Elon Musk shoots Apple twice in Tesla earnings call

Tesla CEO Elon Musk twice sniped neighboring Silicon Valley Apple on a conference call to discuss Tesla’s earnings on Monday.

Although the companies are not in direct competition today, Apple is said to be building an autonomous electric vehicle under the code name of a Project Titan, and has drawn a number of engineers and executives away from Tesla. . Project Titan would be led by Doug Field, who returned to Apple in 2018 after five years at Tesla.

Asked about Tesla’s supply chain, Musk said there was a misconception that Tesla uses a lot of cobalt, a key material in the production of lithium-ion cells used in both smartphones and cars. electric.

“Apple uses, I think, almost 100% cobalt in its batteries, cellphones and laptops, but Tesla does not use cobalt in iron-phosphate packs, and almost none in nickel-based chemicals. “Musk said. “On a weighted average basis, we could use 2% cobalt versus 100% Apple cobalt. Either way, that’s really not a factor.”

Some of the cobalt mined in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been linked to human rights violations such as child labor. In 2019, Apple, in addition to Tesla and other big tech companies, was cited as an accused in a human rights lawsuit, according to The Guardian.

In a conflict minerals report released earlier this year, Apple said it publishes a list of all conflict minerals and cobalt smelters and refineries, and that all of Apple’s cobalt suppliers have participated in audits in 2020. An Apple representative did not return a request for comment.

Later in the call, Musk spoke about Apple’s so-called “walled garden”, named because Apple strictly controls what software can be installed on the iPhone through its App Store. Apple’s walled garden is coming under scrutiny from lawmakers and other companies, including in an antitrust lawsuit that took place earlier this year after being sued by Epic Games for App Store fees and policies.

“I think we want to stress that our goal is to support the advent of sustainable energy,” Musk said in response to a question about whether competitors can use his network of chargers. “It’s not about creating a walled garden and using it to bludgeon our competition, which is used by some companies.”

Musk then pretended to cough and said, “Apple.”

During the call, Musk said he likely won’t appear in future Tesla earnings calls unless he has “something really important” to say.