Some know him as the wealthiest man in the world. Others know him as the face of the EV revolution. But, to the general public, Elon Musk has become something else: a celebrity with an extremely odd sense of humour, who seems to enjoy starting fires as much as he enjoys building rockets.
What crazy things has Elon Musk said, done, or tweeted so far this year? Here are my top five favourites.
1. He launched a rocket into the moon
Well, he didn’t quite launch a rocket into the moon. But one of Musk’s rockets, Falcon 9, is most certainly about to hit it.
In 2015, SpaceX launched Falcon 9 from Florida. Its mission: to send a weather satellite one million miles away from earth. Unfortunately, it got stuck in the gravity of the Earth-Moon system and, having burned through its fuel, has simply drifted along for seven years.
In January, space observers discovered the rocket was a on crash course for the moon. The exact spot of impact is still uncertain, but many believe it will happen around March 4.
2. He gave Canadian truck drivers his support
In one of his most recent controversies, Musk tweeted his support to truck drivers who descended upon Ottawa in a “Freedom Convoy” made of thousands of trucks.
“Canadian truckers rule,” Musk tweeted from his iPhone.
“Taking a break from politics for a while,” Musk tweeted later. “Here’s a nice photo of trucks.” The photo included the freight trucks in gridlock, as they made their way to the capital.
Musk has been outspoken about COVID mandates for some time, going so far as to equate the Biden administration with tyranny. So far, Musk hasn’t said much about the vandalism and forms of racism on display during the protest, but he certainly seems to like truck drivers now.
3. He began his search for human subjects
Yes, 2022 might be the year we get brain chips.
In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, a tech company that develops “brain chips”” little chips that, once implanted, could stimulate brain activity in humans.
The idea is that, for those with neurological disorders and injuries, such as tetraplegics, the chip help will regain control of arms and legs.
Though Musk promised back in 2019 we’d have brain chips in 2020, in January, he reiterated his promise to have the chips in 2022, claiming that Neuralink planned to start testing the chips on humans soon.
Who knows? If Musk sticks to his promise, we might soon be responding to text message via thought, rather than with our fingers.
4. He decided to make robots instead of trucks
Despite Musk’s support for truck drivers, he doesn’t seem keen on developing his much-awaited Cybertruck — at least not in 2022.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would be focusing on its humanoid robot, Optimus, which he claimed would revolutionize the economy.
“The foundation of the economy is labor,” Musk said. “Capital equipment is distilled labor. So what happens if you don’t actually have a labor shortage?…That’s what Optimus is about.”
5. And he told the world he didn’t share “controversial tweets”
Finally, in a moment of pure irony, Elon Musk suggested via Twitter that he “never tweets anything controversial.”
The tweet was accompanied with a photo of a Twitter ad, which, also being facetious, said, “Get fired from your job in five to 10 years” with a “Join Twitter” call to action below it.
This is coming from a guy whose tweets have been known to devalue Tesla stock, send crypto on a wild ride, and cause the SEC to investigate and fine Musk for violating securities laws.
It’s these kinds of tongue-in-cheek tweets that make Musk so controversial. Regardless of Musk’s own definition of controversial tweets, one thing’s for sure: this month, we’ll certainly have a fair share of Elon Musk moments to talk about.
