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Microsoft partners with SpaceX in its second tie up with an Elon Musk company
TechnologyTimes of India1d ago

Microsoft partners with SpaceX in its second tie up with an Elon Musk company

Microsoft is teaming up with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink internet to rural Kenya, aiming to connect 450 community hubs. This follows Microsoft's earlier collaboration with Musk's xAI for AI services. Meanwhile, a consortium including Microsoft, Nvidia, and BlackRock is investing $40 billion in data centers to fuel AI growth.

Sam Altman says Elon Musk's idea of putting data centers in space is 'ridiculous'
TechnologyBusiness Insider4d ago

Sam Altman says Elon Musk's idea of putting data centers in space is 'ridiculous'

OpenAI and SpaceX could have massive IPOs this year. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch satellites that act as data centers into space. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said placing data centers in space isn't feasible right now. He called the idea "ridiculous" during an event in New Delhi. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman famously don't agree on much. The latest point of contention: data centers in space. Musk has made...

Elon Musk replies to trillionaire post, says have little cash
BusinessTimes of India10d ago

Elon Musk replies to trillionaire post, says have little cash

Elon Musk clarified that his substantial net worth is primarily derived from his ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, with less than 0.1% held as cash. He emphasized that the value increase benefits Tesla and SpaceX employees, as well as over 80% of Tesla's retail and institutional investors.

SpaceX Official Reveals New Details About Next-Gen Cell Service
Technologyzerohedge1d ago

SpaceX Official Reveals New Details About Next-Gen Cell Service

SpaceX Official Reveals New Details About Next-Gen Cell Service SpaceX satellite policy lead Udrivolf Pica told participants in the International Telecommunication Union Space Connect webcast about the next-generation Starlink direct-to-device cellular service for smartphones. The revelation of the new service follows SpaceX's October 2025 U.S. trademark filing for "STARLINK MOBILE" and comes as Elon Musk has recently hinted at Starlink mobile ambitions. "We are aiming at peak ...

Steven Spielberg Flees California Amid Raging Wealth Tax Battle
Politicszerohedge6d ago

Steven Spielberg Flees California Amid Raging Wealth Tax Battle

Steven Spielberg Flees California Amid Raging Wealth Tax Battle Another day, another rich liberal leaving a state over policies they promoted.  In today's episode of modern hypocrisy, Steven Spielberg, director of blockbuster hits like Jaws, E.T., Poltergeist and Saving Private Ryan, has moved to Manhattan, according to the Los Angeles Times. A spokesperson for one of Hollywood’s most reliable Democrat Party donors was quick to insist the relocation has nothing to do with California’s highly controversial wealth tax proposal. “Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren,” spokeswoman Terry Press told the newspaper. Unsurprisingly, Press declined to say where Spielberg stands on the wealth tax when asked. California is now seriously considering a new wealth tax targeting billionaires, including a levy on unrealized gains. The idea has already spooked investors and contributed to several high-profile tech figures running for the exits. It’s a familiar pattern when progressive policies finally start to bite, a surprising number of billionaires discover a sudden deep affection for Florida, Texas, or even New York. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin quietly began unwinding portions of their financial empires in California in the days leading up to Christmas, while Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped $150 million on a Miami mansion. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan had been looking for a home on Indian Creek Island, the ultra-exclusive, heavily guarded enclave nicknamed “Billionaire Bunker” that is already home to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, former NFL star quarterback Tom Brady, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Even Jeffrey Epstein pal Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and major Democratic donor, has taken aim at the billionaire tax proposal, slamming it as a "horrendous idea" that could drive tech founders and executives out of the state. Rep. Khanna reached out to me to discuss the proposed California wealth tax; and while I am against the proposed tax, I'm always open to dialogue with our elected leaders. The proposed CA wealth tax is badly designed in so many ways that a simple social post cannot cover all of… January 7, 2026 "The proposed CA wealth tax is badly designed in so many ways that a simple social post cannot cover all of the massive flaws. One well-documented example is the horrendous idea to tax illiquid stock in the proposal. Poorly designed taxes incentivize avoidance, capital flight, and distortions that ultimately raise less revenue," Hoffman said of the plan. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, a longtime Democrat who voted for Trump in the 2024 election, warned that California is on a "path to self-destruction." California is on a path to self-destruction. Hollywood is already toast and now the most productive entrepreneurs will leave taking their tax revenues and job creation elsewhere. And then the Democrats highlight @CAgovernor Newsom as a great leader. Crazy. https://t.co/bFyLhARrNn December 27, 2025 "Hollywood is already toast, and now the most productive entrepreneurs will leave, taking their tax revenues and job creation elsewhere,” Ackman said. Our readers will recall that Tesla and SpaceX Ceo Elon Musk was one of the first big names to leave California years ago, citing the state’s punishing taxes and its embrace of radical left-wing governance. The list keeps growing. Buckle up, Newsom. Musk was the first and Spielberg won’t be the last. Tyler Durden Fri, 02/20/2026 - 16:40

NASA boss Jared Isaacman sent staff a letter blasting the Starliner mission that left 2 astronauts stranded in space
TechnologyBusiness Insider6d ago

NASA boss Jared Isaacman sent staff a letter blasting the Starliner mission that left 2 astronauts stranded in space

Jared Isaacman. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman blasted the "troubling" failures of the Boeing Starliner mission. In a letter to NASA staff, he said it wasn't initially deemed a mishap due to reputational concerns. A report into the mission found "unprofessional behavior," including yelling in meetings. The head of NASA sent a scathing letter to employees on Thursday, outlining the failures of the botched Boeing Starliner mission that left a pair of astronauts stuck in space. Jared Isaacman slammed "design and engineering deficiencies" but said the "most troubling failure" was decision-making and leadership. "If left unchecked, [it] could create a culture incompatible with human spaceflight," he added. The mission took place in June 2024, flying two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. However, helium leaks saw Starliner's thrusters malfunction. The mission was supposed to last eight days, but the pair ultimately spent over 90 days in space before returning to Earth on a SpaceX flight. "We returned the crew safely, but the path we took did not reflect NASA at its best," Isaacman told staff. Also on Thursday, the incident was formally designated as a "Type A mishap" — the most severe level, on par with the Columbia and Challenger Space Shuttle disasters. NASA defines such mishaps as those causing more than $2 million in failure costs, the loss of a vehicle or its control, or deaths. However, a mishap was not initially declared for Starliner, despite a loss of control and, according to Isaacman, "cost thresholds exceeding a Type A mishap by a factor of one hundred," implying a loss of at least $200 million. This decision was influenced by "concern for the Starliner program's reputation," he added. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, before boarding Starliner in June 2024. MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images Isaacman's letter wasn't entirely gloomy. He praised the "extraordinary professionalism" of controllers and crew who recovered control of the spacecraft and achieved docking with the International Space Station. "At that moment, had different decisions been made, had thrusters not been recovered, or had docking been unsuccessful, the outcome of this mission could have been very different," he added. 'Unprofessional behavior' included 'yelling in meetings' The letter coincided with the publication of the report into the Starliner mission. It's over 300 pages long and details the engineering and cultural problems. Investigators said there were "times of unprofessional behavior" as NASA and Boeing butted heads on how to bring the astronauts home. "There was yelling in meetings," one interviewee said. "It was emotionally charged and unproductive." Another said they heard safety engineers being berated "off muted mics." "It was probably the ugliest environment that I've been in," said another. The report listed three root causes for the debacle. Firstly, it said NASA had a "hands-off approach" to setting up the contract, leading to insufficient oversight of Boeing's design and testing. Then, Boeing didn't verify the propulsion system across all environments and use cases during the design phase, leaving Starliner exposed to conditions for which it wasn't properly certified, the report said. Lastly, it said the culture at NASA's Commercial Crew Program led to greater acceptance of technical risk and a reluctance to fully challenge Boeing's analyses. Isaacman said that NASA will continue working with Boeing. "But to be clear: NASA will not fly another crew on Starliner until technical causes are understood and corrected, the propulsion system is fully qualified, and appropriate investigation recommendations are implemented," he added. In a statement, Boeing said it was "grateful" to NASA for its "thorough investigation." "In the 18 months since our test flight, Boeing has made substantial progress on corrective actions for technical challenges we encountered and driven significant cultural changes across the team that directly align with the findings in the report." Read the original article on Business Insider

What's it like to work for Elon Musk? X's product head describes small, flat teams with weekly reviews from Musk himself
TechnologyBusiness Insider8d ago

What's it like to work for Elon Musk? X's product head describes small, flat teams with weekly reviews from Musk himself

Nikita Bier said that Elon Musk's X was "essentially operating like a startup." Marc Piasecki/Getty Images Want to work for one of Elon Musk's companies? Expect small, flat teams. X product head Nikita Bier compared his experience at X to past jobs at Meta and Discord on the "Out of Office" podcast. Bier said that Musk holds "weekly reviews" of one or two slides with every X engineer. One of Elon Musk's lieutenants at X is sharing what it's like to work in the trenches with him. There are some trademarks of a Musk company, whether it be Tesla, SpaceX, or xAI. His teams are flat, his schedule is jam-packed, and his expectations are high. In the lead-up to a big launch, expect to grind out some long hours. X's head of product, Nikita Bier, recently opened up about working under Musk on the "Out of Office" podcast, contrasting it with his past work at Silicon Valley staples like Discord and Meta. Bier described a "very flat organization" with lots of individual contributors reporting directly to Musk himself. There are very few managers, Bier said. "Everyone has an incredible amount of agency," Bier said. "We come up with an idea, we build it in a week, and it's out." Bier also said that Musk was "deep in the weeds." That's a feat for an executive who runs multiple companies (and once a government agency) at the same time. "He does weekly reviews basically with every engineer at the company," Bier said. "You have one or two slides, you present what you got done that week, he gives feedback." While some social media commenters expressed skepticism that every engineer received a weekly review, Musk is clearly hands-on — as evidenced by another xAI employee's podcast appearance. Sulaiman Ghori worked on xAI's Macrohard team. He described flat teams, few managers — and a wager between Musk and an employee on how quickly he could set up a rack of GPUs. The employee won himself a Cybertruck. (Ghori, who also talked about the company's "carnival company" permit workaround for building data centers, announced he was no longer at xAI four days after the podcast was published.) Bier also described a lean but efficient team that had "like 30 core product engineers." "The size of the engineering team is equivalent to a feature when I worked at Facebook," Bier said. "It's essentially operating like a startup." On X, one user asked whether these 30 employees were on the product or design team. Bier responded: "Engineers, 2 designers, 1.5 product managers and me." It's difficult to compare engineering team sizes to the pre-Musk Twitter days — or even discern which "core" team Bier is referencing. After six months of ownership, Musk cut Twitter's staff by 90%. Five hundred engineers remained at the time. What Bier didn't realize before working with Musk, he said, was that the executive will "always do the hard things." Consumer product builders are often looking for quick wins, Bier said. Musk chooses the most important — and difficult — thing to do, he said, from rebuilding the algorithm to building data centers. That also means: Don't expect a lazy Friday at X. "Every morning, every day, there's a new crisis," Bier said. "I'll just open my phone and be like: 'Oh my god.'" Read the original article on Business Insider

Investors Overreacting To Starlink's Threat To Traditional Telcos; Goldman Says
Businesszerohedge9d ago

Investors Overreacting To Starlink's Threat To Traditional Telcos; Goldman Says

Investors Overreacting To Starlink's Threat To Traditional Telcos; Goldman Says Talk of space-based data centers has suddenly become a major conversation on Wall Street. One key driver is Elon Musk's merger of SpaceX with his AI venture, xAI, aiming to eventually build "orbital data centers" at scale. With a potential IPO later this year, the space industry - first in low-Earth orbit, then on the moon - will be center stage for years to come. Goldman analysts, led by Andrew Lee, hosted a webcast titled "Space - Datacentres Opportunity and Telecom Risk," featuring Justin Hotchkiss (Associate Partner), Gregor Eichler (Principal), and Federico Torri (Partner) from TMT consultancy Altman Solon. The webcast conversation looked ahead to a future in which space-based data centers could become a reality. Goldman's telecom analysts and tech consultants discussed two major ideas: Space data centers: Not yet deployed, but could become a reality in the near term. The advantages are low-cost solar power in space, easier cooling, no property costs, and no permitting issues. One big hurdle is the need for cheaper rocket launch costs and a lightweight cooling system. If launches drop below $200/kg and cooling hardware is very light, the cost could start to look similar to building on Earth. Satellite connectivity for telecoms: It already exists, but investors are overreacting to the idea that satellites will "replace" traditional telcos. Satellites (especially LEO networks like Starlink) have limited capacity, variable service quality, and challenging economics for serving many everyday urban customers. They're most useful where building cell towers or fiber is expensive: rural, sparsely populated, higher-income areas. Think of Starlink and other LEO networks as complementary to telecoms. A major technological leap is underway in space-based communications. Data centers in space are likely to become a reality within this decade, thanks to SpaceX's Starship rocket. Goldman's webcast suggests that Starlink and other LEO constellations should be more complementary than competitive to telcos for the foreseeable future. Lee noted: In the longer term, space data centres appear an increasingly likely reality. More relevant today, our conversation suggests the extent of investor concerns on satellite competition to telecoms and towercos are overstated - as we wrote in our 2025 satellite/telco report. Satellite technology is more likely to be complementary rather than competitive to telcos due to satellite capacity constraints, service quality restrictions, and inferior economics for the majority of geographies. Telcos can leverage satellites to extend their own network coverage into rural areas where terrestrial build-out is costly. Investing world impacts: This would imply modest downside risk to towerco growth if rural connectivity is partially rerouted via satellites. For towercos including Cellnex and INWIT, some of this satellite risk is already priced into their shares, but we do not see a catalyst for a re-rating in the near term. For telcos including TMUS (majority owned by DT), where satellite risk to its broadband growth has pressured the share price, we see scope for a rerating as investor concerns over satellite risk abate over time and ongoing consensus upgrades continue. We retain our bullish view on European telcos as laid out in our recent report - select Buy ideas include BT, Nordics, DT, KPN. We outline our key takeaways from the satellite webcast below. The big question is: At what point does Starlink start to challenge them directly? Professional subscribers can read the full note on our new Marketdesk.ai portal​​​​. Tyler Durden Tue, 02/17/2026 - 11:40

Billionaire investor Vinod Khosla wants to 'rethink' capitalism for the AI era — and suggests scrapping taxes for 125 million people
BusinessBusiness Insider9d ago

Billionaire investor Vinod Khosla wants to 'rethink' capitalism for the AI era — and suggests scrapping taxes for 125 million people

Vinod Khosla says stock prices aren't the way to evaluate AI bubbles. Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images Vinod Khosla says the rise of AI might warrant steeper taxes on capital and none for most workers. The billionaire VC wrote on X that AI displacing workers could shrink the labor part of the economy. Khosla wrote that some popular tax breaks were "special interest goodies" and not "true capitalism." If artificial intelligence eliminates millions of jobs, it might make sense to scrap income taxes for the vast majority of Americans and target capital instead, Vinod Khosla says. "AI will transform economies and need a rethink of capitalism & equity," the billionaire venture capitalist wrote in an X post on Monday. "Labor portion of economy (vs capital) will decline sharply. Should we eliminate preferential treatment of capital gains tax and equalize to ordinary income?" Khosla — who cofounded Sun Microsystems and made the first VC investment in OpenAI — was making the point that AI replacing labor on a grand scale might warrant greater taxes on assets such as stocks and real estate. The veteran financier, who founded Khosla Ventures after leaving Kleiner Perkins, attached a video highlighting some of the jobs that could be taken by AI, from accountants and therapists to truck drivers and chip designers. AI will transform economies and need a rethink of capitalism & equity. Labor portion of economy (vs capital) will decline sharply. Should we eliminate preferential treatment of capital gains tax and equalize to ordinary income? 40% of capital gains taxes are paid by those with… pic.twitter.com/7oSA9xj5Ko — Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) February 16, 2026 Khosla said in a follow-up post that ramping up taxes on capital would generate so much revenue that the government could scrap taxes for most of the roughly 150 million US taxpayers. "Could easily eliminate bottom 125 million taxpayers from the tax rolls and be revenue neutral at the same time with a capital gains tax equal to ordinary income and a few other tweaks," he wrote. He added that tax breaks such as carrying over tax losses and tax-free borrowing against unrealized gains — which he called a "true abuse!" — are "special interest goodies inserted by lobbyists and campaign contributions, not true capitalism." Khosla didn't address common critiques of higher taxes, including that they can discourage entrepreneurship and investment, that collecting them can be tricky, and that wealthy people may leave the country to avoid them. Khosla has previously underscored that the advent of AI may require sweeping policy changes. He estimated in late 2024 that in 25 years' time, AI could be doing 80% of the work in 80% of all jobs, and universal basic income might be needed to compensate for job destruction. "As AI reduces the need for human labor, UBI could become crucial, with governments playing a key role in regulating AI's impact and ensuring equitable wealth distribution," he wrote on his firm's website. Khosla isn't alone in predicting AI will change the fabric of society. Elon Musk suggested late last year that work could become "optional" and money might become "irrelevant" if advances in AI and robotics generate abundant resources for all. Moreover, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO recently said that retirement savings may not be needed in 10 or 20 years, as everyone might have "whatever stuff they want." However, skeptics such as Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame have cautioned the AI boom is a speculative bubble, tech companies are overinvesting in microchips and data centers that will quickly become obsolete, and true AI is further away than many think. Read the original article on Business Insider