Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin’s proposed Clubhouse chat ‘a misunderstanding’, Kremlin says

Spokesperson originally said offer from Tesla boss was ‘a very interesting proposal’

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks on the phone in the settlement of Enem, Republic of Adygea, Russia, on 23 December, 2019 (Reuters)

A proposed conversation between Elon Musk and Vladimir Putin on the app Clubhouse may not go ahead after the Tesla boss reportedly failed to respond to the Kremlin.

The technology billionaire invited the Russian president for a chat on Clubhouse last month by tweeting the official presidential account.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at the time that the offer was “a very interesting proposal”, but on Tuesday said that an attempt to proceed with the virtual meet-up had come to nothing.

Mr Peskov told reporters that Moscow had not received a response after reaching out to Mr Musk for further details, and that the matter was now probably closed.

“Apparently there was some kind of misunderstanding,” Mr Peskov told reporters.

It is not clear what Mr Musk wished to discuss with Mr Putin, though some speculated it may have been related to recent news that Russian regulators are considering fines for anyone using SpaceX’s Starlink internet service.

The invite-only app allows users to join chat rooms focussed on certain topics, with Mr Musk previously using the platform to discuss everything from colonising Mars to cryptocurrency.

Up to 5,000 users at any one time can join digital “rooms” to listen in on conversations, as well as start their own discussions.

Earlier this year, Mr Musk grilled the co-founder of the trading app Robinhood over its decision to limit the amount of shares its customers could buy in certain companies.

“Did you sell your clients down the river,” the world’s second richest person asked Vladimir Tenev.

Mr Musk has also invited the rapper Kanye West to appear with him on Clubhouse, though no further details about when this might take place have been released.

Additional reporting from agencies.