US senator calls for probe against Elon Musk and his company SpaceX

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has come under fire for the revelations he has made in his soon-to-be-released biography.

The controversy erupted after CNN managed to obtain an excerpt of Musk's biography written by American journalist Walter Isaacson. The book claims that Musk prevented a Ukrainian submarine drone attack on Russian military ships off the coast of Crimea last year.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren has even called for a probe into the matter, asking the government to make sure that "foreign policy is conducted by the government and not by one billionaire".

Warren has also asked the US Defense Department to investigate "its contractual relationship with the company". Meanwhile, Musk dismissed the allegations, stating that the Starlink satellites were not active in this region, writes Bloomberg.

The big picture:

In 2022, Musk restricted Ukraine's access to its Starlink satellite internet service for military purposes. He then said that he was preventing World War III with the move.

The company had shipped its Starlink internet terminals to the war-hit zone after Ukraine sought its help. Previously, the company donated 50 satellite terminals to help restore internet access in Tonga.

Starlink's terms of agreement with Ukraine made it clear that it was "not designed or intended for use with or in offensive or defensive weaponry or other comparable end-uses".

He later issued a clarification on Twitter (now X), when a user asked him to restore the full functionality of the Starlink system so Ukrainian troops on the front lines could communicate more effectively.

"@elonmusk Ukraine desperately needs your continued support. Please restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites. Defense from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. It's survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help. Thank you", a Twitter user asked Musk.

Musk then responded by saying that he will not allow escalation of the conflict that may lead to WW3.

"You're smart enough not to swallow media & other propaganda bs. Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3", Musk said in the tweet.

For those unaware, Starlink operates a constellation of more than 2,000 satellites that aim to provide internet access across the planet. Like regular satellite internet providers such as ViaSat or HughesNet, Starlink also seeks to connect homes to the Internet, particularly those located in rural areas and other parts of the planet where high-speed broadband Internet is not available.

Starlink claims that its network of satellites works in almost every area on the planet, including places where high-speed Internet connectivity has always been a challenge. The company plans to cover the entire planet with a usable, high-speed broadband signal.

Musk has also made some controversial claims about his daughter in the biography. He thinks his transgender teen daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, was brainwashed by her school into thinking that "rich is evil".

"She went beyond socialism to being a full communist and thinking that anyone rich is evil", he said, accusing his daughter's private school in Los Angeles of brainwashing her. The book is set to be released on September 12.

"I've made many overtures," Musk said. "But she doesn't want to spend time with me", read an excerpt from the book published by The Wall Street Journal.

In June last year, Wilson, who was born Xavier Alexander Musk, decided to cut off all ties with Musk and announced her decision to change her gender and famous surname. Wilson, 18, is one of five surviving children Musk had with his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson. Musk was married to Justine between 2000 and 2008.