ELON CHRON: The Daily Chronicle of Elon Musk’s Companies

“No, the issue is that we are underpaying and not allocating payment accurately enough…” – Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA ($428.75, -1.47%):

– FSD 14.1.2’s added surprise feature is the Mad Max mode! So you get Sloth, Chill, Standard, Hurry, and Mad Max. Other items include; Arrival Options, Emergency vehicle right of way, etc.

– DHL Supply Chain’s Now and Next conference, was held in Austin, Texas, where Tesla showcased the Semi. According to Malte Flegelskamp, Product Dev. Lead at Global DHL Supply Chain, they just had a successful trial phase and DHL Supply Chain USA is now planning to integrate the Semi into their network as Tesla scales production in 2026.

– Last week, Greggertruck (@greggertruck) spotted Robotaxi validation vehicles in Gilbert, Arizona.

– The Tesla Chile Dream Team; Teo Oberreuter (Sales Manager), Agustin Amoretti (General Manger), Sandra Barba Lizarralde (Business Development and Policy Lead for Tesla LatAm), and Rodrigo Aburto Olivares (Tesla Energy Account Manager).

– Tesla China’s Model YL’s premium light gray interior.

– Per Tesla China VP Grace Tao Li, “Giga Shanghai has recently begun its fourth-quarter production ramp-up! In the third quarter of 2025, Tesla delivered 497,000 new vehicles worldwide, setting a new quarterly delivery record. As the fourth quarter begins, our colleagues at the Gigafactory are working tirelessly to expand production and fully charge their vehicles, ensuring that customers in China and APAC receive their vehicles as soon as possible. Every aspect of the factory is providing full support and incentives for our colleagues.”

– Giga Berlin Plant Manager, André Thierig (@AndrThie), inside the GigaB Hamster Club getting ready for the next party. “Today‘s theme… GLOW! Giga Berlin Rocks.”

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

Fremont Factory: MetGod, 16th of October, ‘25.

■ SPACEX:

– Yesterday, launch 134 of Falcon 9 SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer C took place from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This was the seventh flight for first stage booster B1093. It previously launched SDA T1TL-B Tranche 1 and five Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. The space vehicles launched during this mission will provide data transport as a part of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a new layered network of satellites in low-Earth orbit and supporting elements that will provide global military tactical communication and missile warning, indication, and tracking capabilities.

– Early this morning, launch 135 of Falcon 9 Starlink 10-52 took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This was the third flight for first stage booster B1095. It previously launched two Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. 28 Starlinks were deployed. This was the 500th landing.

Per SpaceX VP of Launch, Kiko Dontchev (@TurkeyBeaver), “Falcon launch #130 for 2025. The rolling 365 launch total is 166 launches! Notable records from this morning:

Fastest launch to launch from the same American Launch Pad at 55 Hrs, 29 minutes and 9 seconds.
Fastest TE roll in to hangar for booster integration to launch at 12 Hrs, 5 minutes, 20 seconds.

I’m confident the SpaceX Falcon team will pull off a sub 48 hour launch to launch turn from Pad 40 this year. We still have some work to do best the world record the Soviets in 1962 with Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 from the same pad in 24 hours (two different ground launch systems so not totally apples to apples, but nonetheless the record!) Of course, we will all look back and laugh at these records once Starship is ripping multiple launches a day from the same pad.”

– Last night, Starship 39, the first V3, was lifted in Mega Bay 2 to make way for the PEZ install jig. S39 was relocated to the right-hand side of the Bay and the jig was subsequently placed on a stand and rolled toward Starfactory. Video by Lab Padre (@LabPadre).

– Yesterday evening, the Starbase City Commission Regular Meeting took place for the month of October. Jessica (@sparkyinfinity) attended and took the pic. This was the agenda for the meeting:

Consent Agenda: Approved agreement with Burton, McCumber & Longoria, LLP for annual audit at estimated $17,500 cost; authorized City Administrator to execute Municipal Services Agreement with SpaceX for services to 1,256.978-acre tract upon annexation; approved resolution designating 4 bulletin board locations for physical postings of meeting notices.

Regular Session Item 1 and 2: Discussed and acted on ordinance expanding extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) to include 1,256.978-acre tract contiguous to existing ETJ, followed by annexing the tract into city limits, amending official city map (planned voluntary annexation per SpaceX petition for wetlands preservation).
Regular Session Item 3 and 4: Discussed and acted on resolution creating Natural Resources Committee (5 members, 2-year terms) for oversight of Rockhands Wetlands Mitigation Bank, coastal dune restoration, and Boca Chica Beach maintenance. The appointed 5 members: Brandon Conroy, Anthony Greco, Sheila McCorkle, Kevin Bagnall, and Matt Tuckness.
Regular Session Item 5 and 6: Discussed and acted on resolution amending Resolution No. 2025-05-29-O05-RE to rename Starbase Long-Term Development Planning Committee to Starbase Advisory Committee, expand to 5 members, and define duties as advising on resident input for planning/development. Kevin Bagnall was the one additional member added.
Regular Session Item 7: Presented September 2025 Financial Report summarizing transactions through September 30, 2025 (end of initial fiscal year May-Sept 2025); report to be posted on city website after acceptance.
Regular Session Item 8: Discussed and acted on agreement with Starbase Volunteer Fire Department for fire protection services within city limits, with $60,000 budgeted city support.
Commission/City Manager Update: Reported items of community interest; City Administrator reported on September 2025 building permits, USPS approval of Starbase addresses, migration to .gov website/email; future agenda requests.
Executive Session: Consulted with attorney on Attorney General rulings for public information requests nos. 2025-29, 41, 46, 65 and conflicts waiver from Daake Law.

– The possible HLS mystery structure at the McGregor Test Facility was caught venting last night! H/T Niall-Ian Anderson (@INiallAnderson). Video by NSF (@NASASpaceflight).

– And now that the Starship V2s are out and the V3s are coming online, we have seen a rapid increase in Raptor 3 testing at McGregor. SN37, 38, and 39 are the newest to have been spotted. H/T Rhin0 (@SpaceRhin0). “2 Days, 5 Raptor 3’s, 1 Arrives, 4 Leave.”

Starbase City Commission Meeting (Located at The Hub, 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 2, Brownsville, TX 78521):

City Commission Regular Meeting, November 19, 2025 7:00 PM
City Commission Regular Meeting, December 17, 2025 7:00 PM

Countdown to 180 (130 – Falcon 9, 0 – Falcon Heavy, and 5 – Starship):

Launch 136! Friday, 17th of October, at 5:09 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-19 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.
Launch 137! Sunday, 19th of October, at 10:52 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-17 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.
Launch 138! Monday, 20th of October, at 7:00 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-5 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.
Launch 139! Wednesday, 22nd of October, at 9:30 p.m. 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.
Launch 140! Thursday, 23rd of October, at 7:00 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-12 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.
Launch 141! Saturday, 25th of October, at 10:27 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-21 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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■ THE BORING COMPANY:

– Seth Ford (@Drone615net) has posted a new update for the Music City LOOP. Follow and support Seth’s work! “Week 10 update! Side wall supports installed, TBC tackles permits, and local political pressure!”

– The Dubai LOOP project is set to become operational as early as 2026, according to UAE Minister Omar Sultan Al Olama (@OmarSAlolama).

– Here is the location TBC, through its subsidiary Object Dash, purchased on September 15th. It is a 1.72-acre parcel at 5032 Palo Verde Road near Harry Reid International Airport for $5.96 million. The site is located south of Tropicana Avenue, the closest to the airport, and is expected to serve as a key connection point for the Loop’s airport expansion.

■ NEURALINK: N/A…

■ STARLINK:

– Air France has begun rolling out Starlink on its aircraft, starting with at least 15 planes, including Embraer E190s, Airbus A220s, and some A350s. The service was tested on a Embraer 190 flight from Paris to Barcelona. According to Daniel Ross of Upgraded Points, it offered stable connectivity with 285 Mbps download speeds and was free, requiring only a Flying Blue account login. The rollout aims to cover 30% of the fleet by the end of 2025 and the entire fleet by 2026.

– Texas awarded SpaceX $108.8M in BEAD funding to deploy Starlink across 63,963 of 240,200 broadband locations, leading in locations covered. Fiber providers got 51% of locations and 84% of the $1.3B allocated, LEO satellite 27% of locations and 9% of funds, fixed wireless 22% and 7%, with no cable awards. Nexstream led funding with $407.4M for 32,091 fiber locations; major wireline operators like Frontier ($59.2M, 8,143 locations), Charter ($47.8M, 7,792), AT&T ($32.2M, 6,651), and Brightspeed ($24.4M, 6,413) received less. Nationally, Starlink won 418,000 locations (3% funding), Project Kuiper 318,000 (1%), with fiber taking 65% of locations and 85% funding. Texas’s unspent $2B may fund non-deployment efforts, pending NTIA guidance under the Trump administration, which may push clawbacks despite state flexibility. Texas aims for universal unserved/underserved coverage.

■ 𝕏:

– X MENA Global Partnership Lead, Joêlle Yazbeck (@YazbeckJoelle) and Team at a specialized X workshop series tailored for their key clients. The discussions drove outcomes, innovative concepts, and strengthened the partnerships.

– X London Office by the X Director of HR Operations, Rina Montalvo (@montalvo_rina).

– Elon’s reply to X’s Head of Product Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) after he said creator payout needs to be off-ramped. “No, the issue is that we are underpaying and not allocating payment accurately enough. YouTube does a much better job.“ Any news stating X will discontinue Creator Payouts has been labeled as False.

■ xAI:

– At the Oracle AI World 2025 in Las Vegas, David Henn, Senior Data Platform Executive, Oracle Energy & Utilities, announced Oracle Cloud Infrastructures (OCI) Generative AI service now provides enterprise access to all xAI Grok models. Grok will be offered alongside models from OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google (Gemini), Meta (Llama), and Oracle’s own LLMs. The Oracle AI Data Platform and Autonomous AI Database enable secure unification of private data with Grok to build agentic, generative, and multimodal applications. This has already been adopted by enterprises like Windstream for operational workflows.

– Grok Companions are ready for Halloween with costumes. And don’t forget those sick TRON: ARES outfits! Still iOS only. Halloween video by DogeDesigner (@cb_doge).

– It is being reported that the $20 billion xAI plans to raise to acquire Nvidia semiconductors for its Colossus 2 will be through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). According to The Information. The SPV will consist of $7.5 billion in equity, led by Valor Equity Partners, and $12.5 billion in debt financing. The SPV will purchase and lease the chips to xAI, which can buy them at the lease’s end. Lease-to-Own.

– SpaceX is not the only Musk Company getting a Cybertruck Fleet. xAI in Palo Alto and Memphis. Per Brent Mayo (@BrentM_SpaceX), “xAI Memphis work trucks have started to arrive. Picture is (MACRO)HARD AF! Tesla work truck fleet is game changer.” Pics by Dennis (@DennisCW_) and Brent.

– The Cube… xAI’s tungsten cubes is inspired by the 2021 meme of dense 1-inch (313g) metal desk toys popular in crypto circles—complete with viral unboxings and a $250,000 NFT giant. It became branded employee swag etched with the company’s “Understand the Universe” mantra. Launched via the Grok 4-powered vending machine in the xAI office. The machine is in partnership with Andon Labs and touted by Elon as “passive AI income.” The setup autonomously manages inventory, dynamic pricing (cubes sold for as little as a nickel), and quirky restocks like “AGI pills,” quickly profiting and leading AI benchmarks. By September, researcher unboxings went viral, fueling memes, job envy, and xAI’s signature blend of AI innovation and humor. Pics by xAI’s Zeeshan Patel (@zeeshanpYue), Wu (@FrankYueWu1), and Raman Khatri (@RamanKhatriTech.)

■ ELON NEWS: N/A…

Thanks for reading! As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or would like point out an error in the reporting, please do so in the comments.

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