Sept. 2023 Tech-Biz Quiz: What’s the Title of Musk’s Biography?

Walter Isaacson chose the straightforward title “Elon Musk” for his biography of the tech magnate. The book topped Amazon’s bestseller list before its Sept. 12, 2023, release. Isaacson’s “Elon Musk” delves into the real-life escapades of this visionary entrepreneur. One of the significant revelations in the book is about Musk’s alleged involvement in averting a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian ships. According to the biography, Musk turned off Starlink near Crimea, disrupting Ukraine’s strike against a Russian fleet. As a result, the drones, loaded with explosives, lost connectivity and washed ashore without causing damage.

Techno Mechanicus Musk, affectionately dubbed “Tau,” was born in June 2022. Tau made his grand debut not in a tweet or a press release but in the pages of Elon Musk’s new biography, as chronicled by Walter Isaacson. While X Æ A-13 might’ve been the talk of the town in 2020, and Starship continues to aim for the stars, it’s Techno “Tau” Mechanicus who’s the latest buzz in the Musk household.

In a Sept. 18, 2023, live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk spilled some beans about Twitter, now known as “X”. Among the tidbits, he mentioned that X has 550 million monthly users. Musk suggested introducing a “small monthly payment” for X users during the same chat. Why, you ask? To combat those pesky “vast armies of bots.”

Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, and part-time digital drama king, pointed fingers at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for allegedly trying to “strangle” the platform. This is after ADL’s Director, Jonathan Greenblatt, tweeted on Aug. 31, 2023, about a “productive conversation” with X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, about addressing the platform’s hate speech. The post was met with backlash by white supremacists, leading to the trending hashtag #BanTheADL. And during this storm, Musk chose to voice his choked-up sentiments about the ADL with a lawsuit.

Apple gave the iPhone 15 Pro models a little makeover, announced during their Sept. 12, 2023 event. Gone are the days when stainless steel was the talk of the town. Now, it’s all about the more durable and lighter titanium. And while the world waited for the iPhone 15, Apple sprinkled some more magic with iOS 17. The real party trick? Turning your iPhone into a bedside clock. Finally.

In Apple’s ever-evolving world, where innovation meets “I didn’t know I needed that,” iOS 17 introduced the “Check In” feature. Released on Sept. 18, 2023, “Check In” allows users to share their location with selected contacts to let them know when the user made it back home safely or even give them a heads up if their friend takes a little longer than expected.

Google’s Bard, the ever-so-helpful AI chatbot, has a nifty new feature aptly named “Google It.” Whenever you doubt Bard’s overconfident answers, you can simply click on the “G” icon, and Bard will cross-reference its response with the vast web. This marvelous feature was unveiled on Sept. 19, 2023. You can find it right in your Bard chat. Validated answers glow reassuring green, while the more dubious ones blush in orange.

Baidu, China’s search engine mogul, unveiled Ernie Bot, China’s AI chatbot sensation, on Aug. 31, 2023. Not before Beijing approved Baidu’s decision to release Ernie Bot to the public, of course. By the afternoon of its grand debut, Ernie Bot became the top app on Apple’s iOS store in China. And as a cherry on top, Baidu’s stock price danced up by over 3%.

The Mate 60 Pro’s advanced 7-nanometer processor is a tiny marvel causing big waves. This chip, a collaboration between Huawei and China’s top chipmaker SMIC, is an unexpected technological leap. Launched on Aug. 29, 2023, this smartphone showcases China’s prowess in dodging the Western 5G chip embargo. It also has the US rethinking trade policies.

Sam Altman, OpenAI chief executive and co-founder of Tools for Humanity, is behind the Worldcoin project, which aims to scan the irises of every human being on Earth. The latest buzz was on Aug. 7, 2023, during a glitzy event at an art gallery in downtown Manhattan, where shiny orbs greeted attendees. These orbs contain cameras designed to capture images of a person’s irises, converting these scans into unique digital IDs. The grand plan is to provide support in a world transformed by AI, with these IDs serving as the foundation.

Stablecoins are a type of digital currency gaining prominence in recent years, with companies like PayPal diving into the mix as of August 7, 2023. Stablecoins are designed to minimize volatility associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. They achieve this stability by anchoring themselves to a “stable” reserve asset, such as the US dollar or gold. US PayPal customers can now transfer Paypal’s stablecoin, PYUSD, which equals $1 (US). They can also convert other supported cryptocurrencies to and from PYUSD.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the once-billionaire founder of FTX, couldn’t resist the urge to give a couple of witnesses in his upcoming trial a friendly ‘nudge’ (or, as the court calls it, “witness tampering”). The judge revoked his bail, leading to his imprisonment, in a hearing on August 11, 2023. He is suspected of sharing his ex-partner Caroline Ellison’s private writings with a New York Times reporter and contacting FTX’s general counsel with encrypted messages. Bankman-Fried faces charges of stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, where Caroline Ellison was CEO. Ellison has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against him at his trial on October 2.

Elon Musk, the SpaceX/Tesla maestro, sustained an injury he said might delay his proposed cage fight several years ago at an exhibition sumo match. It was brought up when his cage fight proposal with Zuckerberg heated up with a suggested date of August 26. Musk revealed he might need an MRI and surgery before stepping into the ring (or cage) with Zuckerberg, who said it’s time to move on to some more serious opponents.