• Elon Musk says it's "pointless" to save for the long term, as he expects "super intelligent abundance."
• The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was replying to an X user who said they'd stopped stressing about spending.
• Musk previously said that if he's right about the future, "saving for retirement will be irrelevant."

Elon Musk says it's not worth saving for the long term, as nest eggs won't matter.

"Saving money for the distant future is pointless with the advent of super intelligent abundance," Musk said in an X post on Thursday, doubling down on one of his most polarizing predictions.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was replying to a user who said they weren't stressing over their "questionable financial decisions" because a future of abundance meant "most of it won't matter in a few years anyway."

The world's richest person — who has a nearly $1 trillion net worth — has previously advised against saving for decades to come.

"Don't worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years," Musk said during a podcast episode released in January. "It won't matter."

"If any of the things that we've said are true, saving for retirement will be irrelevant," he added.

Musk said at the time that he expects progress in AI, energy, and robotics to supercharge productivity, resulting in plentiful resources so that "anyone can have whatever stuff they want."

In that world, he continued, everyone would have access to "better medical care than anyone has today," there would be "no scarcity of goods and services," and "you can learn anything you want about anything for free."

Business Insider spoke to seven personal finance and AI experts about those comments, and they all agreed people should keep saving for retirement given the risk that Musk may be wrong.

Musk laid out an even more utopian vision on a recent podcast, predicting that advances in robotics and space travel would lead to a multiplanetary economy, at which point "money becomes irrelevant" and "conventional currency will not matter."

Several other tech leaders have predicted AI and other technologies will transform the way we live.

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said on a recent podcast episode that AI will lead to "true abundance" with robots able to "build houses, grow food, do surgery."

But he also warned the next two decades will be "as tumultuous a period as there's been in human history," as technological advances will mean "none of the things that human labor provides to the economy will be necessary for most goods and services."

Similarly, Musk has predicted a "bumpy" transition to a brighter future. He's suggested government checks for all as the best solution to AI-fueled job destruction.

• Tesla Robotaxi expanded its service area in Houston on Monday by more than 200 square miles.
• Riders in the area reported issues with robotaxis taking longer-than-usual routes.
• In one test, a rider reported a 40-minute ride to travel two blocks in downtown Houston.

Users of Tesla Robotaxi are reporting routing issues with the autonomous ride-hailing provider as the company continues to expand its service area in Texas.

Tesla announced on Monday that it had significantly expanded the Houston geofence, a designated area where riders can hail a robotaxi, with boundary lines resembling the shape of a rocket — an apparent reference to Elon Musk's SpaceX. The two companies are exploring a potential merger through "special committees of independent directors," Musk has said.

"Houston, we have liftoff," an X post from the Tesla Robotaxi account said. "Bigger service area now live."

The new Houston service area represents an estimated additional 229 square miles, RobotaxiTracker, a third-party website that tracks autonomous-vehicle progress in the US, reported. The coverage area dwarfs that of Waymo's geofence in the same city, which only covers about 50 square miles.

Some users, however, are reporting that the robotaxi takes unusually long routes and that not every part of the new geofence is actually available.

Hy Luu, a content creator and Tesla enthusiast, posted footage on his Instagram showing his first ride in a Tesla Robotaxi, from his house to his office — about a 13-mile drive.

In the video, he said the car took about 25 minutes to arrive. He was picked up at 8 a.m. and dropped off at 9:23 a.m.

Luu told Business Insider that the commute in his Tesla Model 3, with Full Self-Driving (Supervised), typically takes about 45 minutes.

"I think most people would not use this service as it is now because of the wait times for the car coming and then the detours it takes," Luu told Business Insider.

A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

In an X post on Tuesday, Ethan McKanna, founder of the RobotaxTracker site, also shared a screen recording of the Tesla Robotaxi app displaying "location not available" whenever a pin was dropped at random points within the geofence.

In other posts from McKanna, one route showed a three-hour walk to the pick-up point, while another ride showed a 40-minute trip to travel two blocks in downtown Houston.

"I get they were doing it so they could get the starship shape, but again this is another poor experience point," McKanna wrote of the recent expansion.

McKanna added in another thread that, aside from those issues, "the service feels really good in Houston," with reasonable wait times, a large service area, and a better ride experience than Waymo.

Routing issues are not unique to Tesla.

Business Insider previously reported that Alphabet's Waymo appeared to avoid certain roads to reach a destination despite faster options.

A robotaxi may exclude some routes to avoid certain roads, such as those with railroad tracks, or to avoid highways if the service has not yet been made available, although those reasons don't account for every routing choice.

In recent weeks, Tesla has been working to scale up its robotaxi service, following the deployment of its purpose-built, two-door Cybercab on public roads in September.

Data from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles showed the company has registered about 200 Cybercabs in the past week. That's separate from cars that are actively deployed.

Luu said in an interview that robotaxis aren't as ubiquitous in Houston. He hasn't tried a Waymo yet.

"Houston's a lot bigger," he said. "People normally drive 25 miles to get anywhere, so it's definitely a lot longer commutes."

As pessoas desejam carros voadores desde os primórdios da aviação e dos automóveis. A demonstração feita pela Tesla no início deste mês de uma versão “voadora” do seu novo Roadster significa que estamos perto disso?

Se você procura um carro que possa trafegar com segurança em estradas e rodovias e também voar distâncias significativas, então não.

Mas se você quer uma máquina voadora pessoal que opere em altitudes relativamente baixas e percorra a distância da maioria das viagens de carro, isso está mais próximo da realidade.

Bem-vindo ao mundo em rápida expansão das aeronaves elétricas de decolagem e pouso vertical, conhecidas pelo acrônimo um tanto complicado de eVTOLs. Elas não podem trafegar em rodovias, e algumas nem mesmo têm rodas.

Mas muitas empresas têm corrido para desenvolver veículos saídos diretamente de filmes e desenhos animados de ficção científica, com algumas já vendendo aeronaves.

“A ideia do “carro voador” capturou a imaginação do público por gerações, e hoje essa empolgação está impulsionando investimentos e inovações reais em todo o setor”, disse Kristina Menton, vice-presidente de voo da Pivotal, uma das empresas que fabricam eVTOLs.

“O apelo é fácil de entender. Por que passar 90 minutos no trânsito quando você poderia passar 20 minutos no céu?”

Os eVTOLs são muito leves em comparação com os carros tradicionais, têm capacidade de carga limitada e geralmente conseguem voar no máximo 100 milhas de uma vez (161 km/h). Eles também não podem operar em estradas.

Mas mesmo sem trafegar pelo asfalto, alguns defensores acreditam que os eVTOLs deveriam ser considerados um automóvel na definição mais estrita da palavra — um veículo capaz de transportar você do ponto A ao ponto B.

Os “carros” voadores podem atrair motoristas que querem evitar “estradas (que são) problemáticas e congestionadas”, disse Rani Plaut, cofundadora e CEO da Air, uma empresa israelense que planeja construir eVTOLs em uma instalação na Flórida.

Uma empresa que afirma estar desenvolvendo um verdadeiro carro voador é a start-up californiana Alef. O CEO Jim Dukhovny disse que a versão inicial, que terá uma velocidade máxima de cerca de 55 mph (88,5 km/h), foi projetada para ser tanto uma aeronave quanto um carro, em vez de adaptar um ou outro.

O veículo de 254 libras (115 quilogramas) usa oito hélices em seu interior para decolar, mas também possui quatro rodas e foi projetado para dirigir.

O “Model A” só pode transportar uma pessoa que pese menos do que o veículo vazio e não conta com equipamentos de segurança padrão, como airbags.

Mas Dukhovny quer que ele seja visto como um carro, não como um eVTOL.

“Os eVTOLs são para o mercado de aviação”, disse ele. “Nossa concorrência é Toyota, Ford, Tesla.”

Mas tentar fazer as duas coisas — operar como carro e como aeronave — enfrenta muitos problemas básicos de engenharia, disse Roger Connor, curador da coleção de voo vertical do Smithsonian”s National Air and Space Museum.

Isso porque as aeronaves são sensíveis ao peso, enquanto os carros precisam de equipamentos pesados.

“Algo que é um híbrido entre os dois vai ser uma aeronave de baixo desempenho e um veículo de baixo desempenho”, disse ele à CNN.

Ainda assim, a Federal Aviation Administration tem incentivado o desenvolvimento de eVTOLs, lançando uma série de programas de testes em 26 estados em março.

“O futuro da aviação chegou — e vai melhorar dramaticamente a forma como pessoas e produtos se movem”, disse o Secretário de Transportes Sean Duffy ao anunciar o programa.

Uma das questões que a FAA está investigando é quem terá permissão para pilotar essas aeronaves.

A expectativa é que seja necessário muito menos treinamento para pilotar um eVTOL do que para pilotar um pequeno avião, helicóptero ou avião de passageiros — talvez apenas alguns dias. Mas isso ainda está em desenvolvimento, disse Connor.

“Ainda não licenciamos ninguém nessas novas categorias de aeronaves”, disse ele à CNN. “Isso é um pouco novo para todos, e é especialmente assim para a FAA, já que as aeronaves não são aviões e não são helicópteros.”

Apesar do interesse da FAA, os eVTOLs ainda estão em grande parte em desenvolvimento. Muito poucos foram construídos e entregues a clientes, e os disponíveis são muito caros.

Versões maiores, ou “táxis aéreos” que transportam alguns passageiros, custarão mais de US$ 1 milhão cada (mais de R$ 5,3 milhões), disse Connor.

As de uso pessoal serão vendidas por menos, mas ainda assim custarão entre US$ 60.000 e US$ 400.000 (até R$ 2,1 milhões) por uma aeronave de dois lugares com alguma autonomia e alcance.

“Por US$ 60.000, você basicamente está comprando um drone sofisticado capaz de carregar cerca de 160 libras (72 quilos) por talvez 10 minutos”, acrescentou.

A Tesla ainda não informou quanto custará uma versão “voadora” do seu Roadster, e nenhuma versão, voadora ou terrestre, estará à venda antes de pelo menos 2028.

Ao contrário da maioria dos eVTOLs, que utilizam hélices, o Roadster usou jatos de ar comprimido para saltar sobre outros carros e se projetar do topo de uma rampa de seis ou sete andares durante a apresentação do produto no início deste mês.

Bordais: temos 2,7 mil pedidos de carros voadores em oito países

O Roadster também não voou nenhuma distância apreciável, pousando aquém dos próprios 120 pés que os Irmãos Wright alcançaram durante seu primeiro voo em Kitty Hawk, Carolina do Norte, em 1903.

O próprio site da Tesla adverte que o modelo de teste “não está aprovado para uso em vias públicas”.

Ainda assim, a demonstração espetacular fez muitos no setor comemorarem.

“Quando uma empresa com o alcance da Tesla coloca a ideia de pessoas comuns decolando do chão diante de milhões de espectadores, isso amplia a conversa, e o setor se beneficia dessa curiosidade”, disse Menton, da Pivotal.

Mas ela adverte que sua empresa não é uma montadora de carros.

“Nós fabricamos aeronaves, não carros voadores“, disse ela.

Geração Z: 51% dos jovens pretendem comprar carro nos próximos 3 anos

• The great bidet takeover has reached the workplace.
• White-collar workers are bartering with their bosses and weighing job offers over bidet access.
• "It's the superior way to live," one said.

Seungmin Hong felt he had two options: Stay at Tesla or have a clean tush.

After finishing an engineering internship at the automotive giant last year, the University of Waterloo student was weighing whether to stick around or accept a job offer from much smaller Simbe Robotics.

During Hong's final interview at Simbe's San Francisco office, he asked to use the restroom, and there it was: a glistening, inviting bidet.

"That cemented in my mind: 'Yeah, this company actually cares about their employees,'" said Hong, who grew up with a bidet in the bathroom of his childhood home. He took the job.

Move over espresso machines, ping-pong tables, and nap pods. For workers like Hong, the humble bidet is the ultimate job perk.

In recent years, the hygiene-friendly fixtures have gone from novelty to must-have for many US households. Toto, one of the biggest manufacturers in the space, said cumulative global sales of its Washlet bidets surpassed 70 million units last year, up from 50 million in 2019. High-profile fans include Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani, actor Janelle James, and New York mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Now, some devotees are pushing to make bidets a standard in offices. Once you get used to one at home, they say, going bidet-less at work is a pain in the rear.

Michael Fiore used to sometimes get about halfway through his commute, then turn around and drive back home just so he could use the bidet in his bathroom. About a year ago, he had an epiphany: Why not install a bidet at work, too?

So he did.

"It's been a total game changer," said Fiore, president of Smith's Gardentown, a retail garden center in Wichita Falls, Texas. "It's the superior way to live."

There's just one wrinkle. Employees who were accustomed to using the restrooms available to shoppers have started coming to what Fiore jokingly calls the "executive" bathroom, which is reserved for staff. It houses one bidet-equipped toilet, meaning he now often has to wait to use it himself.

"Word has spread," he said.

Persuading the boss

This past summer, Cynthia Howard asked her boss to install a bidet in the single-seat restroom she shares with about a dozen of her colleagues. The fulfillment specialist at Swifthouse, a logistics company outside Philadelphia, argued it would reduce toilet paper costs, cut employees' restroom time, and improve morale.

Swifthouse's founder and CEO, Dave Harriger, said the proposal persuaded him to order a $60 bidet attachment that same day. He said he's pleased that Howard and other employees like it, though he's not a convert himself.

"I used it once. I yelped and don't know if I'll use it again," he said. "It's cold water on your butt."

Pricier bidet models that sell for thousands of dollars apiece offer warm-water sprays, air dryers, deodorizers, and even Bluetooth speakers.

Not every worker is comfortable asking their boss to install the devices in the office. To help those folks out, Jonathan Brown, a data scientist in Orange County, California, launched buttstuff.work earlier this year. The site lets employees register their interest in having bidets at work without directly approaching management.

Brown said he has long wondered why Silicon Valley workplaces offer perks like beer taps and catered lunches but not bidets. He plans to share the data his site collects with bidet manufacturers to help them find potential customers. So far, Brown said, about a dozen people, mostly from small businesses and universities, have signed up. His only promotion has been a post on Reddit.

"People don't love talking about bathroom stuff at work," said Brown.

The bidet goes to work

Bidet makers say interest has surged since what Bill Strang, president of corporate strategy at Toto, called "the great toilet paper panic of 2020," when pandemic shortages sent Americans searching for alternatives.

Strang and Justin Allen, CEO of Tushy, another bidet maker, said workplaces are a relatively small but growing part of the bidet business. Installing the devices in office restrooms can be challenging, as some require plumbing modifications, code compliance, and a nearby electrical outlet.

Allen sees the demand firsthand. The bidets in Tushy's shared office restroom in Brooklyn, New York, are a draw for employees of neighboring companies, he said, adding that a FedEx driver regularly stops by during his route to use the facilities.

Cushy tech companies have long dotted their stalls with bidets. Business Insider spoke with workers who spotted them years ago at some Google and Microsoft offices. Now, with awareness and interest spreading, some workplace observers say what was once a nice-to-have perk could become a competitive advantage for employers well beyond Silicon Valley.

A recruiting tool

Robert Hatta, an executive recruiter and talent consultant in Columbus, Ohio, thinks employers pushing return-to-office mandates would have a much easier time attracting and retaining talent by investing in the fixtures.

In a LinkedIn post that drew nearly 150 comments last year, Hatta argued that flimsy toilet paper and a lack of privacy can make office life less appealing. His prescription? Sound-insulated, well-ventilated stalls, preferably equipped with bidets.

"It's about respecting people's dignity," Hatta told Business Insider. Going to the bathroom "is an important part of the workday."

The state of a workplace's facilities can reveal a lot about its culture, said Lou Downe, director of the School of Good Services, a UK-based provider of leadership training. Details such as free menstrual products, well-maintained soap dispensers, and bidets can offer clues about how much thought an employer puts into its workers' comfort, they said.

Hong, the bidet-loving Tesla alum, has since left Simbe to build his own startup, Simantic. While the company goes through Y Combinator, he and his cofounder are shacking up in an Airbnb. No modifications are allowed, so no bidets.

Once Simantic raises its seed round, Hong said he and his cofounder plan to rent some office space. He knows what their first purchase will be.