Investing.com -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk outlined his vision for AI, robotics, and space exploration during a conversation with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Musk revealed that Tesla plans to begin selling humanoid robots to the public by the end of next year, once the company is confident in their reliability and safety. Some Tesla Optimus robots are already performing simple tasks in factories, with more complex capabilities expected by the end of this year.

On autonomous driving, Musk claimed self-driving cars are "essentially a solved problem," with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software sometimes updated weekly. He noted some insurance companies are offering half-price insurance to customers using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology due to its safety record. Tesla has rolled out robotaxi service in several cities and expects widespread deployment in the US by the end of this year, with supervised full self-driving approval in Europe potentially coming next month.

Regarding space exploration, Musk said SpaceX hopes to achieve full rocket reusability this year with Starship, which he described as "the largest flying machine ever made." This breakthrough would reduce the cost of access to space by a factor of 100, bringing it below $100 per pound.

Musk also discussed plans to launch solar-powered AI satellites within a few years, noting that solar panels in space are five times more effective than on Earth due to constant sunlight and no atmospheric interference. He predicted that "the lowest cost place to put AI will be space" within two to three years.

On energy production, Musk stated that a 100-mile by 100-mile area of solar panels could power the entire United States, and that SpaceX and Tesla teams are separately working to build manufacturing capacity for 100 gigawatts of solar power per year in the US within about three years.

Looking ahead, Musk predicted AI could become "smarter than any human by the end of this year" or "no later than next year." He described his companies’ overall goal as maximizing "the probability that civilization has a great future" and extending "consciousness beyond Earth."

Related articles

Elon Musk says AI will outsmart humans by the end of this year

Hedge funds attract most money since 2007, assets top $5 trillion

This software stock is ’attractive’ after 25% year-to-date drop: Morgan Stanley

Elon Musk’s social media company X has been fined €120m (£105m) by the EU over its blue tick badges, in a decision likely to draw a furious reaction in Washington.

According to the EU Commission, X misled users through the “deceptive” design of its blue badges, which it changed from user verification into a paid feature after Musk bought the company in late 2022.

In a post on the app, Musk said: “The “EU” imposed this crazy fine not just on X, but also on me personally, which is even more insane!”

X also fell short on providing a clear list of advertisers, required by the commission to help guard against illegal scams, fake ads and campaigns around political elections.

And the company failed to make available public data to researchers, “undermining” research into risks within the EU, the commission found.

The fine concludes one part of the EU’s two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA). A probe is still ongoing into efforts to counter the spread of illegal content and battle information manipulation.

Ahead of the EU decision, US vice president JD Vance said on X: “Rumours swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship.

“The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage,” he said.

The European Commission’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen said X’s modest fine was proportionate.

“We are not here to impose the highest fines. We are here to make sure that our digital legislation is enforced and if you comply with our rules, you don’t get the fine. And it’s as simple as that,” she told reporters.

The commission concluded that the design of X’s blue tick was “deceptive”, in clear violation of its rules.

“On X, anyone can pay to obtain the ‘verified’ status without the company meaningfully verifying who is behind the account, making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with,” it said.

“This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors.”

The fine is still relatively modest next to tech fines imposed by the EU in the past. DSA fines can be as high as 6 per cent of a company’s annual global revenue.

X will now have between 60 to 90 working days to come up with measures to comply with the DSA, with the time frame depending on the issue.

Failure to comply with the decision may lead to periodic penalty payments, the Commission warns.

The Commission also revealed it will continue a separate probe into TikTok’s design, algorithmic systems and obligation to protect children. TikTok staved off a penalty with concessions.

Elon Musk has launched an online encyclopedia named Grokipedia that he said relied on artificial intelligence and would align more with his rightwing views than Wikipedia, though many of its articles say they are based on Wikipedia itself.

Related: ‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?

Calling an AI encyclopedia “super important for civilization”, Musk had been planning the Wikipedia rival for at least a month. Grokipedia does not have human authors, unlike Wikipedia, which is written and edited by volunteers in a transparent process. Grokipedia said it is “fact-checked” by Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot.

Musk said the idea was suggested by the Trump administration’s AI and cryptocurrency czar, David Sacks.

Musk has frequently attacked Wikipedia for citing reporting by the New York Times and NPR, and regularly lambasts what he calls the “mainstream media” in an effort to encourage people to rely on X, formerly Twitter, the social media site he owns and which he has programmed to encourage the domination of conservative and far-right voices, including his own.

Grokipedia’s entries appear to hew closely to conservative talking points. For example, its entry for the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol cites “widespread claims of voting irregularities” – a lie pushed by Donald Trump and his allies to delegitimize Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 – and downplays Trump’s own role in inciting the riot.

It adds that the events of January 6 have “fueled enduring disputes over its nature – ranging from a legitimate expression of grievances against perceived electoral flaws to a premeditated threat to democratic transfer of power – with mainstream accounts often amplifying casualty figures and intent beyond forensic evidence while downplaying antecedent failures in election oversight and riot containment”.

Some journalists have already accused Grokipedia of pushing inaccurate information, such as claiming that pornography made the Aids epidemic worse.

Early in Trump’s second presidency, Musk served as the head of the administration’s so-called department of government efficiency (Doge), implementing brutal staffing and budget cuts. His temporary role ended in April, and a Gallup poll released in August determined he was the most disliked public figure in the US.

Shares in easyJet (EZJ.L) jumped after reports that the Swiss-headquartered shipping company MSC was considering a takeover of Europe’s second-largest budget airline.

The shares shot up 12% after a report from Corriere Della Sera, an Italian publication, which cited three unnamed sources familiar with the matter, their biggest bump in three years.

A number of investors are considering a bid for easyJet, with options ranging from a majority stake to full control, according to the paper.

Related: BA stalls over paying out £220 flight compensation

Shares in easyJet pared back some of their earlier gains by midday after easyJet said it did not comment on speculation and MSC denied direct involvement in the talks, though were still trading up by about 4.5%.

It would not be the first time the budget carrier has attracted takeover interest. In 2021, the company rejected an approach from its rival Wizz Air (WIZZ.L).

Dan Coatsworth, the head of markets at the broker AJ Bell, said the reports could spark interest from other potential bidders.

“Shareholders might be getting frustrated that the market isn’t placing a higher value on easyJet, so they could be receptive to a bid if the price is right,” he said. “Stelios Haji-Ioannou could be the blocker, however, as he would no doubt want top dollar.”

Haji-Ioannou is the billionaire founder of easyJet, and remains its biggest single shareholder, with a stake of about 15% in the business.

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) company, which is headquartered in Luton and employs more than 16,000 people around the world, is one of Europe’s three biggest budget airline, behind Ryanair (RYA.IR), with Wizz Air in third place.

Its shares are trading at less than half their level before the pandemic, as the company has grappled with volatile fuel costs, fragile consumer confidence and supply chain problems across the sector.

However, easyJet told investors in May it was on track to achieve more than £1bn in pre-tax profit over the medium term. Last year it made £602m in pre-tax profit on £9.3bn in revenue.

A takeover of the FTSE 100 company would mark another significant loss for London’s struggling stock market, which has suffered a series of high-profile exits in recent years, including the construction equipment rental company Ashtead, the gambling group Flutter Entertainment and the building materials provider CRH.

MSC, which is headquartered in Geneva, teamed up with Lufthansa in 2022 to launch a bid for ITA Airways, though this ultimately failed. The group also operates passenger divisions such as MSC Cruises and Grandi Navi Veloci.

Alex Irving, an analyst at the broker Bernstein, said: “While the industrial logic in a combination between MSC and Europe’s second-largest point to point airline is not obvious to us, could there be a break-up play?”

Ryanair has revealed soaring earnings after hiking airfares and earlier aircraft deliveries helping it fly more passengers.

The low-cost airline reported a pre-tax profit of 2.9 billion euro (£2.6 billion) for the first half of the financial year, 40% higher than the same period last year.

It flew 119 million passengers, 3% more than last year, after improved Boeing aircraft deliveries meant it could carry extra passengers.

Ryanair has been impacted by slower production following strikes among Boeing workers in late 2024.

But it said new deliveries will allow it to add seat capacity during the peak October school holidays and Christmas and New Year travel period.

Average airfares rose by 13% year on year to 58 euro (£50.90), Ryanair revealed, having spiked during the Easter period.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said it achieved a “recovery” of the 7% decline in airfares experienced during last year’s second quarter, which covers the peak summer period between July and September.

But he also criticised “stupid rules” being proposed in the EU, including “further increasing free carry-on luggage limits – even though there is no room in the aircraft cabin for these extra bags”.

He said these would “only lead to more airport security and flight delays as well as higher costs, and higher fares for Europe’s consumers”.

Nevertheless, Ryanair is expecting to fly 207 million passengers over the full year, 3% higher than the prior year and more than it was previously anticipating thanks to earlier-than-expected Boeing deliveries and strong demand during the first half.

Airfares are unlikely to rise as quickly during the second half of the year due to hikes the previous year, according to the company.

Mr O’Leary said its financial performance “remains exposed to adverse external developments, including conflict escalation in Ukraine and the Middle East, macro-economic shocks and any further impact of repeated European ATC (air traffic control) strikes and mismanagement”.

Elon Musk has just gotten even closer to being the first-ever trillionaire after a court reinstated his Tesla stock options worth billions.

According to Forbes's billionaires index, the Tesla chief executive's net worth climbed to $749bn (£559bn) on Friday, making Musk the first person to surpass the $700bn milestone.

He is already the world's richest man, and around $500bn (£373bn) richer than the second-richest, Google co-founder Larry Page, the index reports.

It follows the Delaware Supreme Court's ruling to reinstate his 2018 Tesla stock options worth $139bn (£103bn), which were rescinded last year.

That year, Musk was awarded a pay package including stocks worth $56bn (£41bn) at the time, but it was struck down in a lower court in 2024 as the compensation was "unfathomable".

Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick concluded after a five-day trial that Tesla's directors were conflicted and key facts were hidden from shareholders when they voted to approve the plan.

On Friday, the state supreme court ruled that rescinding the pay package left the Tesla head "uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years", and that Ms McCormick's verdict had been improper and inequitable.

Read more on Elon Musk:
Musk is winning the space race - and looks unstoppable
How world's richest man is boosting the British right

As is his style, Musk has not issued a formal statement responding to the restoration of his options, but did say in a reply on his social media platform X that he was "vindicated".

If Musk exercises all the stock options from the 2018 package, his stake in Tesla would grow from about 12.4% to 18.1% of an expanded share base.

It was Tesla's largest ever pay package, until the electric vehicle company awarded Musk a pay plan worth up to $1trn (£747bn) this November.

It was approved by 75% of shareholders, but to pay out in full, Mr Musk must achieve five milestones in the next decade:

• Deliver 20 million Tesla vehicles and one million robots;

• Drive 10 million subscriptions to Tesla's self-driving feature;

• Bring one million self-driving Robotaxis into operation;

• Earn as much as $400bn in core profit;

• Lift Tesla's market value to $8.5trn.

Under the agreement, Musk will not receive a salary, but meeting all targets would see him receive more than 400 million extra shares in Tesla.

If the company's value is raised to the target, those would be worth around $1trn. As of writing, Tesla is valued at $1.51trn (£1.12trn).

Investing.com -- SpaceX is preparing a rapid entry into the public markets as Elon Musk pivots the rocket maker toward an ambitious new frontier in artificial intelligence. The company is expected to select lead underwriters soon for an initial public offering that Musk reportedly intends to complete by July, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

The shift follows a strategic breakthrough this fall in SpaceX’s effort to develop solar-powered data centers capable of zipping around Earth. While the concept has prompted skepticism from many engineers, Musk has become focused on the idea of SpaceX being the first to do it, the Journal reported.

The billionaire reportedly views the potential multi-billion dollar windfall from an IPO as a vital capital engine to help his AI startup, xAI, catch up to rivals. Musk has a long-running rivalry with OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman, who last year apparently explored buying a rocket company to deploy satellites with AI computing capabilities into space, according to the Journal’s sources familiar with the discussions.

Industry leaders are increasingly eyeing the stars to solve the massive power demands of generative AI models. In October, Jeff Bezos said that shifting data centers to orbit "made sense" as a way to access continuous solar energy and bypass terrestrial constraints.

The urgency of the IPO timeline highlights a significant departure from Musk’s previous stance of avoiding the scrutiny of public investors until reaching Mars. “Should I build a rocket company?” Altman asked on a podcast in June, underscoring the heightening competitive pressure between the two tech titans.

Investors anticipate that a public SpaceX would provide a capital safety net to supercharge xAI’s growth in a market where it currently trails OpenAI and Google. This comes as some observers expect much of the world to be covered in data centers over time.

Market analysts and investment banks are already positioning for what could be the largest listing in history, with Bloomberg previously reporting a target valuation of approximately $1.5 trillion. This figure would represent a massive premium over the company’s recent secondary market pricing, which currently values the private firm at roughly $800 billion.

Related articles

Musk accelerates SpaceX IPO plans to fund orbital AI ambitions, Journal reports

Is it now time to buy the pullback in software stocks? Mizuho weighs in

Top 3 Cheap Stocks With Massive Upside Potential, According to WarrenAI