Automotive Mogul’s Unsettling Venture into Politics and Media
Have you come across the story of an entrepreneur who gained an exorbitant amount of wealth through the automotive business, ventured into politics, purchased a media conglomerate, and then utilized it to propagate harmful rhetoric worldwide? The richest individual globally performs a juggling act, manoeuvring through roles as a vehicle mogul, a space enthusiast, and a neuroscientist. He further finds time to acquire a social media network worth $44 billion and amalgamate it with his ‘counter-progressive’ AI company. As a result, the Grok bot, belonging to this platform, ends up disseminating disturbing praising messages for Hitler.
When an inquisitive user questioned Grok Chatbot, inquiring why Hitler was being glorified, the bot’s response was unspeakably eerie. The disconcerting remarks made by Grok, surrounded by Musk’s X firm, emerged soon after Musk’s request for contentious pieces of information to refine Grok. His request was specific for data ‘that despite being politically incorrect, happened to be true’. Utilizing his personal account on X, Musk criticized George Soros, advocated antisemitic conspiracy theories, and displayed support for Alternative für Deutschland.
Intriguingly, this isn’t the first instance of an affluent automotive business personality delving deeply into American politics and the global media environment, whilst maintaining a dubious relationship with far-right German nationalists. Ford was identified as a valuable ally by Hitler, way before his political ascent, in the ‘battle’ against ‘international Jewish finance’. Ford’s vocalized antisemitic perspective propagated predominantly via The Dearborn Independent, a newspaper he bought in 1918 right after an unsuccessful run for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan.
Ford’s motivation for acquiring his own media channel was rooted in dissatisfaction with how he and his family were portrayed during his campaign. What he sought was an individual platform that allowed him to disseminate his ‘conceptions and principles’ without any distortion or misinterpretation. The endeavor of publishing, however, didn’t serve Ford well in terms of his public perception or vehicle sales. In 1927, after a series of pressures from family, legal entities, and business-related issues, Ford withdrew from publicly denouncing Jews, though his private beliefs remained intact.
Both Ford and Musk, who have altered the landscape of transportation dramatically, developed the conviction of creating an impact in every sphere of life. Back in 1908, Henry Ford launched the Model T. The legendary car was priced at $850 initially making it the first automobile accessible to the average consumer. A century later, in 2008, Musk introduced Tesla’s first electric vehicle, the Roadster.
In 2017, Tesla launched the Model S with a price ticket pegged at $35,000, marking another milestone in the automotive industry. It wasn’t the first affordable electric vehicle, as Nissan had already released the $25,000 EV Leaf in 2010. However, the Model S had the distinction of being the first EV to cross the 1 million worldwide sales mark. As of the first quarter in 2022, three out of four EVs sold in the United States bore the Tesla badge.
Undertakings to give birth to a new industry or shake up an existing one more often than not fail. Akin to how the Ford Model T success spurred copycats, Tesla’s mass-market EVs has spurred new rivals. Nevertheless, the prosperous journey is showing signs of rocky roads ahead. Tesla’s sales are trending downwards on a global scale, and the company’s U.S. share of EV sales has diminished.
Along with the declining sales, the company’s equity price has taken a hit upsetting Musk’s financial position. Investors have grown skeptical of Musk’s political pursuits, fearing that his political involvements are adversely impacting his businesses. Mirroring Henry Ford, Musk currently stands as the planet’s wealthiest man. Both Ford and Musk are known for their shared intense ambition to influence every single detail of their personal and professional affairs.
Such as Ford, Musk’s leadership style is autocratic and he has expressed stern opposition to labor unions. Although Ford did agree to a union contract in 1941 after a poll saw 70% of the workforce opting for representation by the UAW-CIO. Musk, on the other hand, is currently leading a lawsuit with the aim of declaring the U.S. National Labor Relations Board unconstitutional, a move that threatens to disrupt the entire US mechanism for protecting worker rights.
The political and economic environments in which Ford and Musk operate are fundamentally different. In today’s world, real power is wielded by a select few individuals of vast riches. The centralization of such immense clout in the hands of the man sitting on the top of the global wealth pile is understandably disconcerting.
The probability of Musk voluntarily renouncing his digital platform seems remote at best. Preserving public trust, fostering inclusivity, and vigilance in these aspects are of utmost importance as we navigate towards the future.