Elon Musk on Friday evening criticized diversity, equity and inclusion as “propaganda words” despite efforts by Tesla to promote such initiatives. The billionaire is chief executive officer and the largest shareholder of Tesla, the electric-vehicle maker which has boasted that under-represented groups make up the majority of its US workforce. The company didn’t respond to requests for comment on Musk’s views, made on the social-media platform X, which he owns.
On Saturday, Musk was one of the star attractions at Italian PM Giorgia Meloni’s annual political festival. A shrinking population poses a major risk to Italy’s workforce that can’t be addressed solely through immigration, Musk told a packed audience gathered in Sant’Angelo Castle – once a prison and a fortress for popes – in central Rome, adding that countries including Italy must maintain their cultural identities. Fears about climate change are “somewhat overblown” in the short term, he added.
Musk said “it’s important to have children and create the new generation. As simple as it sounds, if people do not have children there is no new generation.”