11 hours ago -Technology

Silicon Valley's not crying for Musk

Scott Rosenberg1/2

Few tears will be shed in Silicon Valley or at Big Tech firms over Elon Musk's precipitous fall from White House grace.

Why it matters:Musk's brief alliance with President Trump warped the usual dynamics of the relationship between America's most valuable industry and its center of political power.

Between the lines: Musk himself is widely admired in tech's corridors of power for Tesla's and SpaceX's innovations — but also widely disliked for his unfulfillable promises, erratic behavior and social media addiction.

• Now that Musk is suddenly on the outs with Trump,a lot of tech leaders are quietly crossing their fingers that they can get back to dealmaking and policy-setting without worrying about a key competitor whispering in the president's ear.

• Tech giants can't be sure that whoever replaces Musk as Trump's favorite geek will bring stability or regulatory relief — but Musk wasn't delivering on those fronts either.

On the other hand, any follow-through on Trump's threat to strangle the flow of federal dollars to Musk's firms would demonstrate that vendettas are the new normal.

• Such targeting of one person's business empirewith the full force of presidential power would send a chill down any CEO's spine, pro- or anti-Trump.

The big picture:Techleaders see huge opportunities in Washington and government work right now.

• AI is exploding, defense tech is booming, and crypto firms are champing at the bit.

• Plenty of CEOs resented what they saw as the Biden administration's hostility to deals, dedication to strict regulation and aggressive stance on antitrust.

Yes, but:The long Republican tradition of business-friendly regulatory positions has mutated into a Trumpian realpolitik.

• The Trump administration has been forthright in its intention to help friends and punish enemies.

• Help comes as contracts and preferential treatment by regulators; punishment comes via canceled contracts, fines and even prosecution by the Justice Department.

•The terms of this week's Trump-Musk feud made starkly clear how serious Trump is about these carrot-and-stick moves.

Losers:Musk himself obviously facesnot only financial losses but a reputational reckoning.

• He has already alienated his liberal-left fans, who'd once been drawn to his electric vehicles.

• If Trump's MAGA loyalists abandon him too, he might be left with a thinned social media fan base, a pile of sinking shares, and not much else.

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/09/musk-trump-fallout-big-tech

>>23148279

2/2

Winners:Virtually any tech leader not named Musk can find satisfaction in his misfortune.

• Musk's businesses are all deeply entangled with one another but rarely partner with non-Musk-owned firms.

•His empire is a mostly self-contained Muskiverse, meaning its woes aren't likely to prove contagious.

• ==There are plenty of MAGA-friendly tech firms — think Palantir and

Anduril in defense tech, Meta under a newly MAGA-fied Mark Zuckerberg, or the Andreessen-Horowitz portfolio in startups — ready to step into the Musk void in D.C. if he and the president don't patch things up. (WTF they are not MAGA friendly at all, they are just not pissing off MAGA right now.==)

• U.S. leaders may decide it's time to broaden the supply of rockets that can launch satellites and astronauts into space beyond SpaceX — and that could benefit Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin firm.

One of the biggest winners, even though he has largely stayed mum on the Musk/Trump fireworks, is OpenAI's Sam Altman.

• Musk's role in the Trump administration gave his xAI company an inside track on federal contracts.

•Altman, who wasn't ever known to be close to Trump,surprised Musk by repackaging his giant Stargate data centerproject as a Trump deal andwinning an Oval Office photo op with Trump the day after the new president's inauguration.

• Altman and Musk have their own feud. Both were among the nonprofit's cofounders, and Musk has sued OpenAI, claiming that under Altman it has abandoned its original AI safety mission.

Another winner:Vice President JD Vance, who during Musk's White House days seemed to fade into the woodwork, has a chance to reassert his primacy as the Trump administration's ambassador to tech.

• Still to be seen is where some of the other key tech players in Trumpworld — like White House adviser David Sacks — land when the firestorm subsides.

The intrigue:You won't read expressions of tech leaders' relief at Musk's D.C. exit in their posts or interviews.

• There's nothing to be gained and lots to lose for most executives or investors to take sides in the Trump-Musk war of words.

•That's why the only sound from tech's normally boisterous social-media gallery has been an occasional wan plea of "be nice and make up."

What's next:Trump White House dramas never end, they just go into new seasons.

• When the 2026 campaign heats up and candidates need cash, Musk may find himself an object of GOP courtship again.

•Or he could put his money behind MAGA spoilers.

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/09/musk-trump-fallout-big-tech

(This article makes it seems like the Tech Oligarchs are really just normal human beings, but they are so greedy they are willing to walk over Musk’s carcass for a chance to get big contracts. But Musk would do the same,this is the war of the hyena’s, not against the Lion, but their own pack. This people are sick.)

7 hours ago -Energy & Climate

Threats to Tesla's revenue are piling up

(Musk f'cked himself, getting into politics, instead of paying attention to his business’s.)

Ben Geman1/2

Tesla faces fresh risks to a big income stream: sales of regulatory credits to other automakers under vehicle emissions and efficiency rules.

Why it matters: Tesla's credit sales were $595 million last quarter and totaled $3.36 billion in the five quarters through Q1 of 2025.

• The credits are awarded to companies like Tesla that exceed emissions standards. Producers of gas-powered vehicles buy them to help meet various CO2 and mileage standards.

The latest:Republicans on the Senate's commercecommittee late last week proposed ending civil penaltiesunder the Transportation Department'sfuel economy rules.

• It's part of the committee's portion of the budget "reconciliation" bill — the top GOP and White House legislative priority.

• The provision would "modestly" cut auto prices by ending penalties on automakers that now "design cars to conform to the wishes of DC bureaucrats rather than consumers," a GOP summary states.

The intrigue:"This Senate action would effectively end the market for CAFE credits," Chris Harto, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports, tells Axios via email.

• Dan Becker, who heads the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, noted: "Why buy credits if Trump gives you a get out of CAFE free card?"

Driving the news: Separately, DOT on Friday issued an "interpretive rule" that bars consideration of EVs when it sets these mileage rules.

• It's a step toward crafting replacement standards, DOT said.

• This paves the way for less aggressive requirements —and less need for buying credits.

State of play:Several buckets of credits benefit Tesla, the dominant U.S. EV seller.

• EPA emissions standards, Transportation Department fuel economy mandates, and California's ambitious clean cars program all provide opportunities.

•European emissions rules also generate credits.

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/09/senate-cafe-credits-tesla-revenue

>>23148377

2/2

The big picture:The regulatory credit market was already facing risks before all the news late last week.

•EPA is planning to rescindBiden-era EPA carbon emissions rules for model years 2027 and onward.

• The House-passed reconciliation bill and the Senate GOP proposal would also nix them. And the House bill pulls back Biden-era DOT mileage rules.

•Both chambers have passed measures that end EPA's approval of California's auto emissions rules.

Threat level: Potential loss of credit revenues comes at a perilous time for Tesla.

• Its sales have slumped in recent quarters, and CEO Elon Musk's rightward turn and alliance with Trump are among the reasons why, analysts say.

• The House plan ends $7,500 consumer purchase subsidies for EVs under the Democrats' 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

By the numbers:Credit revenues exceeded Tesla's overall profit last quarter— in other words, it would have been in the red without them.

• Yes, Q1 was atypically weak for Tesla, but consider Q4 of 2024, when Tesla reported $2.13 billion in profits that were helped along by $692 million in credit sales.

• In Q3, those numbers were $2.17B and $739M, respectively.

Friction point: More broadly, the meltdown of Tesla CEO Elon Musk's relationship with Trump also creates new and unpredictable risks for the billionaire entrepreneur's business empire.

Yes, but:There are plenty of court battles ahead over Trump 2.0 and GOP policies, including efforts to scuttle California's rules.

The bottom line:" If theadministration gets its way on all of its stated policy objectives around vehicle regulations, there will no longer be any market in the US for Tesla's regulatory credits," said Harto.

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/09/senate-cafe-credits-tesla-revenue

(Proving the whole EV market has been a scam, and a vanity project for those who want more idolization. Unless the EV's can be retooled as more realistic about any real savings by offering them, they are just a show off, very expensive toy. My girlfriend just had her Tesla battery blow out, fortunately still under warranty, otherwise it could have cost her ($26K to $30, $35K to replace, but it ruined other parts of the car, it would be much more expensive. EV's are bullshit, unless they are cheap and can be thrown out if they don't run again.)

President Trump and Marco Rubio Head to Camp David

June 8, 2025 | Sundance |

The implication of the remark,as President Trump says, “a better security” venue, is that something of much greater significance than traditional White House operations is in need of attention. To such a degree, thatprior strategic discussion arrangements are not considered “secure enough.”

President Trump does not like Camp David.

Before taking office, President Trump once told a German journalist in an interview,“Camp David is very rustic, it’s nice, you’d like it. You know how long you’d like it? For about 30 minutes.”

So, the big picture questions become:

What issue would be of such importance, that changing the venue would be needed in order to address it?

What issue(s) has DC interests so aligned, that Rubio and Trump are two of a very small group on the other side of it?

I suspect this is about Iran.

Last Wednesday, June 4th:

Put the datapoints together and my speculation is… The terms of an Iran agreement not to generate or build nuclear weapons comes down to the issue of verification. In the verification aspect, perhaps, just perhaps, a Russian inspection regime could be negotiated in the deal.Vladimir Putin agrees to utilize Russian scientists as the verification component of a nuclear agreement between the USA and Iran.

That type of agreement would necessitate a pitch to U.S/Israeli advocates (congress and others) that a joint verification group of Russian and USA nuclear inspectors would audit and verify compliance with the terms.The unspoken details would likely include Russia as the lead, in order to gain support from Iran, but that would be a matter of executive level discussion.

Obviously, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government,the Israeli lobby in the USA and AIPAC beneficiaries in congress, would collectively go bananas.

It’s just a guess; pure speculation on my part, but something like this seems quite possible if you followed closely.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/06/08/president-trump-and-marco-rubio-head-to-camp-david/

(Trump in last term set up foreign leaders meeting at Camp David, hence Rubio there are SOS to bring the diplomatic approach to such meetings this time around. Who knows, he might be meeting with Putin, Lavrov and others on the planning for future joint plans. Putin had already did some deals in Trump's term, with difficult countries that want nothing to do with the US, he’s done them behind the scenes. Some have been reported on RT, Putin helps with countries that don’t want Trump involved, and Trump helps Putin that don’t want Russia involved.)