'Please forgive me': World's richest man Elon Musk apologises to Indian billionaire, know why

Written By Pravrajya Suruchi | Updated: Sep 24, 2024, 05:20 PM IST

Elon Musk and Vinod Khosla

Elon Musk and Vinod Khosla are engaged in a public feud over beach access in California.

Elon Musk who is the world’s richest person is currently involved in a public feud with Indian-American billionaire Vinod Khosla over a contentious land issue in California and an alleged AI-generated image of a beach sign. The conflict escalated when the Tesla CEO criticized Khosla for limiting public access to a beach. He posted an altered image of a sign that supposedly read "No plebs allowed," claiming it was erected by Khosla on his property.

Khosla strongly denied these allegations and demanded an apology from Musk, arguing that Musk's post led to negative media coverage about him. In a response on X (formerly Twitter), Khosla stated, "You owe me an apology for spreading falsehoods. I think this post of yours needs a community comment for being a fraudulent photo. I have never put up this sign or anything even remotely like this. I presume it is AI-generated, but you can verify that."

Musk replied with his characteristic sarcasm, saying, "Sorry I made a sign about you restricting access to a public beach. That was so extremely terrible. Please forgive me." His followers, nearly 200 million, quickly noticed the irony in his response.

This spat is just one part of a much larger, ongoing legal battle that Khosla has been embroiled in for 16 years. He has been trying to limit access to his private property, which serves as a gateway to Martins Beach in California. Khosla purchased the land in 2008, which was formerly a paid parking lot for beachgoers, but he has since sought to restrict public access, resulting in ongoing disputes with the state government.

Musk has taken this opportunity to reignite their long-standing disagreements over various topics, including the 2024 presidential election, artificial intelligence development, and immigration policies. Musk has publicly supported Donald Trump, while Khosla has backed Kamala Harris, positioning themselves on opposite sides of the political spectrum.

In this ongoing back-and-forth, Musk labeled Khosla a hypocrite for advocating a plan to send “tens of thousands of unvetted migrants to small towns throughout America” while trying to restrict public access to his beach. Khosla responded by calling Musk a hypocrite for his views on immigration, stating that he supports legal immigration but opposes illegal immigration.

The tensions between these two tech moguls continue to play out publicly, drawing attention not just for their business achievements but also for their contrasting political views and social stances.

 

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