Three major breakthroughs are coming! Elon Musk, big news is coming!

Multiple Companies Under Elon Musk Make Major Announcements!

First, on February 18, a reporter from Securities Times learned from Tesla China that the first mass-produced Tesla Cybertruck autonomous electric vehicle has rolled off the line at the Texas Gigafactory in the United States. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted, “Congratulations to the Tesla team on successfully manufacturing the first mass-produced Cybertruck.”

Second, on February 17, local time, Ireland’s regulatory authority announced that it has launched a large-scale investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, focusing on issues related to its built-in AI chatbot “Grok” generating and posting pornographic images. The day before, the X platform experienced a sudden outage, with over ten thousand users worldwide reporting “access issues.”

Finally, Bloomberg reported that Musk’s SpaceX and its wholly owned subsidiary xAI are participating in a highly classified Pentagon bid aimed at developing voice-controlled autonomous drone swarm technology. This indicates that Musk’s companies are entering the new frontier of artificial intelligence (AI) weapon development.

Tesla Major News

On February 18, a reporter from Securities Times learned from Tesla China that the first mass-produced Tesla Cybertruck autonomous electric vehicle has rolled off the line at the Texas Gigafactory in the United States. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted, “Congratulations to the Tesla team on successfully manufacturing the first mass-produced Cybertruck.”

The Cybertruck is a Tesla-designed vehicle built specifically for autonomous driving, with no steering wheel or foot pedals. Previously, Musk had repeatedly indicated that the Cybertruck would enter production in April 2026. Currently, it appears that the production schedule has been moved up ahead of the original plan.

The Cybertruck aims to optimize the entire lifecycle cost per mile and achieve utilization rates five times higher than passenger cars (about 50–60 hours of weekly use). At the 8th China International Import Expo held last November, Tesla’s autonomous electric vehicle Cybertruck made its Asia-Pacific debut. Tesla staff at the time revealed that the Cybertruck is equipped with wireless charging technology and an automatic cleaning robotic arm, fully prepared for large-scale deployment.

Tesla previously stated that the production growth of the Cybertruck will follow an S-curve, with long-term production targets far exceeding the total of all other Tesla models.

On February 18, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) also announced that, following Tesla’s rectification of its marketing claims regarding autonomous driving features, the 30-day sales ban on the brand has been officially lifted. This means Tesla has achieved compliance by adjusting user notifications without changing the technical terminology.

X Undergoing Large-Scale Investigation

On February 17, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced on its website that it has launched a large-scale investigation into X Internet Unlimited Company (XIUC) under Article 110 of the 2018 Data Protection Act. This is the latest measure by the EU regarding deepfake pornographic images.

The investigation concerns the apparent creation and posting of “potentially harmful, non-consensual intimate and/or sexualized images” on the X platform, which involve or otherwise relate to the processing of personal data of EU/EEA data subjects (including children), and utilize generative AI features related to the Grok large language model within X.

Grok, developed by Musk’s AI company xAI, is accessible via the X platform, and responses to user requests are publicly visible for others to see.

Last month, Grok’s AI image generation and editing features allowed users to “digitally disrobe” others’ photos, dressing female bodies in revealing clothing, which sparked global condemnation. Researchers pointed out that some images appeared to involve children. Several governments have urgently banned the service or issued warnings. X subsequently introduced some restrictions on Grok, but European authorities were not satisfied.

The DPC stated that it notified X on Monday (February 16) that it would conduct an investigation under the EU’s strict data privacy regulations. The purpose is to determine whether XIUC complies with the obligations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including Articles 5 (principles relating to processing), 6 (lawfulness of processing), 25 (data protection by design and default), and 35 (data protection impact assessment).

According to regulations, since X’s European headquarters are located in Dublin, the Irish regulator is responsible for leading the enforcement of EU privacy rules. If violations are found, X could face hefty fines.

Earlier this month, French prosecutors raided X’s office in Paris and summoned Musk for questioning. Meanwhile, the UK’s data privacy and media regulator, no longer part of the EU, has also launched an investigation into the X platform.

SpaceX and xAI Reported to Participate in AI Weapon Bid

According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Musk’s SpaceX and its wholly owned subsidiary xAI are participating in a classified Pentagon competition aimed at developing voice-controlled, autonomous drone swarm technology.

The report states that these two companies, which Musk announced would merge in early February, are entering the new frontier of AI weapon development, marking another potentially controversial expansion of Musk’s business empire. While SpaceX is an established defense contractor and Musk actively promotes AI development, he has previously been an advocate against creating new tools for killing.

Sources say that in a January challenge with a prize of up to $100 million, only a few companies were selected to participate, including Musk’s firms.

This six-month competition aims to develop advanced swarm technology capable of converting voice commands into digital instructions to control multiple drones. Although multi-drone flight is already possible, creating software that can command aerial and maritime drone swarms to autonomously track targets remains a challenge. Insiders indicate that the competition will proceed in phases based on participants’ results and interests.

The Pentagon’s competition is jointly organized by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which aims to bring Silicon Valley startups into defense, and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), a new agency under the U.S. Special Operations Command established during the Biden administration. DAWG continues some aspects of the earlier “Replicator” program under Trump, which aimed to produce thousands of autonomous drones.

The project will proceed through five phases, from software development to field testing. A defense official stated in the January announcement that these drones will be used for offensive purposes, and that human-machine interaction will “directly impact the systems’ lethality and effectiveness.”

xAI’s website shows that the company has recently begun aggressive recruiting, seeking engineers from Washington or the West Coast with “secret” or “top secret” security clearances to work with federal contractors. A job posting states they are looking for software engineers with experience working on AI, software, or data projects with government agencies, the Department of Defense, or federal contractors, with hiring expected to be completed within a week.