What’s Driving Tesla’s Open Source Gambit?

The controversial automaker wants to create an industry as well as electric vehicles

Wed, 07/02/2014 - 12:16

Should a car be treated like a piece of software? That is essentially what Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has done. The billionaire, who made his fortune by co-founding and selling PayPal, recently dropped a bombshell on the automotive industry: In the spirit of the “open source” movement, he announced last month that Tesla would share patents that cover its revolutionary electric vehicles for free.

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“Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport,” Musk wrote in a June 12, 2014, blog post, strangely titled, “All Our Patent Are Belong To You.” “If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal.” Musk added that Tesla would not sue anyone who uses the patents in “good faith.”

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors

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