Elon Musk has hit out at Apple’s rumored electric car project, saying that it’s filling its ranks with second rank people — who Tesla has already tried out and then gotten rid of.
“They have hired people we’ve fired,” Musk told German newspaper Handelsblatt. “We always jokingly call Apple the ‘Tesla Graveyard.’ If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding.”
So Musk doesn’t think Apple has it in them to build a great electric car? “Did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch?” he said, throwing shade on Apple’s latest new product (and not for the first time, might we add!)
“No, seriously,” he continued, “it’s good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches.”
As visionary high-tech companies with (in Apple’s case, rumored) designs on revolutionizing the car industry, Tesla and Apple have a complex relationship.
Jamie Carlson, a senior engineer from Tesla, joined Apple’s Project Titan this August. According to Bloomberg. Tesla has also done its share of poaching from Apple — snapping up more ex-Apple employees than any other company at around 150. Musk is also said to relish comparisons between himself and Apple’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs.
In 2014 there were even acquisition rumors suggesting that Apple may snap up Tesla (which financially it’s certainly capable of). While those didn’t come to anything, Elon Musk did say at the time that he thought an Apple Car would be “a great idea.”
You’ve changed Elon!
Source: Handelsblatt
Via: Business Insider
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
17 responses to “Elon Musk: We call Apple the ‘Tesla graveyard’”
I hope these former employees sue Elon and Tesla for defamation because a former employer is NOT supposed to divulge ANYTHING about a former employee other than their start and end date of their employment. At least that’s my understanding. Sounds like a MAJOR lawsuit and maybe Elon will get fired as a result. What CEO pulls this kind of immature crap? I wonder how the TV show Silicon Valley is going to weave this into their future episodes. It certainly sounds like good fuel for a couple of episodes, that’s for sure.
Don’t be a drama queen. Elon is certainly not going to get fired over this, and I’d love to see a lawsuit. It’s not like he divulged names or personal details of former employees, he made a general statement about some ex-employees. Immature? Absolutely Defamation? Get real.
There is an good idea how U can get 95 dollars every hour… After being unemployed for 6 months , I started earning over this internet site and today I possibly can not be more satisfied. After 3 months on my new job my income is around five-thousand dollars/per month If this interests you: 1)navigate to the site link in description
You really have no idea how defamation lawsuits in relation to NDAs work….
Elon did not say anything out of the ordinary or defamatory nor did he mention names…. Typical Applefan boy reaction
Yes I’m positive Tesla will fire Elon Musk, their visionary CEO and founder, over some casual comments made offhandedly that seem entirely accurate.
Trash talking competitors is getting to the point where it’s more damaging to the people that are trash talking, than to the competitors. Apple doesn’t poke fun at Microsoft in commercials anymore, they fired the guy and he works for Samsung. I think these CEOs need to be a little more civil. If Elon got his head out of his rear end, he might realize that Apple has a bigger bank account than the entire Auto Industry, Google, Microsoft combined and that they could HELP drive electric car sales rather than hurt. I though Elon was all about sharing IP and helping the electric car efforts. I guess maybe he’s just a hypocrite. Wouldn’t surprise me.
You are too much. You need to take off your “apple-colored glasses” once in a while. There is no standing for any lawsuit here. This is tech world gamesmanship. Musk has opened his IP…perhaps it is not all about money for him, like it is for Apple. That action speaks more about spurring innovation and helping the environment than anything Apple has ever done. More power to Musk…your deity Steve Jobs pulled the same kind of gamesmanship. Apple patented “the rectangle” while Musk opens up hi patents to anyone.
You think Elon gave its IP away because he was being nice? Now who’s a fanboy trying to criticize Jobs. He gave the innovation away to create an industry that otherwise would take decades to create. He has the advantage and is just trying to create disruption. It’s all about money for him.
Who said he gave it away to be nice? You are reading what you want to hear, not what is written. Obviously he wants the industry to grow and see that tide rise…as he is the one sitting on top. It is a shrewd move that will hopefully pay off for Tesla and the environment.
Tesla = car 0,5 beta ver
Petroleum car = car 1.0 ver
Tesla builds cars packed with stone age technology. Obsolete batteries from Hewlett & Packards old laptop division. Only a 100% full retard would ever buy a Tesla!
Stone age technology?? Einstein.
So why are all the other automakers trying to make electric cars with the same underlying technology Tesla is already using?? Batteries??
Do tell
Toyota has a full-on fuel cell dev program. Honda might too. My money, or my hope maybe, is that fuel cells push batteries aside. Quicker refueling, much lighter mass, and lower fire risk. Not all automakers are betting the house on batteries.
Back under your bridge, Mr Incoherent Troll.
It’s not about battery tech, but the charging tech. Btw, If you never sat in a Tesla, just stfu.
I don’t like Musk. I didn’t like Jobs. I do like their products. They suit my lifestyle. That said, I can’t afford a $130,000 car anytime soon. Can anyone posting on here?
I understand economies of scale, but if Musk wants to drive adoption of his ideas, his first priority should be getting this car into the hands of the ordinary car buyer.
Come on, we all know that.
I’ve sat in a Tesla and yep, it’s a really nice car – however, in my opinion, it’s not built any better than the BMW I used to own. The fit and finish was about on a par with a high end BMW (or Mercedes). Except the high end BMW is less than half the price of Musk’s car. And who here can afford a 7-series BMW. I know I can’t.
That is the problem. Anyone can diss the biggest player in the room, that’s easy. But it’s the adoption rate that is either going to kill Tesla or make it. I’d buy an electric car tomorrow if it was financially reachable for people other than the 1%. His car is not. And building an electric SUV? Really?
I would like to believe the Tesla is more than a phenomenally expensive proof-of-concept…. but I’m having a hard time of it.
Proof of concepts rarely, if ever, make it to market. When (and if) the supposedly cheaper Model 3 arrives, will that convince you? I can’t afford many of the cars I like, but I don’t wish they didn’t make them – which is how you sound.
a few seconds ago
Everything that is a construct composite – composite construct
of matter is cyclic, elusive absolute zero.
This is the weight of why there a cyclic environ(s) to this universe. Wait a minute! That’s redundant.
Znidarsic’s Theory for Atomic Propulsion and Crystallic Fusion
Gyroscopic
Inertia Pulse Motor Generator DEMO – 3 new
inventions – one machine :: 0:04 :: (look@8:10-8:28)
UFO
Flying Saucer Propulsion Technology
Manipulating and Harnessing the Schumann Resonance