Elon Musk has long been known for his competitive spirit — and for his list of rivals.
He challenged Meta’s Mark
Zuckerberg to a cage fight. He called Amazon and Blue Origin boss Jeff Bezos a “copycat.” And just recently, he sued OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Until now, these were business and personal rivalries between some of the richest and most successful people in the world. But with Musk’s new influence in the incoming Trump administration and position as “first buddy,” some fear he could use the power of the government to benefit his own companies and harm his rivals.
That could come in the form of starting or dropping government investigations, creating or weakening regulations, and awarding government contracts to the benefit of Musk’s companies.
“The federal government has a set of tools in its toolbox, and the question is, will the use of those tools be governed by objective standards, through regulation and laws and the normal process of government intervention in the economy, or will it be subject to the material impulses of either the president or Elon Musk?” said one expert in law and technology who asked to speak anonymously to avoid Musk’s ire. “If all it takes is for (Musk) to say, ‘Hey, DOJ should investigate them,’ that will cause a lot of headaches.”
Representatives for Musk did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
Source: cnn
