Sitting in a black leather jacket, Elon Musk talks to ASML boss Christophe Fouquet via a large screen on Thursday afternoon. Employees are watching in the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch and via an online connection. Not everyone was happy with the digital presence of the wealthy entrepreneur.
The piece of video ended up on this site via an anonymous source, because ASML did not allow the press. Not in the Brabanthallen where Musk appeared on a large screen and where he was interviewed by CEO Fouquet, and not on the livestream where employees elsewhere could follow the meeting.
A group of anonymous ASML employees placed a banner on the BIC site on Thursday, where the new ASML Campus is to be built. The message was clear: ‘Fuck Musk’. Right as Musk started speaking, it was revealed. The activists once again made it clear why in a press release. They consider the world-famous entrepreneur ‘a racist and fascist’. They do not want ‘Musk to use the Brainport region via ASML to further spread his ideologies’.
The announcement that he would address ASML employees already caused a wave of criticism on the internal communication channel of the Veldhoven company. That should not be associated with the person Musk, it was said. According to employees, his views are at odds with ASML’s core values.
Musk was invited because of his plan to build a mega chip factory in Texas. On Thursday afternoon he clearly sounded very satisfied with his own Starlink, the network of satellites that should make broadband internet available worldwide.
In this video you can hear more about what he has to say about ASML and his own company.
Musk needs ASML
For this he needs ASML’s advanced chip machines. The chips should provide the computing power for data centers for AI (artificial intelligence) that Musk wants to build in space. He sees the use of solar energy as an alternative to the enormous amounts of power that data centers on Earth consume.
The driving force behind the plan for the ‘Terafab’ chip factory are Musk’s companies Tesla and SpaceX. The American chip manufacturer Intel, an important customer of ASML, is also involved.
However, critical ASML employees believe that the businessman Musk cannot be separated from his person. In messages on the internal ASML platform Viva Engage, they point to his Nazi sympathies, views on transgender people, political involvement in the US and anti-European attitude.
ASML actually pursues a policy of inclusivity, critical employees said.
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