- Elon Musk, tech billionaire and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, tweeted a lot this summer.
- He still really wants to nuke Mars, or at least sell T-shirts with the slogan.
- Here’s everything else he has done over the summer months.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Elon Musk has had a busy summer.
He continued working on and promoting the companies he runs, Tesla and SpaceX, on Twitter. He tweeted a lot this summer, getting into fights and posting memes. He can now count Porsche, Roberto Escobar, and British diver Vernon Unsworth among his list of potential enemies.
His summer wasn’t all fights, though. He also found time to spend with his kids and to think about buying satirical newspaper The Onion.
Here’s a look at what Musk got up to this summer, from his relationship with Grimes to selling “nuke Mars” shirts.
He spent time with his girlfriend, musician Grimes.
The pair are still going strong after a year together, according to Page Six. They were spotted at Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, California.
He thought about buying The Onion.
Late this summer, Musk tweeted that satirical news site The Onion was his "thought bubble." Another user tweeted to ask if he was considering buying the site. "I'd love to," he wrote back.
Musk's satirical startup, Thud, closed in May after funding from Musk dried up.
He tried to diss Porsche, but it didn't go as planned.
Musk tried to make fun of the new Porsche Taycan Turbo's name, referencing the fact that you can't turbocharge an electric car. The new Taycan is the first electric sports car from the German automaker and has invited comparison to Tesla's offerings.
He was quickly roasted by other users, who pointed out a few times he used the actual definitions of words loosely.
Um @elonmusk, the words “funding secured” did not mean what you hoped they did https://t.co/A3y0RdoHNr
— Dennis (@ClarkDennisM) September 5, 2019
He debated Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma on artificial intelligence in Shanghai, China.
The two business founders discussed AI, Mars missions, and more at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in August.
When Ma said that he wasn't scared of AI, Musk called those "famous last words."
He spent a lot of time on Twitter.
https://t.co/tndaPd6d8z pic.twitter.com/G98dOzgWTv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2019
He got really into tweeting memes.
Haha actually true pic.twitter.com/VNB822fpPT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 30, 2019
He even became a meme himself.
I am become meme
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2019
He wasn't constantly online, though. He did find a moment to make cookies with his children on August 18.
Source: Twitter
He kept pushing his idea to 'nuke Mars,' which he claims will make the planet habitable for humans
Musk believes that if we "nuke Mars," its polar ice caps will melt and release carbon dioxide, creating a greenhouse effect to raise the planet's temperature so we can colonize it.
He's been promoting this idea on TV and online since at least 2015.
And he sold shirts based on the idea.
They're currently sold out.
Until he decided that he had a better theory for warming Mars.
A few days after re-upping his "nuke Mars" idea, Musk tweeted a new theory: "Might make sense to have thousands of solar reflector satellites 🛰 to warm Mars vs artificial suns (tbd)."
He also tweeted that his original idea was "not risky."
Elon sparred with Pablo Escobar's brother on Twitter over a flamethrower.
In January of 2018, Musk's Boring Company launched "not a flamethrower," which was basically a flamethrower. Pablo Escobar's brother Roberto claimed that he had the idea first, and Elon stole it, according to reports in July.
"It's Not a Flamethrower, Mr Escobar," Musk tweeted in reply in July.
He worked on a way for us to control computers with our minds and announced a breakthrough.
Musk's brain tech company Neuralink announced in July it developed a neural implant that can be used in rat and monkey brains, with the end goal of connecting our minds directly to computers.
"A monkey has been able to control a computer with its brain," Musk told employees at a question and answer session.
He fought a defamation suit against the British diver he referred to as 'pedo guy'
Musk called Vernon Unsworth "pedo guy" last summer after Unsworth criticized his idea to build a mini-submarine to rescue the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave.
Unsworth filed a defamation suit last September. Musk argued in recent court documents that he meant "pedo" not in a literal sense, but as a creepy old man.
