Musk Criticizes Memory Prices as Film Critical of Him Faces Ad Barriers... His "Double Standard"?

Musk Cites China's 2028 Production Surge

Seen as Price Pressure on Samsung, SK hynix

TikTok Calls Ad Account Suspension an "Error"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, criticized suppliers' pricing policies while discussing the possibility of increased memory chip production in China. A documentary film critical of Musk faced advertising restrictions on TikTok, following similar restrictions on X, which Musk owns. In the semiconductor market, the bargaining power of major buyers has become an issue, while online, platforms' authority to review ads has come under scrutiny.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. AP-Yonhap News

On Oct. 19, Musk said on X on Oct. 15, "China will produce an enormous amount of memory chips in 2028." The remark followed comments on Oct. 11, when he cited memory shortages as an obstacle to business, and on Oct. 12, when he raised the possibility of a large-scale increase in production in China. In particular, on Oct. 13, he criticized suppliers, saying, "Micron has taken a reasonable approach to memory prices going forward, but other companies have been demanding exorbitantly high prices."

Musk Pushes Back Against Memory Prices He Calls "Exorbitantly High"

Musk did not name the companies he was criticizing. However, industry observers interpret his remarks as a move to put pressure on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. As AI investment has strengthened memory suppliers' bargaining power over prices, the thinking is that he may be highlighting Chinese-made chips as an alternative to secure more favorable purchasing terms. Companies led by Musk, including Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, are pursuing businesses in autonomous driving, AI and data centers. Memory prices and supply volumes directly affect their business costs. In an interview with Time magazine in the United States published on Oct. 15, Apple CEO John Ternus also described memory supply constraints as a crisis and said, in effect, that all options, including the possibility of sourcing chips from China, should be considered.

The year 2028 cited by Musk is when the effects of capacity expansions by major memory companies are expected to become more pronounced. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is also projected to increase its monthly DRAM wafer production capacity to 500,000 to 600,000 wafers by the end of 2028. However, actual supply conditions may vary depending on AI demand, the utilization rates of new factories and yields.

Musk's Remarks on X, Critical Film Faces Ad Barriers... Big Tech's Power Under Scrutiny

As Musk publicly criticized suppliers on X, a film critical of him was denied paid advertising on the same platform. The controversy over platforms' content review standards continued after TikTok also suspended the film's advertising account. TikTok suspended the ad account for the documentary "Musk," citing a violation of its political content policy. Distributor Bleecker Street said that after receiving a warning of permanent suspension on Oct. 16, it could no longer promote the film through paid advertising.

AP-Yonhap News

This came as the film was expanding its theatrical run from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles to about 470 theaters. In effect, one major promotional channel was blocked during the first weekend of the wider release, when the film needed to draw audiences. As the controversy grew, TikTok said on Oct. 18 that the restriction on the ad account had been an error and restored the account. Although the restriction was lifted, the distributor missed the opportunity to run paid promotions on Friday and Saturday. Meta and YouTube had also previously rejected ads for the film on the grounds that they contained political content, before reversing their decisions. The restrictions came amid scrutiny of the film's indirect inclusion of several business figures close to Musk. Larry Ellison, Oracle's founder, whose company holds a stake in TikTok's U.S. operations, appears in text messages shown in the film. The messages discuss investing billions of dollars to help Musk acquire Twitter.

"Musk," directed by Alex Gibney, takes a critical look at Musk's rise, personal life, allegations of manipulation of the X algorithm and his activities in the Trump Administration. The film, which was invited to the Venice Film Festival, drew a fierce backlash from Musk, who harshly denounced the director.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.