On October 11, 2026, Elon Musk took to his platform X to question Mukesh Ambani's stance on the arrival of Starlink in India. He framed the discussion as a response to a conversation started by Aaron Burnett about the country's low internet penetration. Musk's message challenged the idea that Ambani's company could both claim Starlink could not compete with its low prices and simultaneously warn that Starlink would be a dangerous rival.
Nine days later, on October 20, 2026, Musk returned to X with a broader salvo aimed at Ambani's supporters. He labeled them "Ambani's army of Internet shills" and accused them of presenting contradictory arguments. According to Musk, the same voices that dismissed Starlink as too weak to challenge Reliance Jio's pricing also warned that it would overwhelm the market.
Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India. Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete? There are many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market. Starlink would change their lives for the better. Thank you 🙏
Musk's criticism was amplified by claims about financial flows between Reliance-linked entities and political parties. One assertion noted that a firm identified as Qwik Supply, described as Reliance-linked, had donated Rs 385 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party. A separate claim said the same entity had given Rs 25 crore to Shiv Sena.
A separate claim said the same entity had given Rs 25 crore to Shiv Sena.
Central to Musk's argument was the characterization of Mukesh Ambani's hold on the Indian broadband market. Musk repeatedly referred to Ambani's position as a "de facto monopoly," implying that a single player dominated the space to the extent that competition was effectively muted.
Musk maintained that the introduction of Starlink would increase competition, which in turn would give ordinary Indians more choices in internet service providers. Musk framed this as a benefit of market competition, suggesting that the overall effect would be positive for the average citizen.
In his October 20 post, Musk delivered a pointed line that captured his view of the opposition's logic: "On the one hand, they say Starlink couldn't possibly compete with the amazing low prices offered by Ambani's de facto monopoly in India and then, in the same breath, they essentially claim that Starlink would be too strong of a competitor! This is absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole." The quote encapsulated his belief that critics were simultaneously downplaying and exaggerating Starlink's potential impact.
Musk also used a vivid metaphor to describe those defending Ambani's position: "The ridiculous arguments by Ambani's army of Internet shills make no sense." By invoking the idea of a coordinated group of online commentators, he suggested that the discourse was driven by an effort to protect existing interests.
Closing his argument, Musk returned to a straightforward claim about the virtues of rivalry: "The reality is that competition would greatly benefit the average citizen in India by giving them more choices, as it always does." This statement summed up his position that the introduction of Starlink would serve the public by expanding options in the satellite-broadband arena.