Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX could build ventilators

Enlarge / Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and chief executive officer of Tesla, says that his companies could help fill the gap in the event of a ventilator shortage. (credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Updated: we removed a reference to the ventilator manufacturer suing the Italian 3D printer.

As with previous epidemics that attack the lungs, one of the biggest worries about COVID-19 is that we simply won't have enough ventilators to treat critically ill patients. It's a valid concern, based on reports from Italy. The US government has confirmed that the nation has a stockpile of more than 10,000 ventilators, but President Trump also recently told Twitter that it should be the states' responsibility to buy these vital life-saving devices.

Over the past few days, there have been growing calls to mobilize advanced manufacturing industries to meet this need, and on Wednesday night, Elon Musk replied to a fan on twitter that his companies "will make ventilators if there is a shortage."

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