Musk’s childish response as ‘flying’ Tesla Roadster called out by AI leader: ‘It’s completely impractical’ | indy100

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Elon Musk has responded to questions from sceptical social media users about Tesla’s new ‘flying’ Roadster – and his childish response didn’t exactly do much to end doubts over the future rollout of the car.

Tesla displayed what it’s calling a flying car earlier this week with a video captioned “do a kickflip” which saw the car head up a ramp before landing back on the ground using rocket thrusters – and the internet had an awful lot to say about it.

The electric sports car was revealed at SpaceX’s Rocket Test and Development Center in McGregor, Texas. The rocket thrusters divided people online, with some hailing it as the next big thing in the automobile industry, and others dismissing it as a gimmick that's unlikely to ever be released to the public.

Since the launch, Musk claimed the car will be “sentient”, sparking even more speculation online.

Now, Musk has also responded to doubts about the Roadster – replying with a comment about ‘farting’ without actually responding to any questions about the viability of the car’s technology.

Computer scientist Yann LeCun, a leading figure in AI, then began a back and forth with Musk, in which he questioned the validity of the launch – and what he called the “completely impractical” technology used in the car.

At first, LeCun asked if the model was using hydrogen peroxide. Then, after discovering that the car was using compressed air as thrusters, he called on Musk to respond to his doubts about the ability of the car to ‘fly’.

After saying that the vehicle would need to have lots of air to sustain a few seconds in the air, he added: “So the car must be an empty, lightweight shell containing big compressed air tanks.”

He then went on to claim that Musk must know this, writing: “Cute demo, but totally impractical. But of course, you knew that.”

Rather than correcting LeCun, Musk then replied by writing: “I fart in your general direction.”

LeCun then hit back by writing: “From a high-pressure belly, your fart might propel you upward and forward. Come to think of it, that's exactly how your car is powered: A 700 bar, 600 liter, 3 second, noisy fart. [Hopefully without the methane and the smelly compounds].”

The exchange sparked a big reaction on social media, with one user writing: “So not a denial at all that the car was essentially a hollowed out shell.”

“Absolute cinema! This is why I pay my internet bills,” another wrote.

“Elon’s big rebuttal to this is just a fart joke so I think we can all assume Yann is correct here,” another wrote.

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