Elon Musk’s ‘lab leak’ tweets could be an issue for Tesla’s plans in China

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge

CNBC reports The Global Times, a state-run paper in China, has warned Elon Musk about pushing the covid lab leak" theory. Reporter Eunice Yoon said the social media post asked if Musk is breaking the pot of China," with a meaning similar to asking if he was biting the hand that feeds him.

Ever since Musk announced his intention to buy Twitter, it's seemed certain that at some point, the service's content would put him at odds with the Chinese Communist Party, as Nilay Patel wrote after the deal closed:

Are you excited for the Chinese government to find ways to threaten Tesla's huge business in that country over content that appears on Twitter? Because it's going to happen.

How fast we arrived at this most obvious sticking point is no...

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