We like to think that there is a lesson in every technology incident. But when technology becomes dependent on power, sometimes the conclusion is simpler: it would be better to stay away.
That's the conclusion Elon Musk drew from his time as the instigator of DOGE, the insurgent cost-cutting initiative that brought a chainsaw to federal agencies. The public protested. Tesla were set on fireand drivers of his much-hyped Cybertruck found that instead of getting a thumbs up, they received middle finger.
After reflection, Musk said he would not do this again. “Instead of doing DOGE, I would essentially… work on my companies,” he told an interviewer this month. “And they wouldn’t burn cars.”
Regrets—there were several in 2025. Here are some of the most notable ones.
NEO, home robot
1X TECH
Imagine a metal butler filling your dishwasher and opening the door. It's a dream straight out of science fiction. And it will stay there – at least for a while.
That was the hilarious and disappointing conclusion from early reviews of NEO, a 66-pound humanoid robot whose maker says it will “reliably handle all your chores” when it goes on sale next year.
But as a newspaper reporter Wall Street Journal As it turns out, NEO took two minutes to fold the sweater and couldn't crack the walnut. Moreover, the robot was controlled at all times by a remotely controlled person wearing a VR protective visor.
