Elon Musk, with all his personal faults, is a true visionary working for a better world (and another). He really announced this five years ago:

All Our Patent Are Belong To You
Elon Musk, CEO June 12, 2014
Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. 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. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

That was a gutsy move.

In the light of both questionable financial position and direction Mr. Musk has made his statement clear as to his priorities and integrity.

I'd hope to have the same level of commitment to a cause as that. That's just an extreme version of "Putting your money where your mouth is."

Some billionaires are socially conscious.

I think this is a good thing, more competition will inspire advancement in the market.

Electric cars are nice and giving away patents is a super nice move. Now if we can stop burning all that coal to get electricity, that would be nice as well.