If Musk Owning Twitter Is a Security Risk, What About Tesla?
In these paranoid times, the electric-vehicle company’s prowess in technology and artificial intelligence could also come under suspicion.
Musk’s Twitter deal is again creating waves.
Photographer: CHRIS DELMAS/AFPMight Elon Musk be saved from the madness of his deal for Twitter Inc. by paranoia? Bloomberg News had a bombshell scoop Thursday night reporting that Biden administration officials, viewing Musk as a little too Russophilic, are weighing security reviews for his various ventures. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, could be an obvious target, as could that social media platform he is about to buy. But what about the big kahuna, Tesla Inc.?
It seems far-fetched that this could actually derail the Twitter deal and it’s unclear which agency would even have the authority to conduct such a review, although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, is cited as an oblique vector. On the other hand, Twitter’s stock is down 5% Friday morning. And these are paranoid times in the US. So if the Feds did squish the deal on national security grounds, it could raise the stakes for Musk’s car company.