It doesn't matter what Musk really meant with this salute. Robotaxis are exclusively a product for large urban areas, and that population largely didn't like it at all.

Musk's response to the accusations has included the complaint that the "legacy media" is trying to cancel him.

An image of Elon Musk making a controversial salute during a speech on Monday was projected onto Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin. The display featured Musk's gesture alongside the words "Heil Tesla." Newsweek reached out to Tesla's communications team for comment on Wednesday.