An Earth-Moon-Mars connection? Check. A Solar powered battery “that does not need to be charged”? Check. No reliance on expensive internet packs? Check. As futuristic as it sounds, this is the future of the Tesla Pi phone that has been making rounds on social media for years now. Just wait until you type “Tesla Phone” on the YouTube search bar, and you’ll be bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands, of detailed videos talking about the phone—touted to be a “game changer”. But how true are these rumors, and how soon can we expect this otherwordly device to debut in the market? Well, Musk’s close friend Joe Rogan is here to give you all your answers…

But before we get to that: Notably, the rumors first started circulating in 2021 when ADR Studio Design posted a YouTube video documenting the phone’s specifics. While the company clarified that those were not actual leaks, but just some creative ideas from their own designers, the rumor mill had already started working overtime by then. Now add to that Musk’s own high and mighty ambitions after acquiring Twitter (now X), and you’d understand the hype.

More than a year after the controversial acquisition, Musk set off a row when he indicated removing a very important feature from X. “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs. Makes no sense,” the billionaire wrote. However, the 53-year-old was forgetting something critical. Apple’s App Store guideline notes, “apps with user-generated content or social networking services must include… The ability to block abusive users from the service.” Similarly, Google Play’s policies also state: “Apps that contain or feature [user-generated content]… must implement robust, effective and ongoing UGC moderation that … Provides an in-app system for blocking UGC and users.” So, what does it mean?

Well, X was very much on its way to be banned—essentially rendering it useless in the Apple-Google dominated worldwide space. That’s when conservative political commentator Liz Wheeler had a great idea. “If Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?” she wrote on X. To this, the X-owner responded, “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone”. And there you have it! 

The seed that has now grown into a multibranched tree, even compelling Rogan to climb it. On January 23 this year, the UFC color commentator and podcaster sat down for Episode #2262 of the Joe Rogan podcast with Dr. Mark Gordon—“an expert in the field of neuroregenerative medicine and the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injuries” as noted by the episode’s description. Toward the end of the conversation, the duo started talking about digital stalking that apps seemingly indulge in.

Gordon remarked, “My cyber security people keep on telling me, ‘Don’t use Zoom, because it back doors into the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]’… I turned off all my Wi-Fi extenders.” To this, Rogan responded, “We’re living in an ultra surveilled world…” 

Gordon: “That’s the reason why I only use my cell phone when I travel. Otherwise I don’t use it. People call me [and] say, ‘Where are you?’ I say, ‘I don’t use my cell phone’.” 

Rogan then went on to mention his friend Adam Curry, who is reportedly “super paranoid” and only uses a “de-Googled phone”. This prompted Gordon to ask, “Doesn’t your friend Musk have a phone that’s coming up?”

“No.” The one-word answer from Joe Rogan that cleared every single rumor that has indicated the opposite. The 57-year-old then dived into a conversation that he and Musk had during Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20. “I just asked him [Elon Musk] the other day. He said, ‘No’. We were talking the other day at the inauguration. I was saying, ‘But dude, every other day I get an article about a Tesla phone’. He was laughing, ‘I hope we don’t have to make a phone’. This what he said, ‘I hope we don’t have to make a phone’,” Rogan clarified.

Of course, it is worth noting that Musk didn’t completely rule out entering the smartphone market in the future. He just doesn’t have any plans to do so at the moment. In fact, the tech mogul had called smartphones “yesterday’s technology” and declared that Neuralink, his brain implant product, is the future and where he would be concentrating.

The smartphone industry, of course, is a massive one, currently valued at over $500 billion globally. However, since the likes of Apple and Samsung already dominate the market, and Musk feels he has better things to invest money in. So, he won’t be making any smartphones anytime soon.

Elon Musk’s AI venture is partly the reason for his surprising criticism of Donald Trump’s initiative

Elon Musk has trashed one of Donald Trump’s most high-profile announcements since taking office. The 47th President announced this week a $500 billion investment plan to create new AI data centers across America. This is expected to not just create a lot of domestic jobs but is also seen as an important step in the US investing in remaining the world leader in cutting-edge technology.

The money for this initiative is to be put up by OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, SoftBank, and tech giant Oracle. However, shortly after the announcement of Stargate, Musk took to X and trashed it. Why? Well, because the world’s richest man doesn’t think these companies have the money to make that type of investment.

Of course, Musk has been one of the most strident supporters of Trump. And his criticism of Stargate came as a surprise to many. But then again, Musk is involved in a lawsuit with OpenAI- of which he was a co-founder and early investor before he fell out with its CEO, Sam Altman. And many feel that it is this animosity between Musk and Altman that is behind the Trump criticism.

Even Trump feels this is the case. In addition, the tech titan has also entered the AI market with his xAI startup. Whatever the reason may be, one thing is clear. This is the first time Musk has publicly criticized any of Trump’s policies. And some feel this does not augur well for their relationship going forward. What do you think about Joe Rogan’s revelations about Musk’s plans (or rather, the lack thereof) for the smartphone market?