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A rough week for Elon Musk was capped Friday when institutional shareholders in Tesla admonished the company’s board of directors to rein in an “over-committed” CEO in an open letter.

The letter follows the midair explosion of the SpaceX Starship rocket in its first test flight Thursday and a first-quarter Tesla earnings report Wednesday that saw net income decrease more than 20% from the prior year on narrowing margins. The report sent Tesla shares down almost 10% Thursday and erased nearly $13 billion from Musk’s net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index.

Musk also waded into controversy with Twitter again, eliminating verified status from the accounts of most nonpaying subscribers and eliminating markings for government officials and accounts, raising the specter of impostors running rampant on the platform.

What the letter says

The Tesla investors, who say their holdings amount to more than $1.5 billion, want the board to bring in more independent members and work harder to solve issues at the company that can pose “substantial legal, operational, and reputational risks” to the electric vehicle maker, “jeopardizing its long-term value.”

The investors are particularly concerned with Musk and Tesla’s handling of human rights and workers’ rights. Their letter recounts many lawsuits in which Tesla has been sued over racial discrimination, union-busting, wage theft, sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions.

“Tesla appears to be embracing a broader culture of being ‘above the law,'” they wrote, adding that Tesla now faces criminal probes by the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and California’s Department of Motor Vehicles over its Autopilot technology and claims about self-driving.

“Instead of working to address problems with regulators, CEO Musk has made derogatory tweets and comments, fueling tensions,” they wrote.

The open letter to Tesla’s board comes after Tesla shares have declined more than 15% over the past month.

Nia Impact Capital’s Kristin Hull told CNBC the letter is meant as a “call to action” and she is hoping that Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm will take the time to write a meaningful reply, at a minimum. “We want to see the board take their job seriously — we don’t see them doing a good job at being Elon Musk’s boss.”

Eroding margins, exploding rockets

While shares of Tesla were ticking higher in early trading Friday, the company’s first-quarter earnings update this week revealed ballooning inventory levels and eroding profit margins.

According to the company’s investor presentation for the first three months of 2023, Tesla owes vendors $7.32 billion, and holds $14.38 billion in inventory after ramping up production in its factories and implementing price cuts through the first quarter.

While Tesla raised prices on Model S and X vehicles in some markets Friday, those models represent a minor slice of overall sales and production for Tesla today. The modest price hikes were also accompanied by an incentive — three years of free Supercharging on the company’s electric vehicle charging network.

Tesla’s stock price slide has a direct effect on Musk, whose personal wealth is mostly derived from his Tesla holdings, as he lost approximately $13 billion of his on-paper net worth the day after Tesla’s first-quarter earnings.

Also on Thursday, Musk’s U.S. defense contractor, SpaceX, launched its Starship Super Heavy vehicle in an orbital test flight from its Boca Chica, Texas, facility.

As CNBC previously reported, the rocket made it off the launch pad — a triumph of sorts — but it also exploded, resulting in the Federal Aviation Administration grounding the program for the time being until further evaluation.

Before the explosion, local environmental and indigenous rights groups protested the launch, anticipating harms to wildlife, people’s health and property.

CNBC reached out to the Texas regional office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the FAA for more details. A spokesperson for the FWS said the agency is now gathering information about any impacts from the explosion to habitat and wildlife in the area, and the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Musk continues to make controversial moves with Twitter, the social media platform he bought last year for $44 billion, selling billions of dollars worth of Tesla stock to help fund the purchase.

This week, Twitter removed verified status from public figures and government accounts, including President Joe Biden, the pope, and even transit agencies, including San Francisco’s BART.

Musk-led Twitter also removed “government-funded” and “China state-affiliated” labels from the Twitter accounts of a myriad of global media organizations. The labels implied government involvement in editorial decisions by those outlets. Most notably, Reuters first reported, Twitter dropped the “China state-affiliated media” label from the accounts of Xinhua News, and from the accounts of journalists associated with those publications.

Elon Musk's Starship rocket explosion: What you need to know

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Shaq, Sam Altman-backed college startup Campus taps former Meta AI head as CTO

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Shaq, Sam Altman-backed college startup Campus taps former Meta AI head as CTO

Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.

Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Campus, a college startup backed by Sam Altman, has hired Meta‘s former AI Vice President Jerome Pesenti as its technology head, the company announced Friday.

As part of the deal, Campus will buy Pesenti’s artificial intelligence learning platform Sizzle AI for an undisclosed amount and integrate its personalized AI-generated educational content already used by 1.7 million people.

The acquisition advances the company’s “roadmap” by two to three years and helps the platform cater learning toward individual student needs, said Tade Oyerinde, Campus founder and chancellor.

“This is a game changer,” he told CNBC.

Campus was founded to disrupt the community college system by “maximizing access to world-class education,” according to its website. It offers accredited associate degrees taught by adjunct professors from the likes of Stanford, Princeton and New York University.

The platform has over 3,000 enrolled students, charges $7,320 per academic year and accepts Pell Grants, according to its website. It also provides attendees with a laptop, mobile Wi-Fi pack, personal success coach and 24/7 tutoring access. Professors make upwards of $8,000 per course.

Campus has raised over $100 million from the likes of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, General Catalyst, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, venture capitalist and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Figma CEO Dylan Field.

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Singapore police probe Nvidia customer Megaspeed over alleged China export violations

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Singapore police probe Nvidia customer Megaspeed over alleged China export violations

Singapore authorities are investigating artificial intelligence computing firm Megaspeed, a customer of American AI chipmaker Nvidia, for allegedly helping Chinese companies evade curbs on U.S. chip exports.

“The Singapore Police Force confirms that investigations are ongoing into Megaspeed for suspected breaches of our domestic laws,” the police told CNBC in an email.

The probe comes as the New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. Commerce Department was also investigating whether Megaspeed skirted American export controls, citing anonymous officials and other people familiar with the matter.

The twin investigations into Megaspeed could raise questions about Nvidia’s ability to track its chip exports effectively and to comply with U.S. restrictions on the sale of its most advanced AI chips to China. 

According to an Nvidia spokesperson, the company had engaged the U.S. government on the matter and performed its own inquiry, without identifying “any reason to believe products have been diverted.” 

 “NVIDIA visited multiple Megaspeed sites yet again earlier this week and confirmed what we previously observed—Megaspeed is running a small commercial cloud, like many other companies throughout the world, as allowed by U.S. export control rules,” they said in a statement shared with CNBC Friday. 

Megaspeed didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the U.S. Commerce Department. 

The Times reported that Megaspeed, which spun off from a Chinese gaming company in 2023, bought nearly $2 billion worth of Nvidia’s most advanced products through its subsidiary in Malaysia.

Export loophole concerns 

The case surrounding Megaspeed highlights broader concerns about the effectiveness of U.S. export restrictions on advanced technologies, such as Nvidia’s AI processors. 

The U.S. government has, for years, restricted sales of advanced AI chips to China, citing concerns they could strengthen Beijing’s military and give it an edge in broader AI development, among others. 

But experts and lawmakers in Washington have long warned about loopholes in Washington’s export controls, while reports indicate that a massive black market for smuggled Nvidia chips has also emerged. 

The House Select Committee on China in April questioned Nvidia’s shipment of chips to China and Southeast Asia after reports that Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek used the company’s chips to train a groundbreaking AI model.

Just a few months prior, Singapore had launched a separate probe into the alleged smuggling of restricted Nvidia chips, which were declared bound for Malaysia but may have been diverted elsewhere, including China.

In response to such cases and mounting U.S. pressure, Malaysia announced in July that it would begin requiring permits for all exports and transfers of Nvidia chips.

Outsourcing to Southeast Asia?

Chinese companies have also exploited a legal gray area by tapping into computing power from data centers in Southeast Asia equipped with restricted Nvidia chips, according to recent reports.

For example, Megaspeed was using its Nvidia chips for data centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, which appeared to be remotely serving customers in China, according to the Times.

Nvidia didn’t directly address this claim, but said in its statement that the Trump administration’s recent AI Action plan “rightfully encourages businesses worldwide to embrace U.S. standards and U.S. leadership, benefiting national and economic security.”

Malaysia checking with data center companies if chips have 'gone to the right parties': Minister

The Trump administration has recently signaled interest in ensuring Nvidia maintains its global market dominance — even in China — though its AI Action plan also called for strengthening enforcement of export controls globally.

Lawmakers in Washington have also proposed bills that could see Nvidia required to outfit its chips with tracking systems.

Such proposals have received pushback from Beijing, which froze imports of Nvidia’s chips after the Trump administration said it would roll back restrictions on some of the firm’s chips made specifically for China.

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Qualcomm shares fall after China opens antitrust probe into the U.S. chip giant

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Qualcomm shares fall after China opens antitrust probe into the U.S. chip giant

Microchip and Qualcomm logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this multiple exposure illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on April 10, 2023.

Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Qualcomm shares fell on Friday after Chinese regulators said it would investigate the American tech giant’s acquisition of chip firm Autotalks, ramping up tensions between the U.S. and China ahead of key meetings between the country’s leaders this month.

Shares were last around 3% lower in premarket trading.

China’s State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) said that Qualcomm is suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law in regards to its acquisition of Israeli firm Autotalks. The acquisition officially closed in June, just over two years after it was first announced.

In a short statement, the SAMR said it would initiate an investigation into Qualcomm.

Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. The company sells its smartphone chips to some of the biggest players in China such as Xiaomi.

U.S. tech companies have recently been in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators ramping up tensions between Beijing and Washington ahead of key talks.

In September, the SAMR alleged that Nvidia had violated the country’s anti-monopoly law in relation to its acquisition of Mellanox and some agreements made during the acquisition. Meanwhile, Beijing has reportedly been discouraging local firms from buying Nvidia chips.

This week, China also tightened export controls on rare earths and related technologies. Rare earths are critical to high-tech industries, including automobiles, defense and semiconductors.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet in person on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum during the last week of October in Gyeongju, South Korea.

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