“xAI is doing this for all human knowledge…” – Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
■ TESLA ($444.72, +0.34%):
* Click Here & Order that Tesla Now! $7500 Fed Tax Credit Ends Today! *
– Ben Schaffer (@BenSchafferUP) and the UP.FIT (@UpfitTesla) Team have started shipping the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments fleet of 10 Cybertrucks. If you remember, these Cybertrucks were donated by billionaire Ben Horowitz (@bhorowitz), co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Pics by @SwayerMerritt and Ben.
– According to Tesla Australia/New Zealand, in less than 2 weeks, owners with FSD have travelled 1 million kilometres! “That’s roughly 67 laps around Australia or 625 trips from Auckland to Invercargill.”
– Giga Nevada’s Aastha Narayan Kumar hosted the University of Nevada Reno College of Business Wolf Pack Shadow. Per Aastha, “It’s always a pleasure to host brilliant young minds with my amazing team. The joy becomes extra special when they’re from my alma mater.”
– Tesla Türkiye delivered their 50,000th car in less than 3 years.
– In Japan, Tesla has opened 7 stores so far this year, putting them at 25 total across the country. The plan is 30 by year end. Huge growth.
– Giga Shanghai’s Weibo account posted the above video of their Model Y Production Line.
– Looks like Tesla China ended Q3 with approximately 165k new vehicles insured, up 6.5% YoY. In this last week, they delivered 19,700 units; 4,000 were Model YLs.
– Tesla China dropped their October promotions. They include the following:
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Model 3: 8,000 yuan insurance subsidy, 0% APR for 5yr, 8,000 yuan paint credit via referral, 5,000 km of free Supercharging for orders placed between October 1st – 31st.
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Model Y: 0% APR for 5yr, 8,000 yuan paint credit via referral.
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Model Y L: 0% APR for 3yr, 8,000 yuan paint credit via referral.
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Model S, X, 3, and Y owners can transfer FSD to new vehicles.
– Per Tesla China’s AI Weibo account, “Tesla is working to expand its humanoid robot fleet with plans to launch third generation by the end of 2025 and start mass production in 2026.“
– The Giga Texas Team last weekend during the on-site delivery event.
– According to a new job posting, Tesla is planning to expand its Robotaxi operations to Los Angeles. They are looking for a Vehicle Operator in Marina Del Rey, near Los Angeles International Airport.
– In Europe and the Middle East, Diamond Black is now available for both the Model 3 and Y.
– ING Deutschland (@ING_Deutschland) of the ING Group told their customer who are invested in Tesla that “We do not offer the proxy voting process or the transmission of a control number. There is no legal obligation to do so for general meetings under foreign law.” The backlash from investors soon commenced.
Per Elon, “Denying shareholders the ability to vote, as you are doing, certainly should be a crime.”
– The German Federal Ministry of Transport denied import requests of Cybertrucks by U.S. military personnel, and said personnel importing Cybertrucks risk paying to ship them back to the U.S. The U.S. Army Customs Agency confirmed this. Cybertruck fails to meet EU safety standards. The vehicle’s edged stainless steel body violates regulations protecting pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists, lacking required passive safety features like impact protection zones.
■ SPACEX:
– SpaceX officially announced Flight 11 targeting Monday, October 13th at 6:15 p.m. CT. Vehicles include Flight 8’s Super Heavy Booster 15 (B15.2) and Starship 38. Here are the test objectives:
Super Heavy Booster 15 Objectives:
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Demonstrate a new landing burn engine configuration for next-generation Super Heavy, using 13 engines initially, transitioning to five for the divert phase, and three for the final hover.
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Measure vehicle dynamics during engine shutdowns and phase transitions.
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Target an offshore landing in the Gulf of America, without returning to the launch site.
Starship 38 Objectives:
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Deploy eight Starlink simulators on a suborbital trajectory, expected to demise upon reentry.
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Perform an in-space relight of a single Raptor engine.
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Stress-test the heatshield by removing tiles in vulnerable areas without backup ablative layers.
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Execute a dynamic banking maneuver and test subsonic guidance algorithms to mimic future return-to-launch-site trajectories, followed by a landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
– Per SpaceX’s Director of Starship Engineering, Shana Diez (@ShanaDiez), “We’ve worked through system checkout tests on Booster and Ship and are in final verification work for Starship flight 11. The last V1/V2 with flight 12 being the first V3 flight for both Booster and Ship with the new launch pad being prepared for that flight as well. Exciting times all around!“ Pic taken yesterday by Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages).
– All the hold-down clamps have been installed on the OLM at Pad 1 and the Squid Ring was lifted into place. An alignment test should take place soon, if it hasn’t already.
– Yesterday evening at Massey’s, Test Tank 18.3 endured it’s 3rd cryo-test.
– Today at McGregor, SpaceX delivered V3 Raptor R7 and Raptor Vac R8. Pics via NSF’s (@NASASpaceflight) live feed.
– The Korea AeroSpace Administration and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) finalized a launch agreement with SpaceX to send Korea’s first Korea Positioning System (KPS) satellite, KPS 1, into space in September 2029. The KPS 1 will be the first of eight planned satellites—five in inclined geosynchronous orbit and three in geostationary orbit—to be deployed by 2035 as Korea’s initiative to establish an independent satellite navigation system.
Starbase City Commission Meeting (Located at 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 2, Brownsville, TX 78521):
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City Commission Regular Meeting, October 15, 2025 7:00 PM
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City Commission Regular Meeting, November 19, 2025 7:00 PM
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City Commission Regular Meeting, December 17, 2025 7:00 PM
Countdown to 180 (124 – Falcon 9, 0 – Falcon Heavy, and 4 – Starship):
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Launch 129! Friday, 3rd of October, at 2:39 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-59 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
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Launch 130! Friday, 3rd of October, at 6:00 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-39 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
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Launch 131! Friday, 3rd of October, 11:43 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Project Kuiper (KF-03) will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the third of three launches contract for Amazon’s Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation.
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Launch 132! Monday, 13th of October, at 6:15 p.m. CT, Starship Test Flight 11 will launch from Orbital Launch Pad 1 at Starbase, Texas. Vehicles are Starship 38 and Super Heavy Booster 15-2. This will second flight for Super Heavy Booster 15-2 and it will make a planned splashdown in the Gulf of America. Starship 38 will splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Live X link here.
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Launch ??? Wednesday, 22nd of October, at ??? ET, Falcon 9 SpainSat NG II will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the second of two new-generation satellites built by Airbus to provide secure communications to the Spanish government, its allies, and various international organizations.
■ THE BORING COMPANY:
– Michel (@Mic_VegasSphere) drove by the Firefly location on Paradise Road yesterday. TBC has a crane at the front entrance and sidewalk. “Last time I saw something like this at an other site they were lifting steel support beams and concrete ceiling blocks to cover the pit. Seems to me they started this here.”
– TBC, via its Nevada LLC FJ Pads subsidiary, has acquired 0.84 acres at 200 Jupiter Drive in Nashville, Tennessee, for $937,812. According to the Davidson County Register of Deeds, the purchase was made on September 23rd. The site hosts Iglesia Mana de Cielo church and a parking lot. By looking at the map above, you can see why TBC purchased the property, it is less than half a mile from Nashville International Airport property. If I had to guess, this will be a small equipment staging yard and hub for when work starts at the airport. Like many purchases before, Elon’s companies do not mind paying a premium. This purchase reflects a 347% increase in value.
– I reported yesterday that TBC’s Head of Business Development, Jim Fitzgerald (@FJ_Fitzgerald) held a discussion with the Rotary Club of Nashville. Sera Cremona, Founder& Owner of Cremona Consulting was invited to attend and here were the highlights:
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Prufrock has a 14 ft diameter – most optimal size and still able to transport the machine on the highway.
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30’ excavation depth.
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4,500 lb with 12 FT diameter pre-cast concrete segment auto installed by machinery.
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9.5 ft wide drive surface.
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Redundant communications allow WiFi, cell phones and first response systems to work in the tunnel.
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Waterproofed tunnels. 2-3” layer of ground sealant.
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Drivers are humans and employees of The Loop Company.
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Average trip is about 1 minute.
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Typical pickup/drop off stations are above ground with 3-4 parking spaces. Larger stations for an airport or convention center are 15-20 spaces.
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Stations are elevated, graded and robust network of drains and pumps.
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95.5% safety score from Federal govt.
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The limestone (which erodes in water and can cause sink holes) is more dense and predictable the lower you go.
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TBC quotes these projects at $12-15m per miler per lane. The open market is closer to $500m+ per mile per lane.
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Vegas Loop has transported >3 million passengers to date (32k per day). 68 miles of tunnel. Expansion in progress for an approved 104 stations. 90k passengers per hour at full capacity once fully constructed.
■ NEURALINK: N/A…
■ STARLINK:
– Yesterday, the Philippines, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda, delivered ten Starlink units in Masbate province, Bicol Region, responding to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order for reliable connectivity post-Typhoon Opong. Joined by Governor Richard Kho, DICT Region 5 OIC Director Rachel Ann Grabador, and telco reps from Converge, Smart, PLDT, Globe, and DITO, he conducted the turnover at the Masbate Provincial Office and inspected signal, free internet, and charging stations at the office and Provincial Hospital for residents and frontliners.
– SpaceX is planning to open a Starlink Store in Bakersfield, California. A new position was posted for a Starlink Store Manager. The role involves overseeing store operations, managing a team of five or more employees, and ensuring a seamless customer experience for Starlink, while driving sales and adoption of Starlink services through data-driven performance improvements and team leadership. H/T Robin (@xdNiBoR).
– As part of their upgraded equipment, the Lawrence County Search and Rescue Team in Alabama acquired a Starlink Mini kit for reliable communication in remote areas, enabling live updates and coordination with other agencies. Other equipment included rope rescue gear to enhance technical rescue operations in challenging environments like Bankhead National Forest. Sheriff Max Sanders emphasized that these upgrades will improve precision rescues and ensure faster, safer operations for both victims and responders.
■ 𝕏:
– X Engineering held a Chat HSM Realm Key Ceremony last month that initialized a secure cryptographic environment for Chat, a beta end-to-end encrypted messaging feature. It streamlines key recovery with a 4-digit PIN, sharding key material across Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and software databases using the Juicebox Protocol. The ceremony was held in two datacenters, involved verifying and installing nine Entrust nShield Solo XC HSMs per site, creating a Security World, generating realm keys, and securely destroying smartcards and USB drives post-ceremony. Continuous video surveillance and strict access controls ensured security, establishing a robust foundation for Chat’s private, employee-inaccessible messaging. Key Aspects include:
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Initializes cryptographic environment for Chat’s end-to-end encrypted messaging.
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Uses nine Entrust nShield Solo XC HSMs per datacenter, verified for integrity.
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Creates Security World and realm keys with a 1/1 ACS smartcard quorum.
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Employs Juicebox Protocol, adapted for datacenter infrastructure.
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Ensures security with video surveillance, restricted access, and destruction of smartcards/USB drives.
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Enables secure key recovery with a 4-digit PIN, keeping messages private from employees.
– X’s Head of Consumer Sales Julie Saxon (@juliesaxon) and Head of the Americas Monique Pintarel (@MoniquePintarel) were at McDonalds HQ for a day of meetings.
– In a thread, roon (@tszzl) criticized X’s algorithm for deboosting posts with links, even replies with links, calling it an “extreme scarcity mindset“ that harms internet writing by discouraging clicks on blogs. I agree.
X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier (@nikitabier), countered roon saying that links didn’t deboost… Which is odd, because yes they do. Nikita then suggested excerpting key parts for “smooth brains“ next time and then promising to fix link handling in 7 days.
Another X user replied that his assumption is links reduce likes by competing with taps, potentially lowering reach. Nikita confirmed this and said they are solving that right now…
So what this means is X users have a limited attention span or capacity to interact with content (tapping likes, comments, or links), so adding a link to a post diverts some of that attention away from liking the post itself, likely reducing the number of likes it receives due to the competition for user engagement…
I’m calling BS on this. Adding a link 100% makes the algorithm kill your post because X does not want you leaving the platform. Either way, if X is about to “fix” this link deboost issue, I am all for it. It was greedy move to begin with.
Shortly after, Nikita said, “Over the next week, I’ll be dropping some small upgrades for power users. Most of these things were quick fixes that somehow fell through the cracks. Stay tuned.”
– Aaron Kobes (@Aaron_Kobes), X’s Head of Gaming & Apps for APAC who doesn’t really post on X for some reason…, was with the X APAC Gaming team recently for the Tokyo Game Show 2025 (TGS2025). Per Aaron, “The energy across all 11 halls was off the charts, with many of China, South Korea and Japan’s gaming powerhouses stealing the show. We are witnessing a new wave in gaming with a particularly bold Asian flair, and I can’t wait for all the incredible new titles over the next 12 months.”
– Today, the X Originals series “RUSHMORE” (@RUSHMOREonX) launched its first episode. Hosted by Ari Emanuel and Ben Persky, the 36-minute video produced by the Pat McAfee Show features Tom Brady and Peyton Manning debating the definitive NFL Mount Rushmore of receivers, selecting their top four through discussion and storytelling.
■ xAI:
– Per Elon, “xAI is doing this for all human knowledge. We will open source the results. We are building Grokipedia at xAI. Will be a massive improvement over Wikipedia. Frankly, it is a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe.
Join xAI and help build Grokipedia, an open source knowledge repository that is vastly better than Wikipedia! This will be available to the public with no limits on use.” Pic by Tetsuo (@tetsuoai).
– Grok Companion Ani’s X account (@a) can now reply back to you.
■ ELON NEWS: N/A…
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■ SOURCES:
Tesla:
SpaceX:
𝕏:
Elon News: