House Democrat warns about Musk, other ‘weird trillionaires’ controlling AI

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Wednesday morning issued a stark warning about the influence that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and other artificial intelligence technology leaders have over global affairs following a recent reported slowdown of the satellite company’s technology in Ukraine.

“We’re in this world where, you know, five weird trillionaires are going to control the technology that guides and challenges our lives and livelihoods,” Himes said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”

The Connecticut lawmaker, who serves as the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, referenced Musk’s reported decision to slow down Ukraine’s access to his company’s Starlink satellite technology. The country’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the action impaired Ukraine’s defense capabilities against Russia.

“We’re going to get to the bottom of what exactly happened that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Ukrainians,” Himes said. “I don’t know if it was Elon. Every government entity I talk to says, ‘We didn’t dial it back.’ We’ll get to the bottom of that.”

Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials announced Saturday that the country’s Starlink defense mechanisms had been restored to normal operating speeds.

However, the incident raised questions about the power that private business leaders, like Musk, have over defense technology. Democratic lawmakers are now calling for an investigation into the SpaceX CEO.

“Elon Musk should be compelled to testify before Congress and under oath,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on social media last week in response to a Wall Street Journal report that Musk ordered the slowdown.

“National security decisions should be made in our national security interests, and not based on the personal whim of an unstable executive,” the California Democrat added.

Similarly, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last week there was “ enormous risk ” if Musk was “dictating our foreign policy.”

Musk appeared to admit responsibility for authorizing the slowdown in a social media post Saturday, alleging that the Ukrainian military “violated Starlink terms of service” after it used the technology “for offensive drone strikes to kill people.”

The tech CEO specified that the U.S. government and President Trump have ultimate authority over the company’s military Starshield service, but not Starlink, the civilian version.

“SpaceX has done more to defend Ukraine than any private company on Earth BY FAR,” Musk wrote in the post. “That said, I have nothing but UTTER CONTEMPT for the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict. May you burn in hell.”