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Biden administration officials are discussing whether the US should subject some of Elon Musk’s ventures to national security reviews, including the deal for Twitter and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, according to people familiar with the matter.
Twitter shares fell as much as 16 percent in pre-market trading in New York.
US officials have grown uncomfortable over Musk’s recent threat to stop supplying the Starlink satellite service to Ukraine — he said it had cost him US$80 million so far — and what they see as his increasingly Russia-friendly stance following a series of tweets that outlined peace proposals favourable to President Vladimir Putin. They are also concerned by his plans to buy Twitter with a group of foreign investors.
The discussions are still at an early stage, the people familiar said on condition of anonymity. Officials in the US government and intelligence community are weighing what tools, if any, are available that would allow the federal government to review Musk’s ventures.
One possibility is through the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review Musk’s deals and operations for national security risks, they said.
The interagency panel, known as CFIUS, reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign buyers. It is not clear if a CFIUS review — which would involve assessments by the Departments of State, Defence, and Homeland Security, among others — would offer the government a legal way to conduct a review, the people said. – Bloomberg
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