Talarico won 55% despite Musk’s $47 million: 17 better ways Elon Musk could have wasted $446 million

A costly Texas contest

Musk’s America PAC directed $47 million toward defeating Texas Democrat James Talarico. Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, Musk’s preferred Senate candidate, with 55 percent of the vote. Talarico also made Musk’s influence central to his campaign advertising, using the slogan “Texas is not for sale.” The result is presented as a sharp setback for Musk’s election spending.

The limits of the X bubble

The writer attributes Musk’s misjudgment partly to the world of X, where AI advocates and industry voices may not reflect wider public opinion. Casey Newton, a former colleague, said he returned to X because it had influence among the AI community.

The article argues that opposition to data centers reflects broader frustration with the technology industry, including its role in regulation and the threats made by AI companies. It says Musk and AI ambitions have become closely associated with Donald Trump.

What the money could buy

Instead of political spending, the writer lists purchases that might have offered Musk a better return or enjoyment. The examples include Larry Ellison’s private island, valued at $440 million in today’s dollars, and Ken Griffin’s New York penthouse, valued at $321 million today.

Other examples include Willem de Kooning’s painting Interchange, estimated at about $400 million today, 34 renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and four sets of Wachtell, Lipton lawyers whose Twitter takeover litigation fee was $90 million. The list also mentions five Graff Diamonds Hallucination watches, worth $78 million today. The article adds that changing SpaceX’s “Superintelligence” division name back to “Artificial Intelligence” would cost nothing.

New political scrutiny ahead

Musk deleted tweets the night before the article was published, the writer says, but deleting posts cannot undo other consequences. Texans had already been asking about favorable deals benefiting Musk.

Politicians who campaigned against Musk’s money are gaining power, including the Texas governor and attorney general. The writer suggests this could lead to the unredaction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s emails with Musk and renewed investigations into Musk’s influence.