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Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who supports Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump, gestures as he speaks about voting during an America PAC Town Hall in Folsom, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 17, 2024. 

Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters

Elon Musk said Saturday that he would randomly award $1 million a day to registered voters who sign a petition for his pro-Trump political action committee in an effort to get his fans in swing states to the polls.

Speaking at an America PAC event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Musk said, “I have a surprise for you,” adding that the prize money is available “every day from now until the election.”

Musk then called up a man named John Dreher, who he said was one of the petition signees in attendance, and handed him a giant check.

“I think think is kind of fun, and you know, it seems like a good use of money basically,” said the Tesla CEO, who is worth almost $250 billion.

Musk, who is also CEO of defense contractor SpaceX and owner of social media platform X, embarked on a speaking tour in Pennsylvania to drive voter registration in his support of the Republican nominee. He called the state the “linchpin” in this election.

“How Pennsylvania goes I think is how the election goes,” Musk said.

The deadline to sign the petition is Monday night, which is the day Pennsylvania’s voter registration closes. The petition, posted on the America PAC website, said that to be eligible for payments, signees “must be registered voters of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.”

I find Elon Musk's foray into politics 'really off-putting', says Musk biographer Walter Isaacson

Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor and NBC news election law analyst, said in a blog post that Musk’s initiative appears to be a violation of federal election laws, specifically one that says a person who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

“Certain things in this country can be sold, and certain things we have decided should not be for sale,” Hasen told CNBC in an interview. “Congress has determined you should not be able to sell your vote to the highest bidder, and we should not have the political process distorted by people with the most wealth who may try to get you to vote in a certain way.”

CNBC reached out to Musk and one of his advisors for comment, but they didn’t respond.

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said Musk’s plan to give money to registered voters in his state is “deeply concerning” and “it’s something that law enforcement could take a look at.”

Floating conspiracy theories

At pro-Trump events, Musk has pushed debunked voter fraud conspiracies, called for deregulation, and repeatedly characterized President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s rival, as replaceable “puppets.”

“No one’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala, you know, because there’s no point,” Musk said on Saturday, repeating a line he’s used in the past that caught the attention of the secret service. “I’m not suggesting someone should try to kill her, it would be pointless, but I’m just saying. I’m just making an observation.”

Musk said in his appearances that he views many government agencies and regulations in the U.S. as ineffective and unnecessary. Trump has taken up an idea floated by Musk to create a government efficiency commission, and said the tech magnate would be a big part of the commission.

“We should not trust the government, really. We just shouldn’t,” Musk said Harrisburg. “Even if I’m in the government, don’t trust the government.”

While Musk’s companies have long relied on government spending and support, he’s berated the Federal Communications Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Aviation Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries for holding SpaceX back.

“We get crazy things,” Musk said, “like SpaceX got fined $140,000 for dumping potable drinking water on the ground at Starbase.”

As CNBC previously reported, SpaceX has repeatedly discharged hot, industrial wastewater into the wetlands surrounding the company’s launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, which the EPA found was a Clean Water Act violation.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Clipper spacecraft sits on launch pad 39A before the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 14, 2024.

Chandan Khanna | Afp | Getty Images

Musk mocked NOAA Fisheries for asking SpaceX to conduct a study to predict how its rockets could impact sharks and whales if they fall into the ocean.

“I’m like, it’s a big ocean, you know, there’s a lot of sharks. It’s not impossible, but it’s very unlikely,” Musk said. The agency’s mission is to “conserve America’s coastal and marine resources.”

Musk’s animosity towards President Biden picked up in 2021, when the White House declined to invite Tesla to an electric vehicle summit.

“You know, Tesla’s about 140,000 people — it’s like there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears from people working hard to make great electric cars,” Musk said on Saturday. “To be could-shouldered like that for no reason. It’s like, what’s the deal?”

Musk has long battled unions, and Tesla was charged with union-busting before the EV summit. Biden has maintained a pro-labor platform throughout his presidency.

One attendee in Harrisburg asked Musk if he believed that self-driving cars should eventually be mandatory if they can perform more safely in traffic than human drivers. Tesla has promised customers a “robotaxi” for years, but never produced one.

Musk suggested he was against anything federally mandated.

“We should just get the government out of things and let the market figure it out,” he said. “I’m generally against government. With that, I’d like to thank you all for coming. It’s been an honor to speak with you.”

Musk only mentioned Trump sparingly throughout the evening, and didn’t discuss his policies or record as president in any detail.

WATCH: Elon Musk gives $75 million to pro-Trump PAC

Elon Musk gives $75 million to pro-Trump PAC

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SoftBank sinks over 10% as Nvidia-fueled rout sweeps Asian chip names

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SoftBank sinks over 10% as Nvidia-fueled rout sweeps Asian chip names

The logo of Japanese company SoftBank Group is seen outside the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on January 22, 2025. 

Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images

A sector-wide pullback hit Asian chip stocks Friday, led by a steep decline in SoftBank, after Nvidia‘s sharp drop overnight defied its stronger-than-expected earnings and bullish outlook.

SoftBank plunged more than 10% in Tokyo. The Japanese tech conglomerate recently offloaded its Nvidia shares but still controls British semiconductor company Arm, which supplies Nvidia with chip architecture and designs.

SoftBank is also involved in a number of AI ventures that use Nvidia’s technology, including the $500 billion Stargate project for data centers in the U.S.

South Korea’s SK Hynix fell nearly 10%. The memory chip maker is Nvidia’s top supplier of high-bandwidth memory used in AI applications. Samsung Electronics, a rival that also supplies Nvidia with memory, fell over 5%. 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and manufacturer of Nvidia’s chip designs, was down over 4% in Taipei. 

Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, which manufactures server racks designed for AI workloads, dipped 4%.

The retreat in major Asian semiconductor giants comes after Nvidia fell over 3% in the U.S. on Thursday, despite beating Wall Street expectations in its third-quarter earnings the night before. 

The company also provided stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter sales guidance, which analysts said could lift earnings expectations across the sector. 

However, smaller chip players in Asia were not spared either.

In Tokyo, Renesas Electronics, a key Nvidia supplier, fell 2.3%. Tokyo Electron, which provides essential chipmaking equipment to foundries that manufacture Nvidia’s chips, was down 5.32%. 

Another Japanese chip equipment maker, Lasertec, was down over 3.5%.

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Joby lawsuit accuses air taxi rival Archer of using stolen information to ‘one-up’ deal

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Joby lawsuit accuses air taxi rival Archer of using stolen information to 'one-up' deal

An electric air taxi by Joby Aviation flies near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 12, 2023.

Roselle Chen | Reuters

Air taxi maker Joby Aviation in a new lawsuit accused competitor Archer Aviation of using stolen information by a former employee to “one-up” a partnership deal with a real estate developer.

“This is corporate espionage, planned and premeditated,” Joby said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in a California Superior Court in Santa Cruz, where the company is based.

Archer and Joby did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that former U.S. state and local policy lead, George Kivork, downloaded dozens of files and sent some content to his personal email two days before he resigned in July to take a job at Archer, which had recruited him.

By August, Joby said a partner that worked with Kivork said it had been approached by Archer with a “more lucrative deal.” Joby alleges that the eVTOL rival’s understanding of “highly confidential” details helped it leverage negotiations.

Joby also said the developer attempted to terminate the agreement, citing a breach of confidentiality.

Read more CNBC tech news

Kivork refused to return the files when Joby approached him after conducting an investigation, according to the suit. The company also said Archer denied wrongdoing, and would not disclose how it learned about the terms of the agreement or provide results from an internal investigation it allegedly undertook.

The lawsuit comes during a busy period for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology as companies race to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification to start flying commercially. ‘

The sector has also benefitted from President Donald Trump‘s newly minted eVTOL pilot program.

Joby argued in the complaint that it’s “imperative” to protect Joby’s work “from this type of espionage” to promote the sector’s success and ensure fair competition.

Last week, Joby said it completed its first test flight for a hybrid aircraft it’s working on with defense contractor L3Harris. This month, Amazon-backed Beta Technologies, another electric flight company, also went public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Joby shares have more than doubled over the last year, while Archer is up about 68%.

In August 2023, Archer settled a previous legal dispute with Boeing-owned Wisk Aero over the alleged theft of trade secrets. As part of the deal, Archer agreed to use Wisk as its autonomous tech partner.

A hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026.

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Joby and Archer year-to-date stock chart.

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Jobs data muddies the picture for a December rate cut, while the Nvidia rally fizzles

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Jobs data muddies the picture for a December rate cut, while the Nvidia rally fizzles

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