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Faiz Siddiqui

@faizsays.bsky.social
5.7K followers 104 following 336 posts

Washington Post tech journalist writing a lot about Elon Musk, Twitter, Tesla. My book HUBRIS MAXIMUS: The Shattering of Elon Musk (St. Martin’s) is in stores NOW! How to buy: read.macmillan.com/lp/hubris-maximu…

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Reposted by Faiz Siddiqui
Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"Perhaps more concerningly, the TVs were capable of recording microphone audio when in standby; this continued even after the TV was disconnected from the internet, with audio files stored offline and uploaded once a connection was restored."
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
the fact that multiple Tesla influencers are using the Cybercab launch to criticize the working class people shuttling them to the event is a little on the nose, a real tell into how antisocial a phenomenon this is
A post from the account Tesla Owners Silicon Valley criticizing ride-hail drivers ahead of the Cybercab launch.A post from the account Teslaconomics detailing their preference for autonomous vehicles over human drivers.
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jacob galapagos @jacobgalapagos.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It’s think for yourself thursday
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
New from me: True believers in Tesla, spurned by missed deadlines, a fantastical roadmap & his occupation with SpaceX, are starting to question their faith in Elon Musk. "Tesla investors are confused, and some feel betrayed." wapo.st/3Sjx1eO
wapo.st
Tesla’s true believers are starting to question their faith in Elon Musk
As Musk turns his focus to other ventures such as SpaceX, some of his biggest backers are wondering whether his car company has become an afterthought.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
NEW: DOGE overstated its "savings" by taking credit for lease cancellations initiated before it existed, cited elimination of billions in contracts that weren't actually terminated and populated its website with claims of cuts that couldn't be verified, yearlong GAO audit finds wapo.st/3TGeMAy
wapo.st
Elon Musk’s DOGE made big errors in claims of government savings, GAO finds
The government watchdog found that billions of dollars in DOGE’s public tally could not be verified and that some claimed cuts never happened.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
SpaceX ends the day down more than 13%. What’s been behind its stock challenges post-IPO? A combo of an “extremely high initial valuation, concern” about “AI [capital spending] … moving much faster than monetization and … upcoming lockup expirations,” where ppl can dump shares. wapo.st/4g8XrZL
wapo.st
SpaceX posts loss of $541 million in first report since record-setting IPO
The company’s stock had jumped by more than 10 percent before the announcement, among the first positive signs after weeks of decline.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
SpaceX fell below $115 in after-hours trading, putting it close to 50% off its all-time high. It happened after Elon Musk's other publicly traded company, Tesla, reported a year-over-year decline in profits, sending its own stock plummeting.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
It fell below $126 in after-hours trading, around $100 less than the all-time high set on June 16. SpaceX has lost more than 44 percent of its value in just a month.
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Rachel Lerman @rachellerman.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
I'm on a new beat at The Post, writing about consumer economics. To start us off! I wrote about the massive Boomer wealth that's about to get passed down, and how it will make our wealth gap even more extreme. Gift link: wapo.st/4y9yCUD
wapo.st
Boomers’ massive wealth will mostly be passed down to people who are already rich
Often called the Great Wealth Transfer, the inheritances are expected to be the largest passage of generational wealth in history.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
“If you let takers vote, they will not only take more and more, they will make it more and more rewarding to be a taker...” Newly minted trillionaire Elon Musk:
Elon Musk responding “I have wised up” to the post above.A Washington Post investigation that found Musk’s empire was built with tens of billions in government money.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
My new book intro addresses what Elon Musk has been posting about relentlessly over the past several days: the dismantling of USAID. I wrote it in January 2026 and had no idea Musk would be on a tirade about the cuts the same week it published. I hope you'll read it in full.
The author's note for Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk, written in January 2026."It's hard to imagine a more dramatic juxtaposition: despair on one end, dividends on another.""Now more than ever, in the shadow of DOGE, his impact on millions of real human lives is undeniable. And indelible."
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
🚨 My book Hubris Maximus is out in paperback TODAY with a new intro that delves into Elon Musk’s tear through Washington and the indelible stain on his life’s work that has resulted from wanton cuts to lifesaving aid. Pick up a copy wherever you get your books: us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
The cover of the paperback edition for Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk, by the author of this post, which hits bookstore shelves today
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
SpaceX’s orbital data center plans are about as thought out as Elon Musk’s Boring Co. Take an existing problem and move it somewhere else. (Traffic: underground. Data centers: space). And the Mars colony? “[If] anyone else said it, they would probably have him institutionalized.” wapo.st/43Knxvm
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SpaceX’s plan: Put all the data centers in space, then profit
Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire was only the beginning. SpaceX has soared into the orbit of tech juggernauts with a fleet of fantastical plans.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
New: Trump changed the requirements to allow Musk's Starlink to win subsidies for rural internet. Now it's boxing out competition that customers hoped would emerge. "They’re monopolizing the market and calling it doing us a favor," @ahlmanfornebraska.bsky.social tells me. wapo.st/3Si4g1z
wapo.st
Musk’s Starlink hooked rural customers. Then came the price increases.
The billionaire’s satellite internet service is a lifeline to many, but some users who face price hikes say Starlink has amassed too much power.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
If Elon Musk was really serious about his proposal for "universal high income," @scottsantens.com tells me, he could start funding it right now. But he isn't doing that, and in fact is spending his time complaining about the mechanism economists see for achieving it: taxation. wapo.st/4uYjCGE
wapo.st
AI leaders see mass job loss coming. They want government’s help solving it.
Elon Musk, Dario Amodei and other tech leaders back public benefits as AI threatens jobs. But critics question whether billionaires would support the massive redistribution needed to fund an AI welfar...
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
NEW: SpaceX, on the verge of record-setting IPO, has posted $13 billion of losses since 2023. "The financial success of the business named and founded for operations in rocketry and space is now a huge bet on AI," which it says has a $26.5 trillion market, nearly the whole U.S. GDP wapo.st/4uH2mGp
wapo.st
Elon Musk’s SpaceX discloses massive losses ahead of record-breaking IPO
SpaceX, a leader in rocket launches, lost billions of dollars in recent years after a merger with Musk's artificial intelligence venture, xAI.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
SpaceX financial performance by year: 2023: ~$4.6B loss 2024: $791M profit 2025: ~$4.9B loss 2026 (through March): ~$4.3B loss this is on track to the biggest IPO in history
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
SpaceX believes it has a $28.5 trillion total addressable market (the U.S. GDP is about $32 trillion)
A chart depicting SpaceX's estimate of its total addressable market
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
SpaceX prospectus is out www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
sec.gov
Space Exploration Technologies - S-1
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zach mcauliffe @mcauliffewithaz.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
might i suggest this thing i wrote :D www.cnet.com/home/electri...
cnet.com
Is Tesla's Cybertruck a Truck or Boat? Elon Musk Claims Both
Musk makes an intriguing claim about the upcoming Cybertruck.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
"Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat"
An Elon Musk post reading: "Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat," claiming it could cross lakes
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
A little-noticed X account in India was struggling to reach 100 followers when it announced: "Sit tight and have a view while I am working my way up the ladder." Two years later, it's the account Elon Musk interacts with the most. It lavishes praise on Musk and spreads his ideas. wapo.st/4nqjRYk
A Washington Post story detailing the rise of the XFreeze account and how Elon Musk's interest in the user's content propelled them to a massive degree of influence.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
New: The top X account Elon Musk has interacted with in 2026 is an anonymous user The Post traced to India who spends his days lavishing praise on Musk, spreading his ideas & interests and attacking his enemies. It's a case study in X's skewed incentive structures. wapo.st/4nqjRYk
wapo.st
Elon Musk’s anonymous online BFF spreads his ideas and attacks his enemies
The Tesla CEO regularly amplifies a fan account called XFreeze that sings his praises and criticizes opponents in his lawsuit against OpenAI.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I’m so honored to have been part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for our coverage of DOGE and the transformation of the government. Delayed in posting this because I spent most of yesterday stunned by the news. Incredible, inspiring group of colleagues.
The Pulitzer Prize in Public Service, awarded to The Washington Post “For piercing the veil of secrecy around the Trump administration's chaotic overhaul of federal agencies and chronicling in rich detail the human impacts of the cuts and the consequences for the country.”The Washington Post story on the news: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/05/04/post-pulitzer-prize-public-service/
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
folks, it's been a year since I looked extremely comfortable, normal and right at home going on national television to discuss my work -- pre-order the paperback of the book that led to this today!! thank you us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Me about to sit down for an interview on Laura Coates Live to discuss Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk.A zoomed in version of the same picture where, again, I look like I'm doing just fine
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Elon Musk has posted 850 times on race — touting whites’ role in eliminating slavery, rallying white people to stand up for their race, for example — over seven months. Two experts say his positions are “standard … white supremacy.” He’s on the verge of the biggest IPO in history. wapo.st/4mRC7d5
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Elon Musk’s near-daily online posts about race are turning off some fans
Elon Musk posted almost daily about race on X in recent months, a Washington Post analysis found, at times sharing views experts said echoed white supremacy.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Elon Musk: "Unfortunately Hardware 3 simply does not have the capability to achieve unsupervised FSD." Says Tesla will offer a discounted trade-ins for more capable cars Big disappointment for Tesla owners who were sold the idea that their cars would one day become sentient and self-driving
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
My book Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk published a year ago today. Barnes & Noble called it a best book of 2025 & Kirkus called it an essential new book challenging big tech. PW cited its "meticulous reportage." Now you can pre-order the paperback: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hubris-max...
The cover of Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk, depicting Musk as a golden bust with fault lines running through it. "This gripping book exposes the cost of power without accountability in a world that idolizes innovation."
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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 21/04/2026
this pattern of mysterious Tesla data logging dysfunctions goes back to 2016 and the very first allegations of Autopilot's culpability in fata crashes, and continues through last summer's massive $243m court judgement against the automaker pre-order the book now! benbellabooks.com/shop/elon-ta...
benbellabooks.com
Elon Take the Wheel - BenBella Books
Timely, thought-provoking, and rigorously sourced, Elon Take the Wheel invites readers to reconsider what automated driving promises, what it obscures, and what it means for the future of mobility.
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Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 15/04/2026
extremely normal economy
Shoe company Allbirds, which sold last week for $39M after its valuation fell from $4B+ in 2021, says it aims to become an AI compute provider; BIRD jumps 800%+
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Krzysztof Jarząb @jarzab.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
@faizsays.bsky.social - "Pycha absolutna" (tłum. Piotr Grzegorzewski). Biografia amerykańskiego oligarchy, który zabił Twittera, pomógł w reelekcji Trumpa i od kilku lat przyczynia się do wrzenia świata. Samozwańczy zbawca ludzkości, który próbuje nas zniewolić technologicznie. #readlist2026pl
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The physical AI “boom” is all about an untapped market: replacing human jobs. Billionaires put an “abundance” spin on it but everyone agrees the replacement of human workers is what this leads to. As AI sweeps in, “There’s going to be continuous job loss.” wapo.st/4uTiDIr
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Musk has a plan to make human labor obsolete. Billionaires are joining in.
Tech elites have seized on humanoid robots to transform manual labor and other fields left out of the AI boom, an area called “physical AI.”
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Grok turned yearbook and homecoming photos into child sexual abuse images, lawsuit alleges wapo.st/4uwe5aT
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Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors
Three teenage plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday accuse xAI of distributing, possessing and producing with intent to distribute child pornography.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
NEW: Three teens allege xAI and Grok were used to generate nude underage images. Photos from homecoming, yearbook, beach outings were turned into CSAM and distributed on Discord and Telegram + some were bartered for other child abuse imagery, a lawsuit alleges. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
washingtonpost.com
Teens allege Musk’s Grok chatbot made sexual images of them as minors
Three teenaged plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday accuse xAI of distribution, possession and production with intent to distribute child pornography.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Elon Musk emailed Jeffrey Epstein on consecutive Christmases 2012: "Do you have any parties planned? ... I really want to ... let loose." 2013: "When should we head to your island on the 2nd?" My piece looking at his fraught effort to position himself as a voice for victims now wapo.st/4b9kYWV
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Musk asked Epstein for ‘the wildest party.’ Now he claims to stand up for victims.
The billionaire Tesla CEO has called for accountability for figures named in the Epstein files — despite appearing in them himself.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
not that we have AGI but this guy may have been onto something
A 2024 Elon Musk post predicting that "Governments will attempt to seize power over AGI"
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Apropos of nothing, remembering the time a government made direct demands of a powerful “free speech”-oriented Elon Musk company, which faced the risk of being shut down there, and he blinked
An Elon Musk post reading: “The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?”Elon Musk’s response to a post saying he complied after the Turkish government “asked Twitter to censor its opponents right before an election”
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Elon Musk on Forbes when it covered Tesla's plummeting stock: dying, desperate for attention Elon Musk when Forbes named him America's greatest innovator: thank you Forbes, very cool
A 2024 Elon Musk X Post reading: "Forbes is desperate for attention as they are dying."Musk's response to being named America's greatest innovator by Forbes: "Cool." His brother added, "Congrats bro!"
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Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
It’s Elon 3.0 time. Robots, mergers and Epstein, oh my. With @faizsays.bsky.social slate.com/podcasts/wha...
slate.com
Elon 3.0
Does Elon have a plan for this?
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
This story, shared here four hours ago, was written with the inimitable and utterly irreplaceable @nitasha.bsky.social who was laid off yesterday, the same day our piece ran on the front page of the newspaper. Hard to fathom.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
What happened at the Post today is simply devastating -- deep and hard-won trust and sourcing, mountains of expertise and a combined centuries' worth of institutional knowledge gone up in an instant. It's a collective loss but please consider donating to support those who've had their lives upended:
gofundme.com
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
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nitasha tiku @nitasha.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
"Make it more 'based.'": How Elon Musk's bet turned Grok into a porn generator. Workers got waivers asking them to work w/ sexual content, Musk started sleeping at xAI, job candidates were screened for comfort w/ NSFW material, red flags went ignored. Grok surged — at a massive cost wapo.st/45DcMMI
wapo.st
Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator
Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.
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Michelle Boorstein @michelleboorstein.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Insane @washingtonpost.com reporting: Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened its guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern. washingtonpost.com/technology/2... 2/3
washingtonpost.com
Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator
Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
NEW: Inside Elon Musk's push to hook Grok users by leaning into NSFW content. Workers were told they'd be working with sexual material, were advised to gauge job candidates' comfort with doing so. Soon they were training Grok on lewd conversations & depictions of sexual violence wapo.st/45DcMMI
wapo.st
Inside Musk’s bet to hook users that turned Grok into a porn generator
Under pressure to boost its popularity, Elon Musk’s xAI loosened guardrails and relaxed controls on sexual content, setting off internal concern.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Elon Musk's full comment on the Epstein files release, just posted on X:
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Elon Musk, September 2025: “Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED”
Elon Musk’s September 2025 X post including the statement: “Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED”
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Tesla ending the Model S and Model X takes it away from its roots as a car company. Models 3 and Y revenues underpin so many of its autonomous and robotics bets, so of course those aren't going anywhere. Musk says it's "slightly sad" but time to shift wapo.st/3LYTef1
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Breaking: Tesla is ending production of the Model S, the vehicle that vaulted it to the mainstream and won Motor Trend "Car of the Year" honors, along with the Model X, Elon Musk announces. It is shifting those production lines to make Optimus robots, Musk says.
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Faiz Siddiqui @faizsays.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Barclays in an analyst report this week: Tesla's "Fundamentals remain challenged. ... Yet for now we expect Tesla stock to remain detached from fundamentals."
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