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Source: ODD ANDERSEN / Getty / Elon Musk
Elon Musk is currently out here stumping for Trump and giving money to those who sign up for his Super PAC. Due to a new lawsuit, he may have to dig even deeper into his pockets.
Spotted on The Verge, one of the production companies behind the 2017 film Blade Runner 2049, feels Elon Musk, who is honestly just the Donald Trump of tech, ripped off the movie for his robotaxi event.
On Monday, October 21, LA-based production company Alcon Entertainment slapped Phony Stark, his company Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging the use of an AI image generator to create promotional art for the We, Robot event that resembles stills from Blade Runner 2049.
According to Alcon, who also owns the copyright to Blade Runner 2049, WBD and Tesla decided to slide them a request to use imagery from the film just hours ahead of the We, Robot event on October 10 that conveniently took place on the Warner Bros. lot in California.
The website notes that because this event was live-streamed internationally, Alcon directly had to provide clearance for the images, even though Warner Bros. owns some licensing rights to Blade Runner 2049.
Per The Verge:
“Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account,” Alcon’s suit explains. “Alcon did not want BR2049 to be affiliated with Musk, Tesla, or any Musk company, for all of these reasons.”
Despite Alcon’s refusal, however, Tesla allegedly decided to feed shots from Blade Runner 2049 into an AI image generator to create “a lightly stylized fake screen still screen” which was displayed prominently during the We, Robot presentation.
The Verge also reports that Musk mentioned Blade Runner while describing sci-fi interpretations of the future. The live stream cut to a photo of a man wearing a trench coat standing in front of a dusty apocalyptic cityscape, basically the entire look of Blade Runner 2049.
This is not the first time Elon Musk and his company have been accused of copying someone else’s style. During the same event, the director of I Robot, Alex Proyas, accused Musk of swagger-jacking his designs, a claim many people on X, formerly Twitter, quickly made.
So, these latest accusations don’t shock us at all.
Music streaming company LiveOne will continue to have a relationship with auto manufacturer Tesla but with less advantageous terms. Starting in December, Tesla will no longer subsidize LiveOne products for some of its customers.
For years, LiveOne’s relationship with Tesla has been a cornerstone of its music streaming business; Tesla vehicles sold in the U.S. with Tesla’s Premium Connectivity package included a membership to LiveOne’s Slacker Radio that was paid by the car maker. The “streaming” button on the Tesla console led drivers to the subsidized, LiveOne-powered streaming platform without needing to connect to the app through their smartphones.
Over the years, LiveOne remained a key streaming partner as the automaker added other streaming apps to its console. Now, LiveOne is losing its preferred status. Starting Tuesday (Oct. 1), Tesla replaced the “streaming” button with a LiveOne-branded app. Come December, LiveOne will no longer be free, although Tesla will continue to pay grandfathered LiveOne accounts in perpetuity.
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While Tesla will no longer subsidize the streaming radio subscriptions, LiveOne will offer Tesla owners discounted LiveOne packages. “The conversion opportunity has enormous upside by offering Tesla owners an opportunity to upgrade and have access on all devices at discounted priority pricing,” LiveOne CEO Robert Ellin said in a statement. “We’ll drive growth, unlock new revenue streams, own our data, and increase ARPU.”
In the near term, however, the amended partnership will hurt LiveOne’s financials. In Tuesday’s announcement, LiveOne reduced its guidance for consolidated fiscal 2025 revenue to $120 million to $135 million from $140 million to $155 million. At the midpoints, the change represents a 13.6% decline. Also, LiveOne lowered guidance for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $8 million to $15 million from a range of $16 million to $20 million — a 36% decline at the midpoints.
The news sent LiveOne shares down as much as 32.6% to $0.64 before closing at $0.73, marking a 23.1% decline from the prior day’s closing price. Combined with LiveOne’s 23.2% drop in share price last week and Monday’s 10.5% decline, the stock has lost 47% in just the last seven trading days.
Tesla’s paid members increased 15 times since LiveOne acquired Slacker in 2017, according to a LiveOne investor presentation from March. LiveOne’s management is focused on establishing new business-to-business and has been in discussions with 50 potential partners, according to the document.
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Source: @Liutauras_ / Twitter
Donald Trump appeared on a livestream hosted by Adin Ross to boost his presidential campaign, but social media wasn’t too impressed.On Monday (August 5), Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had a unique event on his campaign schedule. He appeared as the special guest on a live stream hosted by streamer Adin Ross on the Kick platform, which reportedly drew an audience of over 580,000. “Today is going to be the most important stream I’ve ever done,” he said to start the interview, which was held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump walked in to 50 Cent’s hit “Many Men”, which he adopted after the thwarted attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania last month. Ross sported a “Make America Great Again” hat as he asked Trump various softball questions on supposed liberal bias in schools (“Even the teachers have been brainwashed, Trump said) to allowing Trump to give one-word reactions to images of politicians such as California Governor Gavin Newsome (who Trump called “New-scum”) to Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The interview, which lasted 90 minutes, also featured Trump repeating his attacks on Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris including his racist comments about her Black and Indian heritage. Trump also praised Ross’ deferential treatment of him, and said that his youngest son Barron was a “big fan”. Ross also brought up the racketeering case against Young Thug and asked if there was a way he could be treated fairly. “He’s gotta be treated fair,” Trump replied. Ross then gave Trump a Rolex watch valued at $300,000. The two then went outside as Ross gifted Trump a Tesla Cybertruck with a custom wrap featuring the photo of Trump after he was shot at during the Butler rally.
Ross has a highly controversial history that includes platforming white supremacist Nick Fuentes and being buddies with alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate. The 23-year-old followed Tate to the Kick platform after being banned from Twitch for using homophobic slurs in addition to racist and anti-Semitic slurs (Ross is Jewish) and showing pornographic images and videos during his streams. Social media users derided Ross’ interview, noting he hadn’t reached the 1 million viewers he claimed it would get. They also questioned his gifts to Trump, speculating he might’ve violated campaign finance rules.“The evidence suggests that Ross made or sought to make an illegal contribution, so he could face civil penalties,” said campaign watchdog Brendan Fisher.
Check out more reactions to the interview below.
1. Elgin Barrett Eugene Smith III
2. Alex Shulz
3. PELICANS_ENTHUSIAST
4. Matt, Dad Hat Enthusiast
5. Wild Geerters
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Source: Brandon Bell / Getty
Tesla’s reputation as a car manufacturer might be in jeopardy. The brand has just recalled 2 million automobiles due to software issues.
New York Magazine is reporting that the Austin, Texas, based company announced that it will be recalling select 2012-2023 and all Model S vehicles, 2016-2023 Model X vehicles, all model year 2017-2023 Model 3 vehicles, and all model year 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles. After a yearlong investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that the autopilot software can cause accidents due to driver misuse. Tesla denies that claim but has voluntarily offered customers free maintenance.
“In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature’s controls may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse of the SAE Level 2 advanced driver-assistance feature. At no cost to customers, affected vehicles will receive an over-the-air (OTA) software remedy” a press release from Tesla read.
Luckily, owners of the aforementioned vehicles will not have to visit a Tesla dealership for service. The brand will remedy the software issue via download. “Affected vehicles will receive an over-the-air software remedy, which customers can install at their convenience. The owner does not need to schedule a service appointment.”
Lastly, Tesla confirms that the vehicles are still safe to drive. Founder and CEO Elon Musk has yet to comment on the matter. You can read Tesla’s recall statement here.
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George Soros, the target of several conspiracy theories from right-wing critics and pundits, finds himself at the opposite end of Elon Musk‘s wrath this week. After the investment firm owned by George Soros sold off its Tesla stock holdings, Musk seemingly went on the offensive and referred to the billionaire businessman as Magneto of X-Men fame.
On Monday, Soros Management Fund sold off its Tesla stock holding after the company reported a high rally of its stock position in the first quarter. In what was probably a savvy business move in contrast to a personal preference, it was expected that the Soros family business would enjoy hefty gains as a result.
While it isn’t known what Musk meant by referring to Soros as Magneto via Twitter, Musk was quickly schooled about Magneto by Twitter users who explained that the conflicted supervillain believed in the liberation of mutants due to his experiences as a Holocaust survivor, similar to Soros.
Journalist Brian Krassenstein attempted to give a lesson in a tweet but was met with a muted response from Musk.
“Fun fact: Magneto’s experiences during the Holocaust as a survivor shaped his perspective as well as his depth and empathy. Soro, also a Holocaust survivor, get’s attacked nonstop for his good intentions which some Americans think are bad merely because they disagree with this political affiliations,” Krassenstein tweeted.
Musk responded, “You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.”
As it stands, what Musk said in response to the tweet mirrors many talking points from conspiracy theorists who believe Soros is behind a number of left-leaning organizations and funnels money into groups to stamp out conservative ideals and the like. Further, the jab reads as an antisemitic dog whistle to some
On Twitter, the reaction to Elon Musk’s jab at George Soros is ongoing. We’ve got the reactions listed below.
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Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty
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