38
  Well, we were just, we were flowing just an amount of amount
• 20:43
  of water that the system couldn't, OK, just because of
• 20:47
  how much water these firefighters were utilizing.
• 20:50
  OK. All right.
• 20:54
  Sounds good. All right.
• 20:57
  Thanks guys. Blue Origins new Glen rocket
• 21:03
  successfully reached orbit on its maiden flight Thursday,
• 21:07
  marking a critical achievement for Jeff Bezos's space company
• 21:11
  and intensifying its rivalry with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
• 21:15
  The 98 meter tall rocket launched at. 2O2.
• 21:19
  Local time. That's seven O 2 GMT from Cape
• 21:21
  Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying a prototype
• 21:25
  satellite thousands of miles above Earth.
• 21:28
  And while the Rockets made objective to achieve orbit was
• 21:31
  accomplished, the mission also faced setbacks, including the
• 21:35
  failure to recover its reusable booster, which was lost during
• 21:39
  an attempted landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
• 21:42
  Now, the launch firmly positions Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin as a
• 21:46
  growing competitor to Musk SpaceX, with the two
• 21:49
  billionaires vying to dominate the commercial space industry.
• 21:52
  Now, Blue Origins CEO Dave Limp praised the milestone, stating
• 21:56
  we'll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch
• 22:00
  this spring. Musk also acknowledged the
• 22:02
  achievement, writing on X. Congratulations on reaching
• 22:05
  orbit on the first attempt, Jeff Bezos.
• 22:09
  Now, despite the camaraderie, the competitive stakes could not
• 22:13
  be any higher as both companies aim to lead the industry in
• 22:16
  satellite networks, human spaceflight and also lunar
• 22:20
  exploration. New Glenn, which was named after
• 22:23
  John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, is
• 22:27
  Blue Origin's most powerful rocket to date.
• 22:30
  It was designed to carry heavy payloads into orbit, making it
• 22:33
  more capable than Spacex's workhorse rocket.
• 22:36
  The Falcon 9 and Base Services intends to use New Glenn to
• 22:40
  support his Project Kuiper initiative, which aims to deploy
• 22:44
  thousands of low Earth orbit satellites to provide global
• 22:47
  broadband services. Now, this effort puts Blue
• 22:50
  Origin in direct competition with Spacex's Starlink, which
• 22:53
  already has a large constellation of satellites
• 22:56
  providing Internet access to millions worldwide.
• 22:59
  And while the orbital success of New Glen is a milestone, the
• 23:03
  mission highlighted some technical challenges for Blue
• 23:06
  Origin. The rocket's first stage
• 23:08
  booster, engineered for reuse, failed to land on an ocean
• 23:12
  platform as planned. Roughly 20 minutes into the
• 23:15
  flight, the company confirmed the booster had been lost.
• 23:19
  The ability to reuse boosters is a cornerstone of Spacex's
• 23:22
  business model, and a failure underscores Blue Origins ongoing
• 23:25
  struggle to match Spacex's efficiency in this area now.
• 23:30
  The mission also endured delays before liftoff.
• 23:32
  Initially scheduled for a pre dawn launch on Monday, the
• 23:36
  flight was postponed due to ice accumulation in key plumbing
• 23:40
  systems. Engineers resolved the issue in
• 23:43
  time for Thursday's successful launch, which took place from a
• 23:46
  historic launchpad that previously sent NASA's Mariner
• 23:50
  and Pioneer missions into space. The payload for this flight
• 23:54
  included in experimental satellite platform that remained
• 23:57
  attached to the rocket's second stage while in orbit.
• 24:00
  After six hours of operation, though, the second stage will be
• 24:03
  maneuvered into a higher orbit to comply with NASA's space
• 24:07
  debris guidelines. Now, Blue Origin was founded
• 24:10
  about 25 years ago. They've long envisioned a future
• 24:14
  where millions of people live and work in space.
• 24:18
  Until now, its achievements have largely centered on its smaller,
• 24:21
  reusable New Shepherd rocket, which conducts suborbital
• 24:24
  flights carrying passengers and scientific payloads to the edge
• 24:27
  of space. Notably, Jeff Bezos himself
• 24:29
  participated in one of these flights in 2021.
• 24:33
  However, Blue Origin has struggled to keep pace with
• 24:35
  SpaceX, which launched 134 missions in 2023 and continues
• 24:40
  to develop its next generation Starship rocket for deep space
• 24:44
  exploration. Now the Starship, designed to
• 24:47
  carry massive payloads and cruise to the Moon and Mars,
• 24:51
  remains a looming presence in the industry.
• 24:54
  The company plans to conduct its 7th test flight of Starship
• 24:58
  later today on the 16th of January.
• 25:01
  Now, Starship's capability surpasses that of New Glenn, but
• 25:05
  the success of Blue Origins new rocket is a signal that
• 25:08
  competition between the two companies is intensifying.
• 25:11
  Industry observers predict that this rivalry could drive
• 25:14
  innovation while reducing the cost of accessing space.
• 25:19
  Now what you're going to see are these two companies challenge
• 25:23
  each other to make even greater strides.
• 25:26
  The growing rivalry between Blue Origin and SpaceX is already
• 25:30
  reshaping the commercial space industry, where private
• 25:32
  companies are taking over roles historically dominated by
• 25:35
  government agencies like NASA. Now they also NASA also once
• 25:41
  relied exclusively on government built rockets.
• 25:44
  It's increasingly shifted towards partnerships with
• 25:47
  private firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
• 25:49
  And SpaceX has secured billions of dollars in contracts to
• 25:53
  deliver supplies, satellites, and even astronauts into orbit.
• 25:57
  And while Blue Origin is still working to establish itself as a
• 26:00
  reliable provider of space services with New Glen's
• 26:04
  successful debut, Bezos's company has positioned itself as
• 26:08
  a stronger competitor for future NASA contracts and other
• 26:12
  government projects. Now I've noticed that about 52%
• 26:16
  of you that listen to this podcast aren't subscribed to it.
• 26:19
  I checked out the analytics and if you could do me a favor, if
• 26:22
  you'd like SpaceX, NASA, Spaceflight, also Tesla, Boring
• 26:28
  Company, Neuralink X, all of Elon Musk's companies.
• 26:33
  Hit the follow or subscribe button on whatever podcast
• 26:36
  platform you're listening on right now.
• 26:37
  Greatly appreciate it. Takes you about a second and
• 26:40
  you'll get more news about Elon in your feed now.
• 26:44
  Despite the orbital success though of Blue Origin, it's an
• 26:48
  uphill battle and catching up with Spacex's well established
• 26:51
  lead. Spacex's Falcon 9 rockets are
• 26:53
  routinely reused for multiple missions, significantly lowering
• 26:57
  costs and increasing the frequency of launches.
• 26:59
  Additionally, Spacex's startling satellite network is already
• 27:03
  operational, whereas Blue Origins Project Kuiper is still
• 27:06
  in its early stages with only a fraction of its planned
• 27:09
  satellite constellation launch. A competition is further fueled
• 27:13
  by the personal dynamics between Bezos and Musk.
• 27:16
  Both billionaires have publicly sparred over their visions for
• 27:19
  space exploration, with Musk often taking jabs at Bezos for
• 27:24
  Blue Origins slower progress. However, Bezos has remained
• 27:27
  steadfast in his long term vision, emphasizing that
• 27:30
  building a sustainable presence in space will require time,
• 27:34
  investment and patience. Now, the failure to recover New
• 27:38
  Glenn's reusable booster is a reminder of the challenges that
• 27:42
  lie ahead of Blue Origin. They'll eventually do it, but
• 27:45
  developing a reliable and cost effective system for reusability
• 27:49
  will be essential if the company hopes to compete with SpaceX on
• 27:52
  both performance and on price. Nevertheless, the successful
• 27:56
  orbital launch of New Glenn marks a major step forward for
• 28:00
  Blue Origin and it proves that they have the capability to
• 28:03
  develop and deploy heavy lift rockets.
• 28:06
  Now this is going to heat up. Blue Origin and SpaceX are going
• 28:09
  to go after one another. The benefits for the broader
• 28:12
  space industry and for us are becoming increasingly apparent.
• 28:16
  Greater competition is likely to result in technological
• 28:19
  advancements, reduce costs, and expanded access to space for
• 28:23
  governments, businesses, researchers, and eventually
• 28:28
  people like you and me. But for now, Bezos and Musk
• 28:31
  remain locked in a race that could redefine humanity's
• 28:34
  relationship with space for generations to come.
• 28:38
  We might actually get to Mars because of two billionaires that
• 28:43
  are battling between 2 mega rockets.
• 28:47
  That's pretty wild to think about.
• 28:56
  Is TikTok about to be sold to Elon Musk, and could such a deal
• 29:00
  help bridge tensions between China and the United States?
• 29:04
  How does Musk's deep political and business connection factor
• 29:07
  into this possible transaction? There's just a few of the
• 29:10
  questions swirling around the future of Tik Tok's US
• 29:13
  operations as the short video platform fights to avoid a ban
• 29:18
  in the United States. Now, Chinese officials are
• 29:21
  weighing a scenario in which Elon Musk could acquire Tik
• 29:24
  Tok's U.S. business if Bytedance, the app's Chinese
• 29:28
  parent company, fails to overturn the impending ban.
• 29:31
  Bytedance has appealed the ban to the United States Supreme
• 29:34
  Court, but during arguments on January 10th, the justices
• 29:38
  appeared inclined to uphold the legislation.
• 29:42
  This has left the fate of TikTok hanging in the balance as
• 29:45
  Chinese authorities debate their next moves.
• 29:48
  Now, although Beijing's preferred outcome is for TikTok
• 29:51
  to remain under Bytedance's ownership, contingency plans are
• 29:54
  being explored in case the US government forces a sale.
• 29:57
  According to sources familiar with the matter, one possibility
• 30:00
  under discussion involves Musk's social media company X taking
• 30:05
  over Tik Tok's US operations. Now, Musk could integrate TikTok
• 30:09
  into his existing ventures, leveraging its massive U reserve
• 30:12
  base of over 170 million Americans to attract advertisers
• 30:17
  and boost his other businesses, including his AI company XAI.
• 30:23
  Now, the potential deal has reportedly caught the attention
• 30:26
  of Chinese officials, given Musk's prior dealings with the
• 30:29
  Chinese government through Tesla, which has a major factory
• 30:32
  in Shanghai. Now, the stakes for Byte Dance
• 30:35
  are enormous. TikTok is valued at an estimated
• 30:38
  40 to $50 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, and this
• 30:42
  valuation reflects the platform's dominance in the
• 30:44
  United States. But it also highlights the
• 30:46
  complexity of any potential sale Byte Dance and their legal team
• 30:50
  have been vocal about. The.
• 30:52
  Difficulty of separating Tik Tok's US operations from its
• 30:55
  global structure. And during arguments before the
• 30:57
  Supreme Court, Tik Tok's lawyers describe the process as
• 31:01
  extraordinarily difficult, citing shared software, shared
• 31:06
  algorithms and shared operational infrastructure.
• 31:09
  This span multiple countries. Now, adding to the complexity,
• 31:13
  the Chinese government has a golden share in a Bytedance
• 31:15
  subsidiary which grants Beijing influence over certain strategic
• 31:19
  decisions. And while Bytedance maintains
• 31:22
  that this golden share applies only to its China based
• 31:25
  operations, Beijing's export rules restrict the sale of
• 31:29
  advanced technologies, including Tik Tok's powerful
• 31:32
  recommendation algorithm. Now, this means any deal
• 31:36
  involving TikTok would require Beijing's approval, granting the
• 31:39
  Chinese government significant leverage. president-elect Donald
• 31:43
  Trump, who will take office on January 20th, has expressed
• 31:47
  interest in resolving the TikTok issue, even as the band is
• 31:51
  scheduled to take effect the day before.
• 31:53
  Trump has suggested delaying the band to allow more time for
• 31:56
  negotiations, calling it an opportunity to save the app in.
• 32:01
  The incoming administration could potentially use the TikTok
• 32:04
  talks as a bargaining chip in broader negotiations with China
• 32:08
  on tariffs, trade and export controls, according to people
• 32:12
  familiar with discussions now. For Musk, the prospect of
• 32:15
  acquiring TikTok could align with his business ambitions in
• 32:18
  Musk's X platform has struggled to reclaim its footing after his
• 32:23
  $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022, which left the
• 32:27
  company saddled with them. Adding Tik Tok's vast user base
• 32:30
  and advertising revenue could inject new life into Musk's
• 32:34
  social media ambitions, while also providing data that could
• 32:38
  enhance his artificial intelligence ventures.
• 32:40
  However, how Musk would finance another multibillion dollar
• 32:44
  purchase remains unclear. He has yet to fully repay the
• 32:47
  loans from his Twitter deal, raising questions about his
• 32:50
  capacity to secure additional funding for such a high profile
• 32:54
  acquisition. Now, Musk has previously voiced
• 32:57
  opposition to banning TikTok in the United States.
• 32:59
  In a post on X in April, he wrote, In my opinion, TikTok
• 33:03
  should not be banned in the United States, even though such
• 33:06
  a ban may benefit the X platform.
• 33:08
  Doing so would be contrary to feed him with speech and
• 33:12
  expression. It is not what America stands
• 33:14
  for. Now, Musk's comments reflect a
• 33:16
  broader debate over whether banning TikTok violates the
• 33:20
  First Amendment, a key argument that Byte Dance's lawyers have
• 33:23
  raised in court. Now, despite Musk's public
• 33:27
  standstill, any deal involving TikTok could reignite scrutiny
• 33:31
  of his political and business ties.
• 33:33
  Musk has been a prominent supporter of Donald Trump,
• 33:36
  reportedly spending more than $250 million on the president
• 33:40
  elect's re election campaign. He's also played an active role
• 33:44
  in Trump's transition team, attending meetings at Mar a Lago
• 33:47
  and cultivating close relationships with members of
• 33:50
  the incoming administration. Critics argue that Musk's
• 33:53
  political alignment with Trump could create conflicts of
• 33:56
  interest, particularly if government contracts or
• 33:59
  regulations affecting his companies come into play now.
• 34:02
  Democrats and watchdog groups have already raised concerns
• 34:05
  about Musk potentially leveraging his relationship with
• 34:08
  Trump to influence politics that benefit his businesses,
• 34:12
  including Tesla and also SpaceX. Now, Musk's companies hold
• 34:16
  billions of dollars in government contracts, their
• 34:19
  fears that the incoming administration might expand
• 34:21
  subsidies or ease regulatory scrutiny of his ventures.
• 34:25
  Musk has also faced investigations by the Securities
• 34:28
  and Exchange Commission or the SEC and labor regulators, and
• 34:31
  his high profile status has often placed him at the center
• 34:35
  of controversy for Byte Dance. Selling Tik Tok's US operations
• 34:39
  to Musk might not be the only option on the table, though.
• 34:43
  According to insiders, the company has also considered
• 34:46
  relocating its US user base to a separate rebranded app as a way
• 34:51
  to sidestep the ban. However, it's unclear whether
• 34:54
  such a strategy would satisfy US regulators, who have framed the
• 34:58
  issue as one of national security.
• 35:01
  The US government has long expressed concerns that Tik
• 35:03
  Tok's ownership by a Chinese company poses risks related to
• 35:08
  data privacy and potential surveillance, allegations that
• 35:11
  Bytedance has denied other suitors for TikTok have also
• 35:14
  emerged in recent years. Microsoft and Oracle both
• 35:17
  pursued acquisitions in 2020, and more recently, billionaire
• 35:22
  Frank McCourt and investor Kevin O'Leary have promoted an
• 35:27
  alternative plan called Project Liberty to buy the app.
• 35:31
  O'Leary claims to have discussed the proposal with Trump
• 35:34
  directly, though it remains to be seen whether such plans will
• 35:37
  gain traction. And while Beijing weighs its
• 35:41
  options, it's clear that Chinese government views the TikTok
• 35:43
  negotiations as part of a broader geopolitical chess
• 35:46
  board. Chinese officials have
• 35:48
  previously condemned US efforts to ban TikTok, labeling them as
• 35:53
  economic bullying and accusing Washington as attempting to
• 35:57
  plunder a successful Chinese business.
• 36:00
  Beijing's interest in Musk as a potential buyer underscores the
• 36:03
  strategic importance of maintaining influence over the
• 36:06
  app while navigating its contentious relationship with
• 36:09
  the United States. In Musk's existing ties to China
• 36:14
  could play a critical role in any potential big deal.
• 36:17
  Tesla's Shanghai factory, which opened in 2019, has become the
• 36:21
  company's largest production base, helping Musk expand
• 36:24
  Tesla's market share in China while building goodwill with
• 36:27
  officials. Now, however, Musk has also
• 36:31
  spoken out against certain U.S. trade policies targeting China,
• 36:34
  such as tariffs on EVs, positioning himself as a complex
• 36:37
  figure in the evolving dynamic between the two nations.
• 36:41
  Now, as the deadline approaches, though, time's running out for
• 36:44
  Byte Dance. Whether through legal appeals
• 36:47
  and negotiated sale or other strategies, the outcome will
• 36:51
  have significant ramifications for Byte Dance, Musk X, and all
• 36:57
  of society that uses these apps. For now, the uncertainty lingers
• 37:01
  and all eyes remain on these key players as this high stakes
• 37:05
  drama unfolds right in front of us on this podcast.
• 37:10
  If you want to continue this conversation, please go to our
• 37:13
  Discord sign up. It's free, it's easy, we can
• 37:16
  continue talking over there and the link is in the show notes or
• 37:20
  description. What will Elon Musk's new role
• 37:25
  in Washington mean for government transparency and the
• 37:28
  Doge? How will ethics?
• 37:30
  Laws apply to his influential presence in the White House
• 37:34
  complex. And how does his close
• 37:36
  relationship with Donald Trump fit into this picture?
• 37:39
  These questions arise as Musk is set to occupy office space in
• 37:44
  the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House.
• 37:47
  This is according to sources familiar with this arrangement.
• 37:50
  Now, this move marks the latest chapter in Musk's ongoing
• 37:53
  involvement with president-elect Donald Trump, a relationship
• 37:57
  that has grown closer since Trump's 2024 election victory.
• 38:01
  Now, Musk, who contributed hundreds of millions to Trump's
• 38:04
  campaign, has frequently accompanied the president-elect
• 38:06
  during the transition period, often staying in one of the
• 38:09
  cottages available for rent at Trump's Mar A Lago estate for
• 38:13
  over $2000 per night. His proximity to Trump has
• 38:17
  allowed him to participate in high level meetings, foreign
• 38:20
  calls, and even discussions about cabinet appointments.
• 38:24
  The office space that Elon Musk is expected to use is located in
• 38:28
  a government building adjacent to The West Wing, a stone's
• 38:30
  throw from the White House. This proximity would provide
• 38:34
  Musk with continued access to President-elect Donald Trump
• 38:38
  even after the inauguration of the project that Musk is
• 38:42
  spearheading is being called the Department of Government
• 38:44
  Efficiency, or DOE, aimed at cutting federal spending.
• 38:48
  And despite its title, DOGE is not a formal department with
• 38:51
  congressional authorization like the Department of Justice, but
• 38:54
  rather a private initiative with close ties to the incoming
• 38:57
  administration. Now, uncertainty surrounds the
• 39:00
  project's operations, funding and Musk's formal role in
• 39:04
  government structure. Sources familiar with the
• 39:07
  discussion say Musk has spoken with transition officials about
• 39:10
  his level of access to The West Wing.
• 39:13
  Those specifics remain unclear. Typically, such access requires
• 39:17
  a special pass often reserved for senior government personnel
• 39:21
  and very close advisors. Now, while Musk is a billionaire
• 39:25
  many times over and would likely forgo a government Sally,
• 39:29
  ethical and legal questions loom over his involvement.
• 39:33
  His companies like SpaceX hold billions of dollars in federal
• 39:36
  contracts, raising concerns about potential conflicts of
• 39:39
  interest. If Musk becomes a special
• 39:42
  government employee or an SGEA designation that comes with its
• 39:46
  own set of rules and limitations.
• 39:48
  SG ES are subject to laws that prohibit participation in
• 39:52
  discussions where they or their company's heavy financial
• 39:54
  interest. Now, DOGE staff members are
• 39:57
  currently operating out of Spacex's Washington, DC offices.
• 40:02
  The lack of transparency about the group structure and
• 40:04
  intentions has prompted questions about how it will be
• 40:08
  integrated into the federal government's operations.
• 40:11
  There are concerns about whether Musk and his team will need to
• 40:14
  file financial disclosures if they take on formal roles and
• 40:17
  what transparency measures will apply to the project.
• 40:21
  Now. One key regulation that may
• 40:23
  apply to DOGE is the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the
• 40:27
  FACA. This law mandates that advisory
• 40:30
  groups composed of non government members who provide
• 40:33
  advice to federal agencies must conduct meetings publicly and
• 40:37
  make their documents available to the public.
• 40:39
  Now, if Musk and his DOGE staff do not take on formal government
• 40:43
  roles, FACA could require them to disclose their operations to
• 40:48
  ensure accountability. Similarly, the Freedom of
• 40:51
  Information Act, or FOIA, could come into play, allowing
• 40:55
  journalists and public members to request official records
• 40:59
  related to DOGE. And while FOIA exempts the
• 41:03
  president and his immediate advisory staff, much of the
• 41:06
  executive branch is still subject to these requests.
• 41:09
  Whether Musk's team will be classified as such to FOIA
• 41:14
  remains to be seen. Now, despite these potential
• 41:17
  legal hurdles, Musk's close association with Trump has
• 41:21
  positioned to him as a key figure in the new
• 41:23
  administration. Reports indicate that Musk was
• 41:26
  often present at major events during the transition from
• 41:30
  official meetings with foreign dignitaries to informal social
• 41:34
  gatherings at Trump's properties.
• 41:36
  His influence appears to extend far beyond traditional business
• 41:39
  advisory roles, and Republican leaders have also signaled their
• 41:43
  willingness to involve Musk in government decision making.
• 41:47
  Over the weekend, Senator Bill Haggerty of Tennessee mentioned
• 41:50
  on Fox News that Musk should take a hard look at federal
• 41:53
  spending in California, suggesting confidence in Musk's
• 41:56
  role as a potential change agent for government efficiency.
• 42:00
  Now, Musk's unprecedented level of involvement as a private
• 42:04
  citizen raises questions about accountability and transparency
• 42:07
  in governance. Critics argue that his influence
• 42:10
  is disproportionate given the doge is not an officially
• 42:13
  sanctioned government entity. And nonetheless, Trump's
• 42:16
  administration appears to have embraced Musk as a central
• 42:20
  player in shaping their approach to streamlining government
• 42:22
  functions. Some observers point to Musk's
• 42:25
  status as the wealthiest person in the world is a factor
• 42:28
  contributing to his outsized influence, while others
• 42:31
  highlight his personal contribution to Trump's
• 42:33
  political campaign. And despite criticism and
• 42:36
  skepticism from some commerce, his involvement appears firmly
• 42:40
  entrenched as Trump prepares to take office and while Musk has
• 42:45
  not yet determined whether he will.
• 42:47
  Formally. Adopt the SGE designation.
• 42:50
  His presence in the White House complex signifies an
• 42:53
  extraordinary level of access for a private citizen.
• 42:56
  Whether or not he takes on a formal government role, the
• 42:59
  nature and scope of his influence are likely to remain a
• 43:02
  subject of scrutiny. Now, as the Trump administration
• 43:06
  prepares to launch its efforts to cut government spending,
• 43:08
  questions about ethics, compliance, transparency and the
• 43:11
  blending of private business interests with public governance
• 43:15
  will likely persist. How the administration navigates
• 43:18
  these challenges and defines Musk.
• 43:19
  'S role will shape public. Perception of DOGE and the
• 43:22
  broader initiative to reform government efficiency.
• 43:25
  And in the weeks to come, as DOGE take shape and Musk's
• 43:29
  official status becomes clearer, many will watch to see how these
• 43:32
  developments unfold. And the proximity Musk enjoys to
• 43:35
  the heart of power may offer both unprecedented influence and
• 43:40
  potential. The goal challenges.
• 43:43
  Now, if you want the inside scoop on Doge and if you want to
• 43:46
  continue this conversation, join the Discord.
• 43:52
  There's a link in the description or the show notes.
• 43:54
  Check it out. We have a bunch of people over
• 43:57
  there right now talking about these things.
• 43:59
  It's called the Doge pack. So sign up.
• 44:01
  There's a link in the description or the show notes
• 44:04
  just for you really. In talks to acquire TikTok, what
• 44:15
  does Beijing think about all of this, and how would this
• 44:18
  potential deal shape the social media landscape?
• 44:22
  These are the questions that take center stage as discussions
• 44:25
  about Tik Tok's future intensify amid national security concerns
• 44:31
  in the United States. Chinese officials are reportedly
• 44:35
  evaluating a potential contingency plan involving Elon
• 44:38
  Musk as a buyer for Tik Tok's American operations.
• 44:42
  This consideration comes in response to mounting pressure
• 44:45
  for Byte Dance Limited, Tik Tok's parent company based in
• 44:48
  Beijing, to sell or face a possible US ban on January 19th.
• 44:54
  Now, the situation follows a pending decision by the US
• 44:57
  Supreme Court on the legality of legislation mandating such a
• 45:01
  sale. While Bytedance is appealing the
• 45:03
  ban and fighting to retain control, Beijing officials are
• 45:07
  preparing for various outcomes, according to sources familiar
• 45:10
  with the discussions. These talks remained in early
• 45:13
  stages. However, One proposed option
• 45:15
  would see Elon Musk acquiring Tik Tok's US operations and
• 45:20
  possibly integrating the platform into his growing media
• 45:25
  empire. Now, Beijing's strong preference
• 45:28
  is for TikTok to stay under Bytedance ownership, these
• 45:32
  sources said. Still, some officials recognized
• 45:34
  the strategic appeal of selling the US portion to an American
• 45:38
  entity if the alternative is a complete shutdown.
• 45:41
  TikTok has over 170 million US users, making it a valuable
• 45:46
  asset not only for its entertainment platform but also
• 45:49
  for its data-driven technology and advertising potential.
• 45:53
  One person familiar with Beijing's deliberations noted
• 45:56
  that any high profile sale involving Musk could appeal the
• 45:59
  Chinese authorities. Musk's perceived position
• 46:02
  rapport with Beijing, cultivated through his business dealings
• 46:07
  with Tesla in China, makes him a potential bridge in resolving
• 46:11
  tensions with Washington. The Chinese government holds
• 46:14
  influence over byte dance decisions through its Golden
• 46:18
  Share, which is a stake in a subsidiary that grants certain
• 46:22
  control over strategic decisions.
• 46:24
  However, export rules restricting Chinese software
• 46:27
  algorithms complicate any sale involving Tik Tok's
• 46:31
  recommendation system, making Beijing a crucial player in any
• 46:35
  deal. Now, Musk has expressed support
• 46:38
  for TikTok remaining available in the US despite the potential
• 46:41
  competitive advantage it's band could offer his platform X.
• 46:45
  In a post from April, Musk wrote In my opinion, TikTok should not
• 46:49
  be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit
• 46:52
  the X platform. Doing so would be contrary to
• 46:56
  freedom of speech and expression.
• 46:58
  It is not what America stands for.
• 47:01
  Nevertheless, Musk's ties to former president and now
• 47:05
  President Donald Trump, who initially pushed for TikTok
• 47:09
  sale, add another layer to the dynamics of play.
• 47:12
  Trump, who's returned to office, may see Musk as a viable partner
• 47:16
  to negotiate Tik Tok's future in a way that aligns with US
• 47:20
  National Security interests, and the prospect of selling Tik
• 47:24
  Tok's U.S. business raises significant operational and
• 47:27
  legal hurdles. Bytedance's legal
• 47:29
  representatives have already described the separation of Tik
• 47:32
  Tok's US operations as extraordinarily difficult, and
• 47:36
  such a transaction would need to navigate complex regulatory
• 47:40
  landscapes, satisfy stakeholders on both sides of the Pacific,
• 47:43
  and resolve contentious debates over Tik Tok's data handling
• 47:47
  practices. Financial analysts estimate Tik
• 47:49
  Tok's US operations could be worth between 40 billion and
• 47:54
  about $50 billion, making it a challenging acquisition even for
• 47:59
  Elon Musk. But Elon Musk purchased Twitter
• 48:02
  for 44 billion in 2022, and he still faces debt payments
• 48:06
  associated with that transaction.
• 48:08
  It's unclear how he would finance another acquisition of
• 48:11
  similar magnitude. He has friends that have a lot
• 48:14
  of money and there's a possibility they could form a
• 48:18
  group to buy TikTok. That's it seems that would
• 48:22
  happen. That's what he did with Twitter.
• 48:24
  So. Moreover, legal experts suggest
• 48:27
  the sale process itself could be politically charged.
• 48:30
  The competitive bidding process might be required involving
• 48:33
  other interested parties such as billionaire investor Frank
• 48:37
  McCourt and Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary, who have already
• 48:42
  shown interest in acquiring TikTok.
• 48:44
  Now, past contenders have included tech giants like
• 48:47
  Microsoft and also. Oracle.
• 48:50
  While Beijing and Bytedance with their options, Tiktok remains
• 48:53
  locked in legal battle over its right to operate in the US, and
• 48:57
  Bytedance attorneys have argued that legislation forced the sale
• 49:01
  violates first amended protections on free speech.
• 49:05
  However, during a Supreme Court hearing on January 10th, several
• 49:08
  justices appeared inclined to prioritize national security
• 49:12
  concerns over constitutional arguments.
• 49:16
  President-elect Trump, slated to take office in January 20th, has
• 49:21
  sought to delay the TikTok ban by one day to allow time for
• 49:24
  further negotiations, he said. I want to save TikTok.
• 49:29
  He fuels speculation that he might pursue a resolution that
• 49:32
  avoids a ban altogether. Now, Bytedance executives remain
• 49:35
  committed to fighting the legislation and retaining
• 49:37
  control of Tik Tok's US operations, and 1 insider noted.
• 49:41
  The Bytedance's leadership still prefers this strategy over
• 49:44
  relinquishing control permanently.
• 49:47
  They said they're focused on keeping the product intact and
• 49:50
  maintaining operations in the United States now.
• 49:54
  Another potential solution floating involves rebranding
• 49:58
  TikTok under a different name and moving existing US users to
• 50:01
  a similar platform to sidestep the ban.
• 50:05
  However, questions remain about whether this approach would
• 50:08
  succeed legally or commercially. Musk's involvement in this high
• 50:12
  stakes scenario shows his broader role as a key figure
• 50:16
  navigating business relations between the world's two largest
• 50:20
  economies. Tesla's Shanghai factory, opened
• 50:22
  in 2019, is now the company's largest production base.
• 50:26
  This is shows that Musk's ability to work with Chinese
• 50:29
  officials is actually a thing and expand his operations
• 50:33
  despite stiff competition by BYD and as Trump continues to
• 50:38
  assemble his incoming administration, which includes
• 50:40
  several outspoken China critics, Musk's role is going to be
• 50:45
  mediating technological and business disputes, and it could
• 50:48
  become increasingly significant. S spoken opposition to certain
• 50:52
  trade tariffs imposed by the Biden administration
• 50:55
  demonstrates his willingness to challenge conventional trade
• 50:58
  policies. But for now, Tik Tok's future in
• 51:01
  the US remains uncertain. Either Byte Dance, TikTok, nor
• 51:04
  Elon Musk has publicly commented on the possibility of a sale.
• 51:09
  Government agencies in China, including the Cyberspace
• 51:12
  Administration and the Ministry of Commerce, have also remained
• 51:15
  silent. The potential sale raises
• 51:18
  questions about how Musk might reshape social media as we know
• 51:22
  it, and that's if he acquired it.
• 51:24
  His track record with X shows a willingness to dramatically
• 51:27
  overhaul platforms and fire hundreds of people that he takes
• 51:31
  control of, which could mean major changes going forward for
• 51:34
  TikTok if Musk involved. Now, as January 19th approaches,
• 51:40
  the clock is ticking for Bytedance to find a resolution
• 51:43
  that keeps TikTok operational in the United States.
• 51:51
  So what sets Blue Origins New Glen rocket apart from Starship
• 51:55
  and Spacex's other array of Falcon rockets?
• 51:59
  Will it successfully compete with them, or has it already
• 52:02
  fallen behind before its first launch?
• 52:05
  Now these are just a few questions looming as the rocket
• 52:09
  prepares to launch its first orbital mission.
• 52:12
  This is New Glenn, and it's going to be launching from a pad
• 52:16
  in Florida. Now, this is set to debut after
• 52:19
  more than 25 years in the making.
• 52:22
  Since Blue Origins founding, New Glenn has faced numerous delays
• 52:26
  yet. Anticipation is building as it
• 52:29
  readies to take flight in a market increasingly dominated by
• 52:32
  SpaceX and its powerful Starship and Falcon series rockets
• 52:36
  despite. Being overshadowed by the sheer
• 52:38
  size of Spacex's Starship system, New Glen was once hailed
• 52:42
  as groundbreaking when first announced in 2016, and at that
• 52:45
  time most emerging aerospace companies were focusing on
• 52:50
  designing smaller, more cost effective rockets.
• 52:53
  A Blue Origin, in contrast, declared its ambition to create
• 52:57
  one of the largest orbital rockets ever built.
• 53:01
  Now towering at 98 meters tall and featuring a core stage 7
• 53:05
  meters wide, New Glen rivals the payload capacity of Spacex's
• 53:09
  Falcon Heavy while incorporating more modern design elements and
• 53:13
  increased reusability. Now the rocket boasts A2 stage
• 53:17
  design, with the first stage powered by 7 B E4 engines
• 53:22
  burning methane and liquid oxygen.
• 53:24
  The second stage uses a pair of BE.
• 53:26
  Three U hydrogen burning engines optimized for operations in
• 53:30
  space and according to Blue Origin, new blends first stage
• 53:35
  is designed for. Full.
• 53:36
  Reusability right from its inaugural launch, which is a key
• 53:40
  distinction from other launch systems that often introduce
• 53:43
  reusability features little bit more gradually.
• 53:46
  Now, 1 of New Glenn's standout features is its massive payload
• 53:50
  fairing, measuring 7 meters in diameter and 17 meters tall.
• 53:55
  These dimensions make it the largest fairing available in the
• 53:59
  commercial launch market, providing ample space for
• 54:02
  payloads that may be too large or oddly shaped for Spacex's
• 54:06
  Falcon rockets. As Blue Origin prepares for the
• 54:10
  debut mission, the company's first payload is a small
• 54:12
  satellite bus known as Blue Ring, equipped with its own
• 54:16
  propulsion and power systems. New.
• 54:18
  Blends propulsion system showcases a blend of
• 54:21
  technological choices that reflect a methodical approach to
• 54:24
  balancing performance and reliability.
• 54:27
  It's first stage BE4 engines, for instance, employing oxidizer
• 54:32
  rich stage combustion cycle using methane and liquid oxygen.
• 54:38
  Now these engines have lower chamber pressures than Spacex's
• 54:41
  Raptor engines. This is a deliberate decision
• 54:44
  aimed at extending engine lifespan and also improving
• 54:48
  reusability. While SpaceX continually pushes
• 54:50
  for maximum performance from smaller engines by increasing
• 54:53
  pressure, Blue Origins more conservative design philosophy
• 54:58
  favors long term reliability. The upper stage of New Glen uses
• 55:02
  a different engine cycle than the first stage.
• 55:04
  It's BE3U engines rely on an expander cycle that vaporizes
• 55:09
  hydrogen to drive turbines and also run pumps.
• 55:13
  This design sacrifices some efficiency for increased thrust,
• 55:17
  but remains effective for high altitude and space maneuvers.
• 55:21
  The result is a highly capable upper stage the Blue Origin
• 55:24
  claims is more efficient than Spacex's Falcon 9 upper stage,
• 55:28
  though not quite at the level of the Centaur stage used by United
• 55:34
  Launch Alliance or the ula New Glens landing system also
• 55:37
  differentiates it from competitors.
• 55:39
  Unlike Spacex's grid fins, Blue Origin uses a more traditional
• 55:43
  diamond shaped fin design combined with strikes to enhance
• 55:47
  lift and cross range capability during descent.
• 55:50
  The first stage includes cold gas thrusters for in flight
• 55:54
  attitude adjustments and also features 6 landing legs which
• 55:58
  Starship doesn't have seamlessly integrated into its F section.
• 56:02
  According to CEO David Limp, these legs are capable of
• 56:06
  withstanding impacts up to 150 tons, enabling precise and safe
• 56:13
  landing on a recovery barge named Jacqueline, which is
• 56:17
  positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
• 56:19
  A key difference between Blue Origin and SpaceX lies in their
• 56:23
  development strategies. While SpaceX adopts a rapid,
• 56:26
  iterative approach, often launching early prototypes to
• 56:30
  gather real world data and refined designs now, Blue Origin
• 56:34
  emphasizes exhaustive testing before any public launches.
• 56:38
  This methodical approach may limit the number of launches in
• 56:42
  the short term, but aligns with Blue Origin strategy of ensuring
• 56:45
  a high success rate from the outset.
• 56:48
  Notably, NASA has enough confidence of Blue Origins
• 56:51
  testing protocols to plan a Mars mission using New Glenn's first
• 56:55
  flight before scheduling conflicts cause delays.
• 56:58
  That flight has been cancelled now, despite years of
• 57:00
  preparation. Blue Origin faces significant
• 57:03
  competition, though, because Spacex's Starship exists, which
• 57:07
  aims for complete and full reusability across all of its
• 57:12
  stages, and it's shifted the industry standard and dwarfs
• 57:15
  other rockets in terms of sheer payload capacity and size.
• 57:19
  Now, Starship's design presents challenges.
• 57:22
  For. Smaller satellite deployments
• 57:24
  due to the limited size of its payload Bay doors, which
• 57:27
  contrasts sharply with New Glen's spacious fairing design.
• 57:31
  Starship may capture attention and its size with ambitions.
• 57:35
  New Glen targets a different niche in the market.
• 57:38
  With a hydrogen powered upward stage, the rocket is well suited
• 57:42
  for missions to geostationary orbit, the moon and.
• 57:46
  Possibly even Mars, without requiring the complex refueling
• 57:50
  maneuvers that Starship demands for interplanetary travel.
• 57:54
  It's going to take them about 10 refuels for Spacex's Starship to
• 57:57
  get to the moon. And New Glen's market prospects
• 58:00
  also extend beyond exploration missions.
• 58:03
  Blue Origins connections to Amazon through Jeff Bezos opened
• 58:07
  the door launcher for Kuiper satellites.
• 58:10
  Amazon's answers to Spacex's Starlight constellation.
• 58:14
  Other clients, including One Web and Ulstat, have already
• 58:19
  expressed interest in using New Glen for their payload.
• 58:22
  While Blue Origin had initially considered a three stage version
• 58:26
  of New Glen for very deep space missions, its current focus
• 58:29
  remains on providing the capabilities to customers with
• 58:34
  their two stage variant. The company has also explored
• 58:37
  developing a reusable upper stage under the code name
• 58:41
  Project Jervis as part of its vision to create fully reusable
• 58:45
  launch vehicles. Such advancements would place
• 58:47
  New Glenn in direct competition with Starship and despite facing
• 58:51
  stiff competition, Blue Origins, careful planning, innovative
• 58:54
  design elements and diverse customer base provide a strong
• 58:58
  foundation as it moved towards this debut launch.
• 59:01
  The company's method The company's methodical approach
• 59:06
  and readiness to cater to specific market needs.
• 59:09
  Show that it has a really good strategy for long term viability
• 59:13
  in an industry where rapid innovation and reliability are
• 59:17
  equally as critical. So what does?
• 59:24
  Elon Musk have planned for Austin, TX and how detentions
• 59:28
  from California accelerate his departure.
• 59:32
  Also, what does Musk's futuristic city really look
• 59:36
  like? What started as a practical
• 59:38
  relocation for Tesla's operations have morphed into a
• 59:41
  sprawling network of projects that stretch well beyond
• 59:45
  building electric cars. The story begins way back in the
• 59:49
  spring of 2020, when Tesla, Musk's flagship electric vehicle
• 59:53
  company, faced mounting challenges in California.
• 59:56
  As the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the state, authorities
• 59:59
  ordered Tesla's Fremont manufacturing plant to halt all
• 1:00:03
  operations. Musk, known to be combative,
• 1:00:07
  refused to comply. The timing couldn't have been
• 1:00:09
  worse, or perhaps better, depending on your perspective.
• 1:00:13
  Tesla had just begun delivering its new Model Y crossover on
• 1:00:16
  March. 16th of 20. 20 And while the world slowed to a crawl,
• 1:00:20
  Tesla was ramping up production. By May of 2020, tensions between
• 1:00:25
  Musk and California officials boiled over.
• 1:00:27
  In a public declaration on Twitter, Musk wrote.
• 1:00:30
  Frankly, this is the final straw.
• 1:00:33
  Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas or
• 1:00:37
  Nevada immediately. This announcement signaled a
• 1:00:40
  dramatic shift for a man who had spent much of his adult life in
• 1:00:43
  career in California after moving from South Africa at the
• 1:00:47
  tender age of 18. Now, though, his exit may have
• 1:00:51
  appeared reactionary. Musk's decision to relocate to
• 1:00:54
  Texas has strategic underpinnings the state's open
• 1:00:57
  land, lower taxes, later regulations and affordable
• 1:01:01
  housing. Made it an appealing.
• 1:01:02
  Place For a company looking to expand rapidly, These advantages
• 1:01:06
  stood in stark contrast to the densely pact, highly regulated
• 1:01:09
  environment of California. Now Texas Governor Greg Abbott
• 1:01:14
  confirmed the discussions about Tesla's move had begun as early
• 1:01:18
  as spring of 2020. The first tangible result of
• 1:01:21
  those talks came with the construction of Tesla's massive
• 1:01:24
  Gigafactory in Austin. But even as construction on the
• 1:01:27
  site began, Musk had broader ambitions in mind for Texas
• 1:01:30
  beyond just cars. Tesla may have led the charge,
• 1:01:34
  but it was just the beginning. Not long after the announcement
• 1:01:37
  of Tesla's relocation, Musk's tunneling venture, the Boring
• 1:01:40
  Company, followed suit. The company set up operations in
• 1:01:43
  Bastrop, a small town east of Austin along the Colorado River,
• 1:01:48
  and the land that was once a cow pasture has since transformed to
• 1:01:52
  what some are calling Hyperloop Plaza, now the research and
• 1:01:56
  development hub for high speed transportation projects.
• 1:01:59
  Now, adjacent to the Boring Company's headquarters is a
• 1:02:01
  nascent community Musk has dubbed Snailbrook, reportedly
• 1:02:05
  inspired by conversations between Musk, musician Grimes,
• 1:02:08
  rapper Kanye West and West's personal architect.
• 1:02:12
  Early reports describe Snellbrook as having space for
• 1:02:16
  around 110 homes, warehouses, a pool, sports facilities, and
• 1:02:21
  even a putting gram. While far from a futuristic
• 1:02:24
  metropolis, the development signals must intend to build an
• 1:02:28
  integrated environment for his company's and his employees.
• 1:02:33
  Now, though, Tesla's moved Garner's headlines.
• 1:02:37
  Musk's connection to Texas dates back to 2014, when SpaceX began
• 1:02:41
  buying land in the coastal village of Boca Chica, about 350
• 1:02:45
  miles South of Austin. Initially, the company's
• 1:02:48
  activities appeared minimal until 2019, when testing for the
• 1:02:53
  Starship program began. Over time, the area transformed
• 1:02:57
  into Spacex's operational hub known as Starbase.
• 1:03:01
  Now in parallel to Bastrop, Snail Brook.
• 1:03:04
  Boca Chica also houses a private employee community, complete
• 1:03:08
  with a SpaceX exclusive pub and a private school called at
• 1:03:11
  Astra. The transformation has been so
• 1:03:14
  extensive, the street names were changed to reflect Spacex's
• 1:03:17
  dominance in the region. Little side note, I spent about
• 1:03:21
  a year on the ground reporting from Spacex's star base about
• 1:03:27
  Starship. It was the first iteration of a
• 1:03:30
  fully stacked Starship and I spent a year documenting every
• 1:03:34
  single day down on Hwy. 4. You can check all of those old
• 1:03:40
  life videos out at my YouTube channel, youtube.com/space News
• 1:03:46
  Pod. Now the Neurolink expansion
• 1:03:49
  happened to another piece of Musk's vision for Texas came to
• 1:03:52
  light in July 2024 when Neurolink, Musk's brain implant
• 1:03:56
  company, began building a $14 million, three story office and
• 1:04:00
  manufacturing facility near the Colorado River between Tesla's
• 1:04:04
  Gigafactory in the Boring Company's Bastrop site. 37 acre
• 1:04:08
  property offers ample space for expansion and marks a
• 1:04:12
  significant step for Neurolink, which remains headquartered in
• 1:04:15
  California. The shift to Texas coincides
• 1:04:18
  with New Orleans transition from animal testing to human trials,
• 1:04:22
  and with its new facility, company seems poised for fresh
• 1:04:25
  development and possibly a greater degree of autonomy from
• 1:04:28
  its California origins. In addition to building
• 1:04:31
  companies, Musk has also turned his attention to education.
• 1:04:34
  Public records revealed that Musk, through his charitable
• 1:04:37
  foundation, donated $100 million to establish a primary and
• 1:04:41
  secondary STEM focus school in Austin.
• 1:04:44
  The long term plan, according to tax filings, is to expand the
• 1:04:47
  school into a university dedicated to science and
• 1:04:50
  technology education. Perhaps the most unexpected
• 1:04:54
  development came in July of 2024, when Musk announced on X,
• 1:04:59
  formerly known as Twitter, that the platform's headquarters
• 1:05:02
  would relocate to Austin X, which Musk took over.
• 1:05:06
  And a controversial acquisition has had a tumultuous journey
• 1:05:10
  under his leadership. One of Musk's early moves was
• 1:05:13
  laying off about 80% of the workforce, running much of the
• 1:05:16
  company's office space in San Francisco obsolete and empty.
• 1:05:20
  Given X's status as a digital platform, the decision to base
• 1:05:24
  its operations in a rural area like Bastrop rather than
• 1:05:27
  Austin's urban core raise eyebrows.
• 1:05:29
  However, Musk's vision for X is an everything app, and its
• 1:05:32
  connection to its generative AI venture, XAI, may explain the
• 1:05:36
  move. Advanced AI development demands
• 1:05:38
  significant computing power, and Musk has already built a major
• 1:05:42
  AI data center in Memphis, TN. A second, possibly even larger,
• 1:05:46
  data center in Bastrop could serve as the technological
• 1:05:49
  backbone for Musk's future AI projects.
• 1:05:53
  Now, Musk and his Texas ventures may seem expansive and
• 1:05:57
  innovative. They have not been without
• 1:05:59
  challenges or criticism. Some residents down in Boca
• 1:06:03
  Chica and Bastrop have expressed concerns over Musk's company's
• 1:06:06
  growing influence in the potential environmental impact
• 1:06:09
  of these large scale developments.
• 1:06:11
  SpaceX is constantly in turmoil with environmentalists down at
• 1:06:18
  Starbase. It happened numerous times when
• 1:06:20
  I was down there and it's continuing to happen to this
• 1:06:22
  day. Additionally, Musk's often
• 1:06:25
  controversial public statements and combative personality.
• 1:06:28
  Have led to. Friction with local governments
• 1:06:30
  and community leaders Now, despite these hurdles, Texas
• 1:06:33
  Alvarez, Musk something California no longer could.
• 1:06:35
  The space and regulatory freedom to pursue his dreams.
• 1:06:39
  The state's relative relative affordability and accessibility
• 1:06:44
  make it fertile grounds for Musk's companies to expand
• 1:06:47
  operations and bring his ambitious projects to fruition.
• 1:06:52
  Now, while much has already been accomplished, Musk's Texas story
• 1:06:55
  is far from over. The Gigafactory.
• 1:06:57
  Hyperloop Plaza. Snellbrook.
• 1:06:59
  Nerlink, Starbase are just the foundation of what Musk appears
• 1:07:03
  to envision as a technological and scientific hub in the Lone
• 1:07:06
  Star State. The question is not whether Musk
• 1:07:08
  will continue to expand in Texas, but rather how far this
• 1:07:12
  growth will go and what form it will ultimately take.
• 1:07:21
  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
• 1:07:23
  I really do appreciate your support.
• 1:07:25
  If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow
• 1:07:28
  button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
• 1:07:30
  on right now, I greatly appreciate it.
• 1:07:33
  It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
• 1:07:35
  miss an episode. And each episode is about 10
• 1:07:38
  minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
• 1:07:41
  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
• 1:07:44
  to patreon.com/stagezero and please take care of yourselves
• 1:07:50
  and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.