Exploring Elon Musk’s Fundraising and Political Alliances on ‘Hard Fork’ Podcast

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Hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, this podcast brings insightful discussions on the intersection of technology and society. The production team includes Whitney Jones and Rachel Cohn, with editing by Jen Poyant and engineering by Chris Wood. The original music is crafted by Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, Sophia Lanman, and Rowan Niemisto.

This week, we dive deep into a captivating debate surrounding Elon Musk’s recent fundraising efforts and his vocal support for former President Donald Trump, examining how this alliance might influence Trump’s chances of re-election. In an enlightening segment, we welcome Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, who shares his innovative approach to depolarizing American politics through the use of government data. To wrap things up, we reintroduce our popular segment This Week in A.I., where we highlight some of the most significant and intriguing stories from the world of artificial intelligence that have caught our attention recently.

Guest:

• Steve Ballmer, former Chief Executive of Microsoft and founder of USAFacts

Additional Reading:

• Inside Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Growing Alliance
• The American Right Is Terminally Online
• The New Home of the L.A. Clippers Is a Hot Ticket for Art
• A California Bill to Regulate A.I. Causes Alarm in Silicon Valley
• Endless Honking of Waymo’s Driverless Taxis Wakes a Neighborhood

Credit… Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images (Musk); Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times (Trump)

Credits

“Hard Fork” is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton. The show is produced by Whitney Jones and Rachel Cohn, expertly edited by Jen Poyant, with engineering support from Chris Wood. The original music is composed by Dan Powell, along with Elisheba Ittoop, Marion Lozano, Sophia Lanman, and Rowan Niemisto. Our fact-checking is managed by Caitlin Love. We extend special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Nell Gallogly, Dahlia Haddad, and Jeffrey Miranda.