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Room’s open.
Already at 1,500 people at least in the room.
Now at 2,000 people.
2,500 people.
3,000 people.
3,500 people.
4,000 people.
4,500 people.
And the @GoodTimeShowCH room with Elon Musk has already topped the app’s 5,000 person limit. It only opened up at 10:00pm PT.
Here’s the thing…Elon’s not in the room.
And Elon is in the room.
Elon's barking dog is in the background. What kind of dog does he have?
Interesting, if there's a 5,000 person limit in a Clubhouse room, so far there's 5,800 people now.
Wait, they're going to let in Robinhood's CEO into this room?
Wait, they're going to let in Robinhood's CEO into this room?
First question to Elon from Aarthi: when are we going to get to Mars?
Elon: I think we'll get the first people to Mars -- decent shot around 5 years. Mars and Earth sync up every 20+ months. Figure 5.5 years to get people to Mars.
Elon: I think we'll get the first people to Mars -- decent shot around 5 years. Mars and Earth sync up every 20+ months. Figure 5.5 years to get people to Mars.
Follow up: What are the milestones to get to Mars?
Elon: Gotta get Starship to fly. Need a fully reusable and rapidable rocket. Much like an aircraft where the cost of an air flight the base is fuel. Need orbital fueling...When on Mars, need local propellant.
Elon: Gotta get Starship to fly. Need a fully reusable and rapidable rocket. Much like an aircraft where the cost of an air flight the base is fuel. Need orbital fueling...When on Mars, need local propellant.
If you're keen to listen to the conversation and not on Clubhouse, someone is streaming it on YouTube:
Marc asks what it’s possible to build on Mars.
Elon: Suggests could build a tiny outpost but says it’ll be very dangerous, hard work, and that there’s far more ways to die there than on earth, but a fun and great adventure — but not luxurious.
Elon: Suggests could build a tiny outpost but says it’ll be very dangerous, hard work, and that there’s far more ways to die there than on earth, but a fun and great adventure — but not luxurious.
Elon says you can’t go to Mars when earth is on the other side of the sun. There’s a time gap between travel that means there’s new people arriving every two years.
Elon: I’ve not seen any evidence that there’s any signs of alien civiilzation anywhere.
Q: Will we ever run into aliens? How should we think about aliens?
Elon: I’ve seen no piece of conclusive evidence. That doesn’t mean there aren’t aliens. I just haven’t seen anything that couldn’t be explained by any other means...
Elon: I’ve seen no piece of conclusive evidence. That doesn’t mean there aren’t aliens. I just haven’t seen anything that couldn’t be explained by any other means...
RE: sightings of aliens:
The resolution of aliens has to be 7-11 ATM good. We can’t have fuzzy Loch Ness monster piece of shit. It has to be at least iPhone 6 level...
The resolution of aliens has to be 7-11 ATM good. We can’t have fuzzy Loch Ness monster piece of shit. It has to be at least iPhone 6 level...
Q from Marc: What do you say to your kids who ask if they can go to Mars?
Elon: I’ve polled my kids so far and they don’t want to go. They’re not chomping at the bit to go to Mars. Though he said that he would let them if they wanted to.
Elon: I’ve polled my kids so far and they don’t want to go. They’re not chomping at the bit to go to Mars. Though he said that he would let them if they wanted to.
Q: Elon and memes…”who controls the memes controls the universe.”
Elon says it’s a play from “Dune” and there’s “some truth to it.” How do things become interesting to people. Memes are complex form of communication to people — complex pic w/meaning in it. Aspirationally funny.
Elon says it’s a play from “Dune” and there’s “some truth to it.” How do things become interesting to people. Memes are complex form of communication to people — complex pic w/meaning in it. Aspirationally funny.
RE: Memes
Elon says the symbolism has been incredibly powerful to some people.
Elon says the symbolism has been incredibly powerful to some people.
Q: What are the new memes Elon’s following or creating right now.
Elon: I don’t really follow memes. I make some of them. Some are sent to me. I have some kickass meme dealers.
Elon: I don’t really follow memes. I make some of them. Some are sent to me. I have some kickass meme dealers.
Elon: You gotta have a real great meme dealer.
Elon now being asked about Neuralink.
People are already a cyborg, says Elon Musk.
If I’m understanding Elon, with everything that’s going on now, our complex thought structures, brain computing is slowing down. But tapping our brain into AI can improve our comprehension, save your brain into a specific state when you die, etc.
Short term with Neuralink, Elon wants to address brain/spinal injuries, make up for whatever lost capacity someone has…all w/implanted chip. First thing going after: wireless implanted chip to help quadrapalegic control device just by thinking.
Elon says primitive device has already been done but what he wants is to create like a Fitbit with tiny wires in your head.
Elon hopes to release new videos showing Neuralink progress in about a month or so. Right now testing on monkeys.
Elon asked about the best way to educate a five-year-old by Marc.
Elon: My observation is that my kids were educated by YouTube and Reddit, and classmates, and lessons I suppose. Most of their education is online. You want to make education as exciting as possible...
Elon: My observation is that my kids were educated by YouTube and Reddit, and classmates, and lessons I suppose. Most of their education is online. You want to make education as exciting as possible...
Elon: We gotta explain the “why” of things: Why are we teaching you this and why is it relevant?
One thing about the Neuralink…are we going to express outrage about Elon Musk literally implanting chips into our brain the same way we claim that Bill Gates wants to implant chips into us as a ruse for a COVID-19 vaccine?
We continue with asking Elon about parental advice: Why doesn’t the world have more Elon Musks?
Question asked in a way not to sound "sychophantic."
Question asked in a way not to sound "sychophantic."
Elon says all the work he’s doing…no one has forced him to do it. He felt compelled to do it. If someone wants to be him, most probably you’re mistaken. You have to have some demon in your skull to get it done. A la “what encouraging words do you need to create a startup."
Switching topic: crypto.
Elon says he has to be careful about what he says because it can influence/move the market.
Well…yeah.
Well…yeah.
Elon thinks bitcoin is a good thing. He’s a “supporter” of it though he was late to it. Says it’s on the verge of getting broad acceptance from finance people.
Elon says that he makes jokes about dogecoin and says that they’re meant to be jokes. “But fate loves irony…” the most entertaining outcome would be dogecoin could become the currency of earth in the future.
Now talking about refresh of Tesla Model S.
Where do you see Tesla over the next few years?
Elon: We gotta make a lot of cars, make them affordable. And our rough target is to make 20M cars a year (2B active cars/trucks on the road) and not moving the needle if you’re not changing 1% of the fleet. All need advent of sustainable energy/battery packs, etc.
We’re 45 minutes into this Clubhouse room. So far we’ve done Mars, Neuralink, memes, Tesla, crypto and education (in no particular order).
Elon says that bringing full self-driving to cars sooner results in more lives saved and made better.
Why is Elon not a fan of LiDAR?
Elon: Some times I’m just talking smack.
Elon: Some times I’m just talking smack.
Elon: First of all, I’m not fundamentally against LiDAR. We built our own LiDAR for SpaceX. If we hated it, we wouldn’t use it. I don’t have some weird antagonism towards LiDAR. For driving on real-world roads, you have to solve vision, understand objects, etc.
So what’s a typical work day for Elon Musk?
Elon: I wake up to check if there’s any emergencies on text or email…and there usually are.
Elon Musk says that there are a lot of books being written about SpaceX and Tesla but there’s a lot wrong because the writers weren’t part of building the companies. He wonders if he should write a book.
Elon’s asked if he still sleeps on the floor of the Tesla factory.
Says he sleeps outside of the conference room so that people at the Tesla factory can see he’s there. He can’t sleep in the conference room because people can’t see him.
Elon says he expects Tesla workers to go all out and he can’t expect them to do that if he’s not going all out…which is why he sleeps on the floor of the factory.
Elon says he doesn’t have any plans to start another company. He says if he did, his head would explode.
We’re now more than an hour into this talk…
Q: What if Elon was running the vaccination program for COVID-19? What would he do differently?
Elon: Relaxing the requirements of who can get vaccine. The vaccine is important for anyone elderly or compromised immune system. First come, first serve. Show up here. Use CVS/Walgreens.
Of note: https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/elon-musk-promoted-coronavirus-misinformation-for-months-then-his-own-infection-kept-him-out-of-spacexs-astronaut-launch-/articleshow/79418415.cms
Of note: https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/elon-musk-promoted-coronavirus-misinformation-for-months-then-his-own-infection-kept-him-out-of-spacexs-astronaut-launch-/articleshow/79418415.cms
Elon says that the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has been approved.
No, it hasn’t been approved by the FDA yet. The company released late stage trial results last week. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/johnson-johnson-single-shot-vaccine-85-effective-severe/story?id=75557358
No, it hasn’t been approved by the FDA yet. The company released late stage trial results last week. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/johnson-johnson-single-shot-vaccine-85-effective-severe/story?id=75557358
Elon Musk chuckles and says he’s not an anti-vaxxer. “I’m pro-vaxxer."
Elon Musk spent a few minutes telling everyone to get the vaccine and just said he’s pro-vaxxer…but he says he won’t get a vaccine when it’s available?
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-and-kids-wont-get-coronavirus-vaccine-2020-
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-and-kids-wont-get-coronavirus-vaccine-2020-
Now we’re talking about Elon’s career history?
Elon tried to get an internship at Netscape (run by Marc). Marc says that the next time Elon shows up to one of his companies for an internship, he’ll automatically get it.
Now we’re moving onto easier questions…like what is Elon watching. Apparently “Cobra Kai”?
Elon Musk has seen “Tenet” and says that it’s good. “I enjoyed the movie."
Final thoughts from Elon?
Elon: You want to hear the real story about Robinhood from Vlad about GameStop?
Elon: You want to hear the real story about Robinhood from Vlad about GameStop?
Alright, so Robinhood CEO Vlad is going to join the stage to talk about what happened with GameStop and r/WallStreetBets and retail investors.
The stock market opens in a few hours.
The stock market opens in a few hours.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is now on stage in the Clubhouse room to give his side of what happened with GameStop/GameStonk.
Oh, and Vlad penned a USA Today opinion piece… https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/31/gamestop-drama-robinhood-had-play-rules-wall-street-column/4332726001/
Oh, and Vlad penned a USA Today opinion piece… https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/31/gamestop-drama-robinhood-had-play-rules-wall-street-column/4332726001/
If no one uses the phrase “stonks” in this call….so help me...
Vlad Tenev says Robinhood received a file on Thursday from NSCC about volatility of trading and other stock trading issues…a request for $3B ("an order of magnitude from what it normally is”). Robinhood raised $2B in VC so $3B is large.
LOL, Elon mistakenly says Robinhood got a $10B demand. Quickly corrected to $3B.
Vlad doesn’t suggest that the NSCC order was anything shady.
Vlad doesn’t suggest that the NSCC order was anything shady.
Elon jokingly asks if anyone is holding Vlad hostage right now.
Vlad responds “no, but thanks for asking."
Vlad responds “no, but thanks for asking."
Vlad says that Robinhood’s crisis came about from its clearinghouse partner, citing volatility in the market.
Vlad says that when Robinhood opens trading on Monday, it’ll remove some restrictions but there will be some limits in place (shouldn’t impact 99.99% of customers, he says). Robinhood had to adhere to financial regulations, it wasn’t a choice Vlad said he made voluntarily.
Elon Musk asks Vlad Tenev about how beholden is Robinhood to Citadel or other market makers.
“That’s just false,” Vlad says. This was a clearinghouse decision and based on capital requirements. Citadel wasn’t involved in that.
“That’s just false,” Vlad says. This was a clearinghouse decision and based on capital requirements. Citadel wasn’t involved in that.
And we’re wrapping up this Clubhouse room with special guest Elon Musk and special special guest Vlad Tenev.
/Clubhouse room
Here’s a quick recap from @CNET on Elon Musk’s first appearance on Clubhouse. https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-talks-mars-monkey-brain-implants-and-bitcoin-in-clubhouse-interview/
