New Yorkers didn’t need to stand in line at coffee shops for their favorite wake-up drink on Thursday.
One look at the giant inflatable Elon Musk, which landed right in the middle of Times Square, was enough to jolt them fully awake.
“All this does is make him more famous. I wouldn’t be surprised if Musk funded the event,” one commented online.
New Yorkers were jolted awake by a giant inflatable Elon Musk smiling down on them at Times Square
Image credits: CBSNews
When the sun rose over Manhattan on Thursday, June 11, commuters found a giant shirtless figure smiling down upon them in Times Square.
The face on the inflatable balloon belonged to none other than the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk, cofounder of seven companies, including Tesla and SpaceX.
As his opinions get bigger and louder, critics planted the giant structure of him just as his company was making a move to inflate his massive net worth a little more.
Image credits: BrighterwithHerbert
Tattooed on one arm of the structure was an image of Elon himself, and the other arm had a heart with the word “ketamine” inked on it.
Elon once said in 2024 that he takes a small amount of ketamine “every other week” to help with the “negative chemical state in [his] brain, like depression…”
“Ketamine is helpful for getting one out of the negative frame of mind,” he told journalist Don Lemon at the time.
Critics planted the structure as the tech titan is on the verge of being the world’s first trillionaire
Image credits: CBSNews
The inflatable sculpture of Elon appeared a day before SpaceX’s highly anticipated IPO (initial public offering).
The tech titan made history by launching the largest-ever IPO, which enabled SpaceX to raise $75 billion and put Elon on the path to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
With SpaceX set to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, the group Safe AI Now (SAIN) planted the inflatable structure a day before.
Image credits: CBSNews
“While this inflatable is a fitting metaphor — much like Musk and his companies, it is inflated, full of hot air, and could pop at any minute — it serves as a warning to investors eager to buy into Musk’s SpaceX IPO on Friday morning,” the group said in a statement to Business Insider.
SAIN, which described itself as a coalition of faith leaders, child-safety organizations, and other groups and individuals, said the sculpture was meant to throw a spotlight on the dangers of Grok, which is Elon’s xAI chatbot, acquired by SpaceX earlier this year.
Passersby were handed out fliers with a QR code that took them to a website about Grok
Image credits: CBSNews
“SpaceX’s Grok makes AI child p*rn,” read a shiny tattoo on the upper abs and back of the blow-up Elon.
Passersby were handed out fliers with QR codes, taking them to a website about Grok and explaining concerns about it.
Image credits: CBSNews
Earlier this year, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) charity said its analysts discovered “criminal imagery” of girls aged between 11 and 13, which “appears to have been created” using Grok.
These “s*xualised and topless imagery of girls” were found on a “dark web forum,” and users claimed they used Grok to generate them.
Elon responded to the complaints in January by saying, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
“Much like Musk and his companies, it is inflated, full of hot air, and could pop at any minute,” SAIN said about the structure
Image credits: CBSNews
While explaining the “goal of this effigy” in Times Square, SAIN said they wanted to “deliver a simple warning to investors: Musk built a dangerous and exploitative AI, covered up the damage, merged it with SpaceX, and is now selling the liability to the public at $135 a share.”
“SpaceX shareholders are on the hook for every Grok lawsuit, criminal investigation, and regulatory fine that is coming,” they said in their statement.
Image credits: Arpan Parikh/pexels (not an actual photo)
Elon replied to a post on X about the inflatable structure, saying, “This is so dumb, because what they’re claiming is totally false.”
Netizens found the structure “gross,” saying, “That is a 100% accurate interpretation of Elon.”
Image credits: newscomauhq
“The body acne detail is *chefs kiss,*” one said, while another wrote, “Well, there goes MY appetite. No risk of overeating for at least a few days.”
“That’s a 52DDD bra size if i ever see one….” read one comment.
“Give the man a bra already!” another said. “Or better yet, a turtleneck!”
“Dudes naturally built like his cyber truck,” said one.
Another wrote, “I love this for him! Man the New Yorkers really know how to ruffle the feather of the elite!”
“Whoever granted the permit for the inflatable Musk, gets a hug,” one commented online
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