Elon Musk Created A Mysterious Corporation Called ‘United States Of America Inc’

Technology

Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinRepublican mega-donor Elon Musk has quietly incorporated two new companies that could indicate his further involvement in U.S. politics, Forbes has learned.

Established earlier this month, the mysterious entities were formed in the billionaire’s home state of Texas using an address shared with his family office; they are United States of America Inc., and Group America LLC. Neither has been previously reported.

There’s little to illuminate their purpose, but United States of America Inc. appears to be a holding company and identifies Musk as its sole director. It’s listed as the managing member of Group America LLC, which does not name Musk, but is linked to him through the address that’s exclusively shared by a number of his companies, including Musk Ventures and several LLCs he’s reportedly also used to conduct business. Representatives for Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Over the past few months, the tech mogul has loudly supported Trump. At a campaign rally last week, he notoriously leapt about the stage. Now, he’s touring Pennsylvania, an important battleground state, to stump for the former president. Musk has also become one of Trump’s top donors, contributing at least $75 million to “America PAC,” the pro-Trump political action committee he launched in May, according to newly filed campaign finance records.

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And while Musk only publicly endorsed Trump in July, calling him “tough” and a “martyr” following the Pennsylvania assassination attempt on the former president, he’s been reportedly financing Republican causes for years. Unlike his public donations to America PAC, Musk has also funneled millions of dollars to conservative ad campaigns through an LLC used to fund “dark money” groups, which aren’t legally required to disclose their donors, the Wall Street Journal reported. In 2022, more than $50 million of his funds reportedly wound up with Citizens for Sanity, a group behind a string of attack ads on transgender rights, crime and immigration, with ties to Trump’s former speechwriter Stephen Miller.

Musk’s new companies don’t show up in Federal Election Commission records that could reveal whether they’ve been used to give or receive campaign funds. The most recent batch of filings stop at this year’s third fiscal quarter, which does not include the month of October when Musk’s companies were incorporated.
Like many high profile individuals, Musk has relied on LLCs and shell companies to obscure some of his activities. In Bastrop, Texas, his tunneling venture, The Boring Company, used an LLC called Gapped Bass to purchase large swaths of land. Forbes previously reported how his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, distributed nondisclosure agreements through a sister entity to keep its supercomputer project quiet.
Curiously, United States of America Inc. also shares its name with a far-right conspiracy theory.
Some extremist enclaves and “sovereign citizens” (anti-government individuals who claim to be outside the government’s jurisdiction) believe the country was secretly reorganized as a for-profit corporation, according to misinterpretations of the 1871 law that municipally incorporated and established the District of Columbia. Ryan Bundy — son of Cliven Bundy, whose violent standoff with federal law enforcement agents in 2014 has come to symbolize the sovereign movement — referred to the “United States of America Inc.” in his subsequent lawsuit against the U.S. government. In 2021, Qanon followers recycled this claim to argue that President Biden’s inauguration was actually illegitimate. The conspiracy theory has been thoroughly discredited by historians, legal experts and disinformation researchers.
Musk does not appear to have espoused or even remarked on the theory and there’s no evidence to suggest it’s related to his new corporation. Still, “United States of America Inc” has been tweeted at him dozens of times by X users seemingly pushing this ideology. The billionaire has been known to blur the line between online trolling and real life, but it’s unclear why he chose this name.
Musk has made an extensive effort to influence American politics, both out in the open and behind closed doors. His America PAC has courted donations from Silicon Valley peers like investor Marc Andreessen and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale. The committee is now offering to pay citizens who convince swing state voters to sign a pledge in support of the First and Second Amendments. Earlier this year, he covertly bankrolled a campaign to unseat a Texas district attorney by funding ads that claimed the prosecutor was “filling Austin’s streets with pedophiles & killers,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Another possibility is that Musk’s new entities have something to do with his plans for a second Trump administration. “At the suggestion of Elon Musk,” Trump said last month, the billionaire has expressed interest in spearheading the creation of a government efficiency commission to “totally eliminate fraud and improper payments” through a widespread federal audit. “This is badly needed,” Musk responded, and tweeted the crypto-themed acronym D.O.G.E — Department of Government Efficiency.
With reporting from Zach Everson.
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Star Trek’s Kelvin Timeline Movies Almost Featured A Cameo From Nichelle Nichols

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Static Media

In 2009, “Star Trek” seemed to be over. The last feature film in the franchise was 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis,” and that film was staggeringly unpopular, earning less money than any other “Star Trek” film before it, even counting for inflation. Then, in 2005, the last lingering Trek series, “Star Trek: Enterprise” was canceled after only four seasons, a full three years shorter than the three previous Trek shows. The world, it seemed, didn’t want “Star Trek” anymore. Indeed, in a warlike post-9/11 world, a pacifist sci-fi series that vaunted diplomacy and equality was no longer welcome. 

J.J. Abrams managed to make “Star Trek” relevant again by upping the violence. His 2009 reboot film not only recast the familiar original series characters with younger, sexier versions, but he shifted the action into overdrive, including more shooting, explosions, punching, death, and cataclysm. This was a “Star Trek” film for people who were familiar with some of the characters and iconography from the 1966 TV series, but who never had the patience for its heady sci-fi stories or multicultural underpinnings. 
To connect this “Star Trek” to its forebear, however, Abrams hired Leonard Nimoy to reprise his role as Spock. Credited as Spock Prime, the older Vulcan was able to visit his younger self (Zachary Quinto) thanks to a rift in the spacetime continuum. Spock’s presence in Abrams’ reboot was sort of like getting the Pope’s blessing, an assurance to old-school Trekkies that, yes, this was indeed connected to the “Star Trek” you remember. 

And there was a stage in the film’s production when further connections would have been provided. At a 2008 appearance at the Supanova Pop Cultre Expo, covered by an article in TrekMovie, Nichelle Nichols — Lieutenant Uhura on the original series — was visiting the set of “Star Trek” in 2009, and Abrams had a great idea for a cameo. Sadly, the plan simply never made it to the page.

I’m not interested in a legacy

Paramount

It should be noted right away that Nichols, who passed in 2022, loved Zoe Saldaña’s performance, and was eager to see what Abrams was going to do with “Star Trek.” Although Abrams has admitted that he wasn’t a Trekkie as a youth, he was still excited to meet Nichols, as she has attained a high station within popular culture because of “Star Trek.” Abrams also, when talking with Nichols, began spitballing ideas as to how she might appear in his film. The two, however, hemmed and hawed a little bit, as Leonard Nimoy seemed to be the one “legacy” character. Nichols recalled: 

“He was very excited … like a young fan. He was like, ‘I can’t believe I am sitting here with Uhura.’ And he said, ‘You know, I would really like to find a valid reason for you to be in the movie.’ And, of course, I became: ‘Ooh! Wow! I would love it.’ But how? And he says, ‘That is the point, I don’t want it to be a gimmick, I don’t want to just be doing that to just do it.’ Leonard is in it because the whole movie is about him, about Spock.”

This was a valid concern. Including characters merely because of their legacy clout may be temporarily satisfying to fans, but it can’t be satisfying for an actor. If Uhura Prime was going to be included, she needed something more significant to do than merely provide a glorified cameo. One might recall the use of Walter Koenig and James Doohan in 1994’s “Star Trek: Generations.” The two only appeared in the opening scene and didn’t have a major bearing on the main plot. Koenig and Doohan were seemingly okay with that — they agreed to appear after all — but the other original “Star Trek” actors all refused because they had nothing to do. 

Then Abrams thought of something for Nichols to do.

I’m my own grandma

Paramount

Abrams and Nichols quickly brainstormed on the spot, and Abrams had an idea that they both liked. Nichols continued: 

“He said ‘I’m just thinking’ — and he was telling me about the young actress who got the part to play the young Uhura, the pre-Uhura, Zoe Saldaña — and he said ‘I think she could learn a lot from a lovely lady.’ And he said,’You know what I’d love? I’d love for you to play her mother!’ And I said, ‘You know what I’d really like? I’d like to play her grandmother!’ And he said, ‘You’re too young to play her grandmother!’ and I said: ‘This is what grandmothers look like!'” 

Nichols was 77 at the time, and her son, Kyle, was already 57. Zoe Saldaña, meanwhile, was only 31. Nichols could have played either the new Uhura’s mother or Uhura’s grandmother. “Star Trek” as noted in the past, people live a heck of a lot longer in the future, so Nichols could even have played Uhura’s great-grandmother, and merely looked spry for, say, 110. 
Sadly, because of a writers’ strike, no changes could ethically be made to the “Star Trek” script, and the idea of including Nichols had to be scrapped. A pity, as it would have been wonderful to see Nichols again, and it would have added a little inter-franchise support. Nichols, luckily, continued to act, appearing in the high-profile “Star Trek” fan films “Star Trek: Of Gods and Men” and “Star Trek: Renegades.” She also appeared in “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.” Abrams, meanwhile, missed out. 

Tech can help kids connect with nature and go outdoors – here are tips to make it work

Technology

Young children’s lives are increasingly spent indoors. They have less access to green spaces, their parents are concerned about safety, and there’s also the draw of digital entertainment. This shift away from the natural world has been evocatively named “the extinction of experience”.

By being in green spaces, children benefit in many ways, including greater physical activity and improved concentration and self-control. The outdoors is also good for children’s learning. Benefits such as these have fuelled the rise of forest schools and the integration of nature play in early childhood education.

The things that play the biggest role in limiting children’s time in nature are urbanisation and parental attitudes. Despite this, digital devices are often blamed for keeping kids indoors.

Digital entertainment is widely perceived as addictive and detrimental. While the concept of screen time is contested, most Australian children are exceeding the current recommended guidelines.

Our research took a different approach, asking: could digital technologies be designed to foster nature connection? After looking at studies of digital technologies used by children aged eight years and under, we found a wide range of ways technology can help children find their way back into the great outdoors.

Being in nature

The ways children connect to nature go through several phases: “being in nature, being with nature, and being for nature”. Key experiences that boost this connection include free time in nature, seeing others like oneself in natural settings, recording nature experiences, and gaining confidence and a sense of agency outdoors.

We found technologies that help children to

have social and playful experiences outdoors
discover nature
show their care for and learn about other species and the environment, and
focus their creative and artistic abilities on the world around them.

The most commonly used technology were digital cameras in various forms: handheld, GoPros, or built into smartphones or prototype devices.

Case studies from all around the world show how digital imagery opens doors into the natural world. In São Paulo, Brazil, photography helped children notice urban nature they had overlooked. In the United States, it allowed them to collect images of species to learn about.

In Australia, children took photos in parks for creative manipulation later, while in Finland, an augmented reality “forest elf” encouraged imaginative nature exploration that children could photograph. In Italy, the ABBOT prototype used a screenless camera device linked to a tablet application, enabling nature exploration without the distraction of screens.

Julle, the augmented reality ‘forest elf’ used in the Finnish study.
Kumpulainen et al. (2020), CC BY

Young citizen scientists

Nature photography is also a gateway to citizen science. Apps like QuestaGame, though not a subject of our research, bridge the appeal of photography and the game design of Pokémon Go. The goal of the game is to collect images of species for science.

Our study found one citizen science project with seven- and eight-year-old children text logging seashore species they found. While the youngest children needed parental support to do this, they were reportedly the most enthusiastic.

Sound technologies can also help connect kids with nature. The Ambient Birdhouse plays nature videos in the home so that children are sensitised to bird sounds when outside. Another tool, the Eko nature sound collector, pairs with an app to let children manipulate sounds they’ve collected outdoors.

Like photography, sound technologies are an entry point to noticing the natural world. And children can use these even if they can’t yet read.

How can we use tech to connect children with nature?

There are many ways to appropriate existing technologies and make new ones to help children connect with nature. Parents and educators can use accessible technologies like cameras, and applications such as QuestaGame, including their schools-oriented challenge.

To add mystery and excitement by having to look at the images later – much like with film cameras – parents can cover up the screen of a smartphone or digital camera. (A few inches of painter’s masking tape can do the trick.)

Going out to check an automatic nature camera can also be exciting. It can even turn into a daily ritual. These cameras are available both commercially and DIY. To find the best places to put them, children can engage in backyard experimentation, adding another dimension to this activity.

To further encourage their children’s creative and scientific learning, parents can help children make digital stories out of nature photos, or learn about species together.

Finally, tech developers can use all this evidence to design dedicated tech tools for children to use in nature. These designs should be easy for young children to use, engage more senses than sight, and encourage outdoor play, wonder and care for nature.

If such technologies are designed in collaboration with children, families and educators, they have the chance to be widely embraced, both at home and in the classroom.

Our work shows there are ways to use technology to build kids’ interest in the outdoors. By listening to parents’ concerns about addiction to smart devices and children’s safety, we can ensure a world where children play outdoors freely, without veering towards surveillance.

Customs adopts new tech to combat drug trafficking in Saint Lucia

Technology

The Customs and Excise Department on welcomes state-of-the-art technology which will assist them in detecting the entry of illegal drugs on-island. The Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Elderly Affairs and the Organization of American States have launched an Early Warning System (EWS) in Saint Lucia. The network, a multi-agency network, will enhance inter-agency communication, provide timely alerts, and improve intervention strategies for public health and safety. The system will involve clinical practitioners, forensic experts, national security, border agencies, and community-based organizations.Assistant Customs Comptroller responsible for Enforcement, Kosygin Frederick, explained that this new technological system adds a scientific form of identification which has not been used before. He noted that the Department welcomed the initiative and resources will be managed effectively to achieve the desired results. “This initiative is a long-awaited one, because it will allow us to gather the information that we would need in order for us to be able to carry out our duties in terms of intercepting and detecting drugs. We now have something in place where we could rely on something more scientific,” he said. Frederick says the Department is making strides in its stopping the illegal entry of drugs and narcotics into the country. “We’ve been able to identify a lot of the hot spots – well, when I say hot spots, areas where those imports would be frequently coming from. I don’t want to say too much in that regard. However, yes, we have been making some good strides.” Earlier this year, the United States government imposed restrictions on exporting firearms to some CARICOM countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The Customs official says that despite restrictions being levied, criminals will find alternative means of meeting their objectives. “Like anything else, when you put in restrictions and prohibitions, criminals get more creative in the ways that they would import or cause items to be imported,” he said. 

Every Business Collects Customer Feedback—Now What?

Business News

Brad Anderson is the President of Products and Engineering at Qualtrics. Brad previously spent 17 years as a key leader at Microsoft.

Consumers are no longer influenced only by product features or pricing—they’re increasingly swayed by the overall experience a brand provides, whether it’s through customer service, product usability or emotional engagement. We know a negative interaction can lead to swift consequences—a lost customer, a tarnished reputation or a competitive advantage slipping away. That’s why experience management—the practice of understanding and optimizing the interactions people have with a company to spot opportunities for improvement—is becoming more important for brands worldwide.

In fact, a Qualtrics XM Institute survey of over 1,000 executives from large companies around the globe found that leaders who rate their company’s experience management as “significantly above average” overwhelmingly report better revenue growth, profitability and employee retention than competitors. It’s part of the reason Qualtrics and industry heavyweights Bain and Kantar have asked the greater community to help establish the first-ever global standard for benchmarking customer experience (CX) that goes beyond measuring customer satisfaction.

Businesses must advance past simple feedback collection to foster deeper customer loyalty and deliver business growth. In this article, I’ll outline what’s at stake and provide the practical strategies that any leader can implement to take their strategy to the next level.

Most Businesses Only Scratch The Surface With Their CX Efforts
As someone who spends their day-to-day talking to company leaders about experience management, it’s clear to me that companies are missing the opportunity to get more value out of their programs. Over 40% of companies fail to recognize customer experience management as a strategic opportunity. Instead, their efforts are often limited to reactive measures—essential functions like post-transaction surveys or collecting product feedback that do little to inform broader strategies.

Leadership and investors often have an incomplete understanding of what experience management is, which can lead to their CX teams focusing solely on monitoring limited metrics like NPS or CSAT scores. However, the true value of experience management lies in its ability to drive customer value creation, enhance customer acquisition and contribute to overall business growth.

Three Steps To Build A More Successful Experience Management Program
The most successful companies not only see the value of managing CX but have effectively woven those CX metrics into the fabric of their entire operation. They systematically identify CX breakdowns and engagement opportunities and use customer feedback to inform their strategic objectives, operational processes and everyday work routines.

So, why do many organizations struggle to move beyond the basics? The answer often lies in the technical infrastructure, culture and competencies—or lack thereof—that businesses have in place.
Below are three steps that every CX leader can take to advance their influence and deliver more value to the business:
Step 1: Prove the value of experience management to leadership with early wins.
Organizations often start applying the experience management discipline in one area of their business or across a few tightly related areas. For example, a company may kick off its experience management efforts by taking action based on the results of a relationship NPS survey and through feedback collected on customers’ call center experiences.
To tie those metrics to business value, teams must find the connection between experience data and operational metrics like average customer spend, then demonstrate how increases or decreases in the core experience metrics impact those spending figures. A tangible win using CX data that the organization already collects can demonstrate the value of expanding into new areas of the business.
Step 2: Expand and connect similar use cases.
Next, CX teams and leaders should look for similar areas of the business to enhance with customer data insights. For example, after analyzing the results of its initial NPS and customer support surveys, a company might expand its listening channels and incorporate more advanced features, like text and predictive analytics. These more advanced organizations imbue surveys with historical transaction data they already have for each customer. This data includes details about what customers purchased, when and where they made those purchases (online or in-store), how much they spent and the history of their recent contacts with a company, like a chat with the support center.
Armed with this additional information, business leaders can more accurately identify which service or purchase experiences are causing customers to leave or encourage repeat purchases and loyalty. This level of data allows leaders to make recommendations that span business groups, such as tweaking an employee recognition program to encourage improvements to frontline customer service.
Step 3: Make experience management a strategic priority across the organization.
The most strategic organizations with advanced CX programs treat every interaction as an opportunity to deliver personalized experiences and predict future behavior. At this stage, data teams arm leaders across the organization with near real-time insights into the business’ most important experience metrics, empowering them to focus on the initiatives that will drive the most value for employees and customers. As a result, every team in the organization will seek to apply experience to every new initiative they undertake, whether introducing a new product or organizing an employee engagement program. Product, marketing, sales and customer service teams all share their experience metrics, and changes are made with the collective business in mind.
To advance through each stage of maturity, businesses need the right tools and systems to continuously monitor, analyze and adapt to changing consumer expectations. An experience management platform should integrate with the organization’s existing enterprise systems, including CRM and HCM platforms, databases and workflow management tools.
AI will continue to transform how businesses operate. And its ability to turn raw data into actionable insights—delivered to the right people and processes in tailored and timely formats—could create a new pinnacle for experience management.
The companies that invest in building their experience management programs now are expected to benefit for years to come.
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