Should a car be treated like a piece of software? That is essentially what Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, has done. The billionaire, who made his fortune by co-founding and selling PayPal, recently dropped a bombshell on the automotive industry: In the spirit of the “open source” movement, he announced last month that Tesla would share patents that cover its revolutionary electric vehicles for free.

“Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport,” Musk wrote in a June 12, 2014, blog post, strangely titled, “All Our Patent Are Belong To You.” “If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal.” Musk added that Tesla would not sue anyone who uses the patents in “good faith.”

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors

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