2 days ago
Tesla takes hit as Musk launches third party
The Big Story
Tesla's stock tumbled nearly 7 percent Monday after Elon Musk launched a third party and received an icy response from President Trump.
© Aaron Favila, Associated Press
The tech billionaire announced Saturday he officially formed the America Party, a third party meant to challenge Republicans and Democrats, after weeks of floating the idea amid a feud with the president.
Musk launched a page for the America Party on his social platform X after polling his followers about their interest in a third party.
'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it,' he wrote. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.'
The move drew a swift rebuke from Trump, who said he was 'saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,'' suggesting his onetime ally had become a 'TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.'
'He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States – The System seems not designed for them,' Trump wrote in a post Sunday afternoon.
'The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds!' he added.
The pair reignited their feud last week, as Congress passed Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill. Musk's opposition to the bill sparked a massive public blowout between the two last month, shortly after the Tesla CEO left the White House.
The latest tiff between Trump and Musk comes after a tough six months for Tesla, following the tech billionaire's controversial work on the Department of Government Efficiency.
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Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, I'm Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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Essential Reads
How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
What to know about Elon Musk's 'America Party'
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has set out on the unlikely task of forming his own political party, which he has dubbed the 'America Party,' amid his frayed relationship with President Trump and the GOP. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,' Musk wrote Saturday on the social platform X, which he owns. 'Today, the America Party …
Musk tweaks Trump with Jeffrey Epstein post
Tech billionaire Elon Musk trolled President Trump early Monday with a post knocking the administration for making no arrests related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Musk, Trump's former ally-turned-foe, posted an image to his social platform X of 'The Official Jeffrey Epstein Pedophile Arrest Counter,' set to '0000.' 'What's the time? Oh look, it's no-one-has-been-arrested-o'clock again …,' Musk captioned the photo. …
Anthropic proposes transparency framework for frontier AI models
The artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic laid out a 'targeted' framework on Monday, proposing a series of transparency rules for the development of frontier AI models. The framework seeks to establish 'clear disclosure requirements for safety practices' while remaining 'lightweight and flexible,' the company underscored in a news release. 'AI is advancing rapidly,' it wrote. 'While industry, …
Blackout risks rising as AI, reindustrialization push strain grid
The Trump administration warned Monday that the risk of blackouts could be 100 times greater by the end of the decade, as the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and the push to reshore manufacturing strain the electrical grid. In a new report, the Department of Energy noted that 104 gigawatts of power capacity are set to be retired by 2030. Even if the U.S. brings online 209 gigawatts within the …
The Refresh
News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
Crypto Corner
Stand with Crypto leads push to pass CLARITY Act
Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
Stand with Crypto, a crypto advocacy group, is leading the charge to pass legislation delineating regulatory rules of the road for the industry.
The nonprofit, which was launched with funding from the crypto exchange Coinbase in 2023, delivered letters to House lawmakers Monday urging them to support the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
'We are approaching a pivotal crossroads,' Stand with Crypto wrote in the letter, signed by 65 crypto organizations.
'There are already signs of U.S. crypto leadership slipping,' they added. 'We cannot afford to let inaction and uncertainty jeopardize our ability to secure America's economic future.'
'Above all else the U.S. crypto industry needs market structure — which ensures there are clear rules of the road and provides the regulatory clarity that developers, users, and advocates need to continue innovating,' they said.
The legislation, also known as the CLARITY Act, seeks to divvy up oversight of the crypto industry between two financial regulations — the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
It advanced out of both the House Financial Services Committee and House Agriculture Committee in early June.
The House is poised to take up the CLARITY Act alongside the Senate's GENIUS Act and an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill next week, in what leadership is calling 'crypto week.'
The Senate passed the GENIUS Act, which aims to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, last month.
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
Bessent says DOGE principles 'popular,' Musk 'was not'
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the principles of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were 'popular,' but also said tech billionaire Elon Musk, formerly the leader of DOGE, 'was not.' 'He announced this weekend that he is starting a new political party,' CNN's Dana Bash said of Musk on 'State of the Union.' 'Does that worry the Trump administration?' 'Look, the principles of DOGE were very popular. …
What Others are Reading
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Fatal floods in Texas draw howls from Dems over Trump cuts
The weekend's fatal floods in Texas have sparked immediate clashes in Congress over the federal government's role in preventing, or at least … Read more
When will key aspects of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' take effect?
President Trump signed his sweeping tax cut and spending package known as the 'big, beautiful bill' into law during a Fourth of July celebration … Read more
What Others are Reading
Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill:
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