WEBVTT - Trump Targets Musk’s US Contracts, Subsidies as Feud Grows 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:07.040 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:13.240 This is Bloomberg business Week, Daily reporting from the magazine 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:17.880 that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:22.800 and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus global business finance 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:26.520 and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Weekdaily 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:31.760 Podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:33.599 All right, we've got a really great guest. We want 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.600 to get right to. Marja Sparrange is with us. He's, 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.479 of course, head of the sixteen billion dollar marketcap automaker. 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.720 We're talking about Rivian. We talk about this company all 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:43.960 the time with us at Bloomberg Tech sumit here in 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.080 San Francisco, and we have Ed Ludlow, a member of 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:51.519 our team cost of Bloomberg Technology, who knows this company 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:53.479 so well. Hey, one thing I want to start with 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:57.160 Rja is there's a lot going on today. The bromance 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.200 in the White House between Elon and Donald Trump. It 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:01.320 seems like it's over. 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:03.520 And it's not going well. 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.160 So I'm just curious have you been able to kind 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.920 of win market share or anything as a result of 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.720 kind of Elon's position at doge and and I'm just 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:15.520 curious how it might play out here. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:18.959 Yeah, I mean I think I can testimony. 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.120 Yeah, I think in general it's the thing has been 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:26.160 surprising is just how politicize a lot of things have become, 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.839 so electric vehicles become politicized. Specific brands within the electric 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.600 vehicles paced to politicized. And so what we've tried to 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.920 do as a brand, really really focused on is to 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.839 focus on what we stand for, the products, the ratchcotes 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.360 and and you know, there's a famous Michael Jordan quote 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.320 which is we have Republicans, you know, he said Republicans 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.640 and Democrats both by Nikes. And it's the same thing 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:49.240 with Rivian. So I'll go to Rivian events. I was 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.600 just in New York yesterday, and yeah, there's it's such 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:57.080 a beautiful mix of backgrounds, perspectives, cultures that are drawn 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.400 to what we're building as a brand. Right and we're 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.440 about to launch what we call it Hard Too, which 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.000 the lower price vehicle starts at forty five thousand dollars, 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.560 and that product will even you know, you can broaden 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:08.519 the aperture even more. 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.040 And so I think, well, Kars asking is if there's 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:14.520 net positive effect for you from this environment on sales. 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:18.440 I think that's what she was asking. 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:21.040 I think you will benefiting from this environment. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.720 Test some movement. Have you benefited from it? 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.000 I think there are a lot of customers that are 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:27.639 looking for brand that they want to connect with, so 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:28.800 that we're seeing that for sure. 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.760 Sort of on that Thinking about the politics of this 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.079 rare earth, I mean, you and the team have been 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.600 really clear that you've been working to educate the Trump 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.799 administration when it comes to the complexity throround processing rare 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.840 earth here in the US. We did hear from the 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.640 President earlier today after a call with President Chiji and Pang. 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:47.600 He said there should no longer be any questions respecting 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.880 the complexity of rare Earth's products. Are you still concerned 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:52.680 about accessibility to rare earth? 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.680 Well, first, I'd say I appreciate that the administration recognizes 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.120 this is an issue that's important, and I think that 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:01.240 we've done a lot of work and spent a lot 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:05.000 of time with with administration on this topic. I think 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:10.400 this is perhaps one of the biggest topics surrounding, you know, 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:14.000 the trade tensions with China. It's it's well, it's well 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.679 documented that a vast majority of the world's processing for 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:22.079 these rare metals happens in China. So this is something 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:23.840 that you know, we're going to continue to be very 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.520 focused on, continue to have concerns about until we. 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:28.600 Start to see it really move. What's your backup n. 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:32.840 Which we have many backup playing you can't get access 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.240 to these rarer ifs for some reason ro an extended 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.360 period of time, which are essential in making evs and batteries. 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:38.880 What do you do? 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:41.200 So what we've we've done, we've spent time on over 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:45.240 the last several months, is to build alternative supply chains. 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.960 But they're not they're not elegant because they're not set 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.000 up for scale, and and and a lot of people 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.560 beyond us are also trying to build these alternative supply chains. 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:58.720 So I think, you know, the hope is that in 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.839 the short to medium term we see this open back up, 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:04.880 and I think in the long term we're probably going 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.880 to see both investment into building earth capacity outside of 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.560 China and then innovation to remove. 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:11.640 Rare earths from products. 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.120 You know, so if you take in an electric vehicle, 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.720 the reason this is so important is the motors use 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:20.400 permanent magnets and then permanent magnets have earth metals, you know, 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.000 things like dysprosium and all those things on the periodic 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:28.159 table that you forget area. Yeah, but those those earth 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.440 metals are needed in the magnets. But you can create 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.839 electro magnet to power the rotor. You know, the rotors 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:35.480 is spinning part of the motor. But then you've got 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.080 to get powered to the rotors so that you can 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:38.920 do it with a brush. You could do it with induction. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.160 So it's a more complex motor product, but it does 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.440 remove the complexity of global trade. 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:44.799 Around the area. 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.240 Is that a little time away, Yeah, it's. 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.600 Not gonna it's you can't flip your design over overnight. 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:52.160 But I would say I think a lot of the 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.039 auto industry is going to start finding innovative ways that 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.919 are perhaps maybe a little more expensive, that reduce the 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:00.000 reliance on people. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:01.599 Wonder how nimble you are there, Like, do you remember 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.560 when we first met seven years ago with respect your 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:08.039 suppliers really wouldn't engage with you because of scale. So 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.400 if you have had to pivot a little bit because 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.640 of policy, particularly for planning for our two, have you 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.320 been able to a get your expires to listen to 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:21.760 you and be effect to change what's changed. 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:24.760 I mean, yeah, we've talked about the slide. I mean, 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.080 our relationship with suppliers, a leverage we have with those 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:30.960 supliers is so much stronger today with our two and 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.159 what's to come than what we had, you know, in 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.200 twenty nineteen or twenty twenty, even twenty eighteen. But I'd 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.280 say the thing that's really helpful for us in our too. 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.599 So it's not as if this is a surprise we saw, 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.599 you know, if you're going into summer of last year, 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:49.760 we saw some of these tensions already rising between the 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.160 United States and China, and that was as we were 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:56.080 planning for and sourcing our two. So we contemplated and 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.720 in many ways anticipated a lot of these situations right 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.040 now with in terms of tariffs, in terms of trade 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:02.960 restriction is happening. 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.920 So in the medium to long term, it's we're pretty 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:07.480 well covered. 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.120 In the short to medium term, you know, if things 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.920 get shut off, that's really challenging. And so that's where 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.279 I think the rare challenge is that if if this 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.120 this happens where it's off, it just creates a lot 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.159 of pressure on a very thin non China supply chain. 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.520 I still think there's a lot of interest in Rivian. 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.400 What I hear is there's also a lot of interest 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:29.039 in also your your micro mobility spin off. Would you 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.760 consider it kind of de risking yourselves a little bit 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.120 by allowing outside investors to write you a check into 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.520 that venture and then get you some capital, or de 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:40.359 risk your own balance sheet in that respect. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:47.039 So we spun this micromability uh portion of Rivian out 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.560 and we actually raised outside capitals. We brought okay, we 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.520 brought one hundred and five million dollars in at the 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:51.919 start of the. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.640 Year, which is from a clips which is from a Clipse. 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:58.400 Exactly right, and so it's now independently financed from Ribbon 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.400 and it's you know, it's a really exciting set of products. 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:02.920 We're to show those products in the fall. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.040 But we'd the venture to look at even further outside 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:06.560 happy toil to get going a little bit. 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.440 We could, yeah, we could, but we're really happy with 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.280 where it is. It's it's it's exciting to build a 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.120 new business with the strength of all the Rivian technologies. 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.920 That is starting right, I say thirty seconds at the 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.280 end to wrap up our So with everything that's going 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.360 on from the administration kind of push back. It feels 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:24.800 like it gets alternative energy and ebs. Do you think 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.760 it's a real setback or things will keep moving and 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:29.240 forgive me, it's just about thirty. 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:33.920 S thirty seconds, all right, go Look, I think I 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:35.840 think there's a lot of noise in the short term, 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.560 but the end state is still really clear. The world's 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:43.400 going to electrify, We're going to move towards sustainable, carbon 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:48.000 neutral transportation, and the countries and the businesses that focus 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:49.360 on the future of state are the ones that are 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:51.960 going to be participants in the long term. And so 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.760 you know, we talk about this often with demonstration, which 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:58.520 is the importance of US companies having technical leadership, production 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.680 capacity around these these these and make sure we're there. 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.640 You did it, Thurdy, Thank you so much. Great way 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.480 for us to wrap up this hour. Urgie Scars, thank 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.680 you of course at Rivian and of course our Ed Ludlow. 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:12.240 You are listening to the Bloomberg Business Weekdaily Podcast. Catch 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:15.560 us live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.200 Listen on Apple CarPlay and the Android Auto with the 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.120 Bloomberg Business app, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.600 All right, folks got to say that one of the 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.640 things we are talking about a lot today is kind 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.000 of the back and forth that's going on between President 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.720 Trump and Elon Musk. It's a battle on social media, 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.160 and I will just say it's almost hard to keep 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.480 up with the amount of tweets that are going back 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.000 and forth. What we do know, and what we know 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.079 the Bloomberg universe cares about is that Tesla shares are 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:47.200 now down about sixteen percent. Now, one of the key 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.679 things is the President has basically said one of the 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.240 ways to save money is cut back on the contracts 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:54.880 that are given to all of the entities that are 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.760 within the Elon Musk universe. I will say, here's one 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.600 tweet Elon Musk saying, ask you, is it time to 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.360 create a new political party in America that actually represents 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:04.600 the eighty percent in the middle? 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:05.360 Yes or no? 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:07.680 So he's putting out a little poll. There's a lot 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:09.600 of back and forth, and you could certainly find it 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:11.640 on the Bloomberg. We wanted to get to our own 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:13.880 ed Ludlow to talk a little bit about kind of 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.640 this back and forth of two that seems so intertwined 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.640 and so getting along. Yeah, and all of a sudden, 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:20.720 it feels very different. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.360 So I think for me, there was this realization over 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.439 the weekend that Jared Eisagman wasn't going to be running 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.600 NASAU and to a lot of people, and you reported on. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.160 This a lot over the last few months, to a 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:32.480 lot of. 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.679 People in the industry in Silicon Valley but also who 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:37.920 are in the space industry, said this is a really 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:38.720 good nomination. 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:40.199 Yeah, regardless of. 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.360 What his history has been, he knows what to do 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.040 when it comes to space. He's been to space, he 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:46.720 has a relationship with Elon, he has relationship with SpaceX. 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.840 He knows this, he knows the industry. 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:50.440 Makes sense. 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.599 It was pulled over the weekend. Yeah, was at the 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:53.600 beginning of the end of porlation. 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.720 I think we should go through all of Elon's public 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.600 and private companies and explain why this is happening and 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.920 why is having so quickly. But Yeah, what we were 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.880 told by sources is that Sergio Gore, an official within 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.319 the White House, waited until musk Stage tenure had ended. 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.800 What has happened in the last few hours is the 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.840 President has said that Musk left DOGE because he was 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:16.360 asked by the President to leave. 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:18.960 I'm tallying all of this. We wait time. 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.880 He had to leave at a certain point because the 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.520 designation as a special government, which. 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.520 Is kepped at a certain number of days. Anyway, but 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.920 we're just going off what is said publically by the 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:33.440 President of the United States when Musk left Doge Sergio Gore. 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.160 This official, as our sources explained to us and others 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:40.080 within the White House basically who are not fans of 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:43.400 Elon Musk, saw Jared Isaacman as being closely associated with 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.360 Elon Musk, we can get into that, and moved to 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:47.840 influence the President. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:48.880 To cancel that nomination. 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:53.400 The White House is officially saying that and citing Jared 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:57.800 Isaacman's historic affiliation with the Democratic Party as well as 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:02.240 donations to him. Right, that's a SpaceX relationship we're talking about. 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.000 And we should note that there have been other people 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:06.760 within the Trump administration, and indeed President Trump himself who 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:09.520 in the past has donated the Democrats as well. Sure, 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:11.600 he talked about that when he ran for president. 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.520 Jarediseman went to space twice. He funded those activities himself, 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.480 but through a financial transaction with SpaceX. 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.680 We should talk about Tesla, which is the public. 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:25.240 Proxy for what's happening. What you need to know is 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:30.880 that SpaceX since the year two thousand, Tesla is down 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:32.480 and I think at one point the session was down 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.120 eighteen percent, on track for his biggest drop intra day 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:36.040 in four years. 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.880 Like that serious stuff. SpaceX and Tesla over the last twenty. 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.719 Five years have had about twenty five billion dollars in 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:47.920 government subsidies, grant contracts, including in SpaceX's contexts with the 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:49.800 defense apparatus of this country. 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:51.200 And what the President has. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:52.599 Said, I've got the quote, if you allow me to 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.440 pull it on, is the easiest way to save money 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:57.960 in our budget, billions and billions of dollars, is to 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.040 terminate Elong's governmental sub that he's in contracts. 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.600 I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it. 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.040 Well, and on the question to you, maybe Biden didn't 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.439 do it because SpaceX was the only game out there. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.000 SpaceX is the only game out there commercially in so 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.280 far as it dominates the vast majority of payload human 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:16.880 and non human from Earth into space. And I go 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.280 back to the point that it is not just grants 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.680 that NASA issues for development, but contracts with the defense 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:24.079 apparatus of this country. 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:25.920 Could point your backs. Rocket Lab step in right now. 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:27.360 Is it an opportunity? 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:32.280 Honestly, they are increasing the cadence of their launch. But 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.360 the point is is that when you are a contractor 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:40.680 that serves the government, there are regulatory and contractual baselines, 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.280 itar rules, all of these things you have to satisfy. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.720 Elon as you guys, you and I have talked about 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:47.880 this over many years. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.160 He has security clearance as part of his role as 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.040 the chief executive officer of SpaceX. 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:54.520 This is so fast moving. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.319 All I'm doing is summarizing what the President is said today, 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.960 which is the reason Testa's down is a the association 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:03.839 there is now a negative association of Elon Musk with 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.680 the president. Previously that relationship supported the stop. In the 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:11.160 private company's context, the President is saying that he's going 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:13.760 to rip up the contracts that company has with America. 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.680 This is what's happening in real time. Sorry, no, I 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:17.280 think you know. 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.040 It's just amazing kind of how the narrative that the relationship. 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.560 Thinking that it would be good for EVS right initially, 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.120 and it would be good potentially for everything that Elon touches, 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:27.840 and we're seeing it's not necessarily played. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.680 So I reported last Fridays that Elon Musk and some 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.800 of his staff have themselves been phoning lawmakers in this 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.040 country to lobby on the passage of two pieces of 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.960 legislation that are going through Congress on autonomous driving, to 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:46.160 have language and content that those bills helped Tesla with 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:46.880 its longer. 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:47.880 Term ambition. 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.240 To have a future where they have a robataxi service. 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:53.720 This is also happening in the background. 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:56.079 Look, it's a little bit of a political question ed, 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:57.880 but bear with me because there's a connection to Silicon 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.480 Valley here. Elon Musk in the months leading into up 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:03.520 to the election was really able to gather support of 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:08.760 a lot of folks who traditionally supported Democrats, some folks. 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.400 Such as Musk, previously supports exactly. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.680 So you know markin Dresen, for example, who's been pro 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:20.080 Trump lately, David Sachs, who serves as AI, and cryptos 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.160 are there's a splintering happening right here, and I'm wondering 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.720 if there aren't going to be repercussions that go beyond 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.600 Elon Musk and start to affect a different contingency. 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.280 I believe that also in the last twelve hours. At 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.320 some point, Elon Musk has also posted that he was 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:36.200 very helpful to the president. 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:36.560 In the campaign. 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:41.680 Oh yeah, in getting that non traditional Trump base to 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.479 vote for the president said, I'm just saying. 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:49.200 You know, mus No, you're right. He absolutely said this 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.320 in the last few hours. Trump wouldn't have won without me. 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.600 And he also said that Democrats would have controlled the 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.400 Senate if he didn't get behind Republicans. I guess we're 0:14:58.400 --> 0:14:59.880 really seeing the power in how this place. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.280 Yeah, and look to Elon Musk's credit, he has been 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.880 consistent in saying I cannot influence the president on policy. 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:09.720 So let's take for example, tariffs. 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.480 Elon Musk was pretty clear on the last earning school 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.200 he does not believe in the level of tariffs at 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.880 the Trump with ministration at that time we're trying to 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.320 put in place because of course, if you're an auto 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.560 maker and you're moving products across borders in that subject 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.840 to tariffs, that's not good for your top nor bottom line. 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.080 But he has said that I don't agree with the 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:30.840 president on everything. What has changed. 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.360 If you're listening to this program and tuning in for 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.800 the first time, there are posts on social media in 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.760 both directions where the President of the United States, his 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:43.320 relationship with Elon Musk has rapidly deteriorated in a matter 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:43.720 of hours. 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.560 Start now down just under fourteen just twenty second. 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:48.640 To get in trouble with TV are going to. 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:50.240 Yeah, there's put more pressure on Elon. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.200 Of course, it puts more pressure on Elon because Elon 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.760 is the CEO of a public company, in several private 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.400 companies that lead fields in America, in the world. 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.560 Yeah, all right, there go go, Thank you. 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:02.400 For all of us. 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.400 He's in demand. He's in demand. Our at Ludlow of course, 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:07.000 co host of Bloomberg Technology. 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:12.400 This is the Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast. Listen live 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.400 each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on Apple car 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.320 Play and the Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.160 You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.920 flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa played Bloomberg eleven 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.560 thirty robots. 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.080 And warehouses doing repetitive tasks that humans now do, but 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.240 doing them better and not getting injured. 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:32.680 Carold. 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:34.920 It sounds like the stuff of the future, but Agility 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.680 Robotics is one of the few companies that's doing this 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:38.320 right now. 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:39.800 Yeah, they really are. 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:40.440 Check us out. 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.760 It's got five foot nine inch robots working at a 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.720 warehouse containing products made by spanks, has technology and testing 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.960 at Amazon dot Com facilities, and that really makes Agility 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.960 really one of the few humanoid bought companies with machines 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:56.160 currently performing useful task for customers. If you are wondering 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.200 if it's happening, folks, it's happening. 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.720 Heyst the former CEO of be ong Men Reality Tech 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.000 for Magically if she's senior roles at Microsoft in the 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.119 Qualcom She joins us here in San Francisco at the 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:06.320 Bloomberg Tech Summit. 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:06.800 Welcome. 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.920 It's been reported that companies are testing digit you're humanoid robot. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:12.040 It's what we're talking about. 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.320 When will it go beyond testing though to actually scale? 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:16.480 Apparently they're only. 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.159 About one hundred of these that are out in the 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:18.880 field right now. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:20.800 Well, we have gone beyond testing. 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.600 We are actually commercially deployed as of one year ago 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:28.440 today actually in GXO facilities, which is a third party 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.440 logistics provider who sends spanks out. 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.680 You don't, mister Jacobs, Well, at this point we do. 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:35.120 We do. 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.320 So how many are out there in the field. 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.440 Right now, there's a handful of them, but they're getting 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:44.600 ready to more hundred oh total. We only have about 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:49.240 one hundred out in the field that the company has made, 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.439 but at GXO we have a handful of those, but 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.560 they're looking at next steps on how to scale that 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:55.680 beyond that facility. 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:57.639 Peggy, is it all about logistics at least for the 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:00.960 beginning and for a long time, Like, I'm just curious 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:01.879 how this explodes. 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:04.359 Yeah, that was the right entry point for a couple 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:08.080 of reasons. One is the robot is capable of doing 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:08.480 that today. 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:09.600 It was made for work. 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.879 It can pick up heavy containers even if things are 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.840 rolling around in it and still be stable and set 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:17.520 it down. It can move things from A to B 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.080