Yesterday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk raised eyebrows when he called Apple the “Tesla Graveyard” in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt. This afternoon, Musk attempted to smooth things over with a series of tweets.
Yo, I don't hate Apple. It's a great company with a lot of talented people. I love their products and I'm glad they're doing an EV.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2015
In the interview, Musk called Apple the Tesla Graveyard after being questioned about Apple hiring some of Tesla’s “most important engineers.” Musk laughed off this idea and said Apple hired engineers that had already been fired from Tesla. He said:
“If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding.”
Musk also poked fun at products like the Apple Watch, iPad Pro, and Apple Pencil. In a second tweet, Musk said he wasn’t a fan of the Apple Watch’s functionality, but expects it to be a more compelling product in the future.
Regarding the watch, Jony & his team created a beautiful design, but the functionality isn't compelling yet. By version 3, it will be.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2015
Apple and Tesla have been at odds in recent months as Apple has been rumoured to be working on a car. The two companies have been poaching employees away from one another for several months, but Musk has maintained that Apple has hired away “very few people” from Tesla despite attempting to lure Tesla employees with higher slurries and increased signing bonuses.
