TECHNOLOGY

Elon Musk’s talks of a Twitter takeover mask Tesla’s troubles in China

Some are concerned the Tesla CEO may be stretching himself too thin

By Faiz Siddiqui
Yesterday at 6:00 a.m. EDT | Updated yesterday at 5:54 p.m. EDT

SAN FRANCISCO — The world is distracted by Elon Musk’s hostile takeover bid for Twitter. That may be serving the Tesla CEO’s purposes well.

Tesla’s Shanghai “Gigafactory,” where it makes some of its electric sedans and crossover SUVs, has been shuttered for weeks as a result of China’s “zero covid” policy, something Musk himself addressed on its earnings call on first quarter results Wednesday. Tesla has also come under fire for no longer including a standard charging cable with its cars, a move that hints at possible supply chain woes — and amounts to what analysts are calling a backdoor price increase.

Link to tweet

Meanwhile, Musk has been consumed in recent weeks with a surprise push to take over the social media platform he uses for company announcements and communicating with his more than 82 million followers.

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By Faiz Siddiqui
Faiz Siddiqui is a reporter with The Washington Post's technology team. His coverage includes Silicon Valley's ride-hailing giants, nascent mobility startups and companies deploying electric and self-driving vehicles. Twitter https://twitter.com/faizsays