‘You are dumb’: Elon Musk gets into heated exchange with Indian-American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla

Argentina is grappling with a recession, high inflation, and massive job losses since Milei took office. Unemployment has reached 52%, and poverty stands at 53%. Disagreements over these figures have ignited a public spat between Elon Musk and Vinod Khosla.

Written By Arshdeep Kaur
Published1 Oct 2024, 09:02 PM IST
A file photo of Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems.
A file photo of Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. (Photo: AP)

X owner Elon Musk recently got into a heated exchange on the social media platform with Indian-American Billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

On a post shared by Khosla, Musk called him "dumb" and disputed the facts shared.

Khosla had shared an article by the British daily Financial Times on Argentina's rising poverty rates.

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"Argentinas unemployment rate soars to 52% under Mile is dictatorial austerity program. Same will happen under @realDonaldTrump as he slashes spending. His tariffs will simultaneously increase inflation," he wrote.

The FT article stated that the rise in unemployment was due to "slashed public spending" by its President Javier Milei.

Musk commented on the post, "You are dumb," triggering a slew of comments from both sides. A user said how could "Khosla not think this through?"

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"A 52% unemployment rate is just absurd, it should have triggered something in his brain to say this doesn't seem right," he said.

To this, Musk replied, "Seriously."

Khosla, however, refused to back down. He commented, "Poverty is gross underemployment. Too nuanced for macho brains to understand. My nuance vs. your outright posting of false pics? I get a community comment and yours didn't. I thought you were above this kind of bias at X."

While the debate on the 52% figure is ongoing, a CNN report also suggested that under Milei, Argentina's poverty rate has increased to 53%, worst in over 20 years.

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"The country is in a deep recession and inflation remains in triple digits, though there are signs things are improving," the report said.

Media reports also suggest that over 136,000 jobs have been wiped out in the South American country since Milei took office last year. They suggest that the losses could be much higher in the informal sector.

"The price increases have eroded the purchasing power of workers and pensioners," the above-mentioned FT report said.

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