Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the conversation raised national security concerns among some intelligence officials. At one point, Putin reportedly asked Musk not to launch his satellite-based internet service, Starlink, in Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
As the WSJ points out, Musk's and Russia's interests have increasingly overlapped over the past year. Russia is using Musk's social network X to run a disinformation campaign about vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and the federal government's response to recent hurricanes. The Ukrainian government also announced that Russian forces occupying the country have begun using Starlink to extend the range of their drones.
The U.S. government faces a dilemma because it relies heavily on Musk's technology, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. For example, SpaceX launches satellites into orbit that are important to national security.