Elon Musk says remote work is morally wrong – 05/17/2023 – Tech

Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and Twitter, has harshly criticized the remote work model.

“They want everyone to go to work, factory workers, restaurant chefs, to deliver food to them, but they don’t! It’s absurd!” The statements were made in an interview this Tuesday (16) broadcast by the American network CNBC, after the general meeting of Tesla shareholders.

Musk called these workers’ actions “morally wrong” and harmful to productivity and said he only takes two or three days of vacation a year.

In June 2022, Tesla’s CEO had already asked employees to return to the office or leave the company. “Anyone who wants to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean minimum) 40 hours a week or leave Tesla,” he said at the time.

The billionaire also defended his decisions ahead of Twitter in the interview and reported that he will soon spend more time driving Tesla, promising new fully autonomous cars by next year.

“I’m going to say what I want, and if the consequence of this is losing money, so be it”, he declared, in response to a question posed by presenter David Faber, who had asked him why he tweeted such virulent and provocative messages, as those of previous night, when he accused Jewish investor and philanthropist George Soros of “hating humanity”.

Since Musk bought Twitter last year, several advertisers have left the platform, which has relaxed the moderation of problematic content and allowed the return of banned figures, such as former President Donald Trump.

The millionaire also defended the mass layoffs on Twitter, necessary, according to him, to “reach balance”.

Musk recently named Linda Yaccarino, a US media and advertising figure, CEO of Twitter. The millionaire will continue to be responsible for the technology of the social network, but he intends, above all, to dedicate more time to Tesla, in particular to the development of AI (artificial intelligence) in electric vehicles.

“I believe Tesla will have a ChatGPT moment. I would say next year at the latest,” Musk declared, referring to the AI ​​program adopted by millions of people around the world.

“Suddenly, three million cars are going to drive themselves, with no one” behind the wheel, he said, thanks to AI and a simple remote update of the on-board computer.