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Thomas Ricker
Musk’s robo-revolution derailed by China’s rare earth curb.

The restrictions on rare earth minerals and related magnets came in response to Trump’s escalating tariffs and we’re now seeing some direct impact. Tesla’s occasional CEO says his plan to build thousands of Optimus humanoid robots this year is contingent upon the availability of those magnets needed for the robot’s motors.

”China wants some assurances that these are not used for military purposes, which obviously they’re not,” said Musk.

Starlink also wasn’t intended for military purposes... until it was.

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