ROME — Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday presented Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with its Global Citizen award on behalf of the Atlantic Council, a progressive American think tank.
Musk said Meloni is “more beautiful on the inside than on the outside.” said“She has done a fantastic job as Italy's prime minister,” he said, leading the country to “record economic growth and employment.”
“Jack is genuine, he's honest and he's got integrity, which is something you can't always say about politicians,” Musk said at a meeting in New York.
After welcoming Musk, Meloni responded by praising the Tesla founder's “rare genius.”
“I am incredibly honored to receive this prestigious award and would like to thank the entire Atlantic Council,” said Meloni. Written “I'm also deeply grateful to Elon Musk for his words of praise and for presenting me with this award,” he posted to X early Tuesday morning.
According to POLITICOThe mask Invited The suggestion to introduce Meloni “at the request of the Italian Prime Minister” has reportedly caused upset among the think tank's liberal staff.
“Thanks, Elon.” Meloni Posts In another tweet, she embedded a video of Musk presenting her with the award.
Meloni and Musk had already bonded over concerns about low birth rates during a 1.5-hour meeting in Rome in June 2023. said He said he was “very happy” to meet Musk, a sentiment backed up by a photo of the pair smiling and embracing each other.
Italy's first female prime minister described the meeting as “very fruitful” at the time, noting that they had discussed important issues including innovation, the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence, European market rules and falling birth rates.
In 2022, Musk will be famous Tweeted Declining population due to falling birth rates “poses a much greater risk to civilization than global warming”
Musk, who is also the founder of SpaceX, doubled down on his argument in January, arguing that underpopulation is a far bigger concern for the world than overpopulation.
“Population collapse is the existential problem for humanity, not overpopulation!” he says. Written About X.
More recently, Musk has faced off against the European Commission's censorship chief, Thierry Breton, who has threatened to severely limit the Commission's censorship powers. Digital Services Act The DSA (Dept. of Consumer Affairs) has announced that it will sue Musk if he broadcasts an uncensored interview with former President Donald Trump on X.
The Frenchman stated:
I am writing to you in relation to recent events in the UK and your planned broadcast on your platform X of a live conversation between yourself and a US presidential candidate, which will also be available to users in the EU.
Breton said Brussels would monitor “the distribution of content that may incite violence, hatred or racism in the context of major political or social events around the world, including debates or interviews related to elections.”
Musk jokingly replied: He tweeted, “Bonjour!” said another. post “Thierry always reminds me of a French provocateur from Monty Python.”
But Breton may have gone too far: he resigned from his post at the European Commission shortly afterwards, under pressure from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Committee, Refused She did not confirm or deny whether Ms von der Leyen had pushed for Breton's replacement, saying only that she “understands and accepts the resignation” and “thanks him for his work.”
Even Pope Francis Weighing The European Union has joined the fray, siding with Brussels in efforts to curb “disinformation” by free speech advocates like Musk and his X Platform.
The Pope called on those “working in the fields of platforms and artificial intelligence” to “abandon the arrogance of thinking they are above the law and to show respect and responsibility for the information that circulates through their platforms.”
“And my advice to you all is, start paying your taxes,” he added.
