Before Musk led the charge to terminate USAID, his companies worked with and took funding from it. Tesla holds a stake in a company called Zola, which is funded in part by USAID to bring renewable energy to agricultural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. And Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor, SpaceX,
USAID to bring its Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine in 2022 after Russia’s invasion destroyed telecommunications infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Musk shared
claiming USAID had sponsored celebrity visits to Ukraine. Darren Linvill, a co-director of Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, told NBC News the video was manufactured Russian propaganda.