Summary: Technological progress often comes from unconventional people. Elon Musk’s abrasive conduct has made him a polarizing figure, but his companies have helped cut rocket launch costs, expand internet access, and make electric cars mainstream. Some traits that drive ambitious breakthroughs may also make their creators difficult to work with. Holding innovators accountable for harmful conduct need not mean dismissing their accomplishments or demanding agreeable personalities.

Last Thursday, Tesla demonstrated a prototype Roadster capable of briefly flying through the air. Elon Musk’s AI company, now part of SpaceX, recently introduced Grok Bot, autonomous agents that run on a shared persistent cloud computer and that can collaborate with one another and execute scheduled tasks in users’ apps while they are offline.

Meanwhile, SpaceX continues developing Starship, the largest rocket ever built, with the ambition of making space travel cheaper and more routine.