An Underwhelming Robotaxi Rollout, X Strong-arms Advertisers

Over the weekend, while the world was transfixed by war in the Middle East, the Tesla Robotaxi quietly appeared on the streets of Austin, Texas. It didn’t stay quiet for long, though. As a handful of Tesla influencers filmed themselves driven through the streets of the red state’s famously blue capital, their smartphone videos caught plenty of traffic violations.

In this week’s episode David Papadopoulos is joined by Max Chafkin as well as Bloomberg electric vehicles reporter Kara Carlson to break down the launch. Years in the making, and with rivals like Waymo already familiar sights in some big US cities, will Elon Musk be able to spin this as something other than a tepid attempt at catch-up? Tesla investors seem to think so: the stock jumped 8.2% on Monday. 

Papadopoulos and Chafkin are then joined by Bloomberg social media reporter Kurt Wagner, just back from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Wagner discusses X’s participation, or rather absence, from the all-important advertising event, and goes through how Musk’s embattled social media platform has reportedly tried to strong-arm advertisers to return by threatening lawsuits. This prompted Papadopoulos to speculate about the equivalent situation for hot dog vendors or shovel salesmen. 

Lastly, the crew discuss a few additional news item from the week, namely an exploding SpaceX rocket and the recent report that Musk doesn’t use a computer.

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