Build A "Walled Garden", Elon Musk's Quip For Apple

Elon Musk quips Apple for being overprotective of its technology. (photo: instagram)

JAKARTA - Elon Musk quipped Apple twice in his views during Tesla's second-quarter earnings report, on Monday, July 26.

In one less-covered reference to Apple, Musk said Tesla would not create a "walled garden" around its technology.

"It is our goal to support the emergence of sustainable energy," Musk said. "This is not to create a "walled garden" and use it to beat up our competitors, which some companies sometimes use." Elon Musk then coughed as he said, "Apple."

The walled garden is a term used to describe Apple's strict control over which technology is compatible with its devices. For example, you can download apps to your iPhone only from Apple's App Store.

Apple's tight control over its services has led some app developers to accuse it of anti-competitive behavior. Even the European Union commissioner for fair trade competition in April accused him of violating antitrust laws.

Tesla announced last week that it would let other electric vehicles use its network of fast charging points by the end of this year. This would be the opposite of the walled garden practice.

During the earnings report, Musk also said Apple uses more cobalt than Tesla to make batteries. "There's a misconception that Tesla uses a lot of cobalt, but it really doesn't," Musk said.

The two companies are named in a December lawsuit filed by 14 families from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who say their children were killed or maimed working in a cobalt mine to supply metal to the big tech company.

Meanwhile, Tesla and Apple themselves are now competing. It looks like Apple's secret self-driving car division, "Project Titan," has been hunting for dozens of Tesla employees to hijack.