[nchuhoai]

Commentors point out that Elon is not really backtracking, though I would still be curious what he means by shooting himself in the foot. The article says he regrets mentioning the Hyperloop. So despite his intentions to open up his designs, there must be some downsides he is considering, whether outstanding personal profit or otherwise.

[jack-r-abbit]

Maybe the downside is that now everyone is watching him, waiting for the next update, speculating, criticizing, etc. Shooting himself in the foot may have been just talking about it prematurely.

[TheAnimus]

> I would still be curious what he means by shooting himself in the foot.

I'd guess it's something to do with the fact on a Tesla earnings call, which has nothing to do with hyperloop, someone brought it up.

He is already doing a herculean feet with the work on SpaceX and Tesla, from an investors point of view you want to make sure he isn't going to ditch Tesla for this other transport project.

In that context his comment makes sense.

[alexhawdon]

Given the context of the report I would imagine he's been fielding concerns from Tesla investors regarding burn-out or lack of focus. He's the very public driver (no pun intended) of the company so some might see talk of the Hyperloop as akin to Steve Jobs starting talking about a new found enthusiasm for swimming during a product launch.

[spaceman77]

In a conversation with Sal Khan he says (in regards to Hyperloop) he is "kind of strung out" with all he is doing now. So I'm guessing he does not want to initiate the project yet because he is a very busy boy. He also has kids.