S.E. Robinson, Jr.
patreon
ELON CHRON: The Daily Chronicle of Elon Musk's Companies
🕑 Added 2025-07-28 20:50:46 +0000 UTC28th of July, 2025
"AI will increase birth rates in order to maximize the future light cone of neurotransmitter tonnage..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
■ TESLA TSLA 2.48%↑ ($325.59, +3.02%):
- I visited the Tesla Brookshire, TX, Megafactory on Saturday. The new 600k sq ft distribution facility will have some manufacturing done inside, but it will be more of a logistics area. More concrete has been poured around its perimeter, including new entrances off Empire Blvd. Brick fascia has been installed at each main entrance, and the exterior is getting stained white. At the main 1-million sq ft factory they removed a strip of concrete along the entire south perimeter and any landscaping that divided up the drive. The interior of the main factory is still empty, but they have started to build walls at the northwest entrance, for what could be the main entrance and lobby area. Tons of pics in the thread above!
- Per Elon, "Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate. Samsung currently makes AI4. TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona.
Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house 😃"
This has been announced as a $16.5 billion deal, of which Elon says, "The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher." This facility is in Taylor, Texas. North of Austin and the Tesla's RC Taylor Logistics yard. Place is huge.
- FSD pulls up to a toll booth, stops, wait for the transaction to be done, and drives on! Per Tesla's Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy), "It can see the transaction happening using the repeater & pillar cameras. Hence FSD proceeds on its own when the transaction is complete 😎" Video by Dirty Tesla (@DirtyTesLa.”
- Thanks to all the effort by Alexandra Merz (@TeslaBoomerMama), Tesla has officially announced there will be a vote shareholder vote on whether Tesla will invest in xAI. Per Tesla, "Consistent with SEC rules, our proxy statement would include one properly submitted proposal on each topic, and we would invite the shareholder who made the first proper submission on the topic to attend our shareholder meeting in person." Thank you, Alexandra! Tesla also stated that you are interested in attending the meeting, look out for their proxy.
- Larissa Lucio, Head of Operations at VAREMG, and her Team spent the week at Giga Texas. Larissa leads this team of engineers that create solutions for the automotive industry. They specialize in fabrication, staffing, and robotic simulation services. No details on their objectives.
- PepsiCo is building another Megacharger for their Tesla Semi fleet. This one will have 6 stalls and be at their distribution center on Pecos St in Denver, Colorado. Permits were submitted this month. H/T MarcoRP (@MarcoRPi1).
- As Tesla gets set to launch its Robotaxi service in California, App users are seeing requirements and terms they must agree to before they can ride. This is to take place in the Bay Area. Tesla has yet to announce the permit approval from the California DMV that would allow no one in the drivers seat. The service operates under a California Public Utilities Commission permit (TCP-004672-A).
- The X Takeover was this weekend. Not sure how anyone could have missed it. Whose who in the Tesla community was there posting left and right. It looked off the chain this year. Congratulations to John of Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV). He has been on a mission for years to bring everyone in the Elonverse together. His previous Takeovers were great, but this years appears to have out did them all. Great work, John! Here is Elon’s talk; Elon Musk | The Future, Engineered | X Takeover 2025.Pics of Cybercab, Optimus, and Semi by Kees Roelandschap (@KRoelandschap) and Josh West (@JoshWest247).
- Here is Tesla VP Lars Moravy's (@larsmoravy) discussion at the X Takeover. Lars Moravy | Inside Tesla’s Engineering Future | X Takeover 2025
■ SPACEX:
- Early Saturday morning, launch 94 of Falcon 9 Starlink 10-26 took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This was the 22nd flight for first stage booster B1078. It previously launched Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER-B, USSF-124, Bluebird 1-5, and 17 Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. 28 Starlinks were deployed.
- Later Saturday night, launch 95 of Falcon 9 Starlink 17-2 took place from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. This was the 19th flight for first stage booster B1075. It previously launched SDA-0A, SARah-2, Transporter-11, and 15 Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. 24 Starlinks were deployed. 3rd pic by Maddie Urquhart (@rocketgobrrrrr).
- Early Sunday morning, Starship 38 was transported to Massey's to start it's cryo-testing campaign. This is the last Block 2 Starship. NSF (@NASASpaceflight) video in the SOURCES SECTION. Massey pics by @StarshipGazer and Hardcore Electric (@HardcoreElectr1).
- Also on Saturday, SpaceX rolled Falcon 9 B1094 and Crew Dragon Endeavour to Launch Complex 39A ahead of the Crew-11 launch. The crew did a dry dress rehearsal today, but after, during a static fire attempt of B1094, an abort was called. Not sure why yet, so stay tunned. Thursday, the 31st of July, is currently the launch date. Expect it to now slip.
- Today, Starship 37 was rolled to Pad 1 to start it's static fire campaign. I would expect this to be followed quickly by Ship 38 after cryo-testing. That way they uninstall the converted transport stand off the OLM and prepare to launch Flight 10. NSF video in the SOURCES SECTION. Pics from @StarshipGazer and @LabPadre.
- Weekend shot of the cleared area for SpaceX's Air Separation Unit. Pic by RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos). Subscribe to RGV Aerial and support their amazing work.
Starbase City Commission Meeting:
Regular Meeting: 20th of August, at 7:00 p.m. CT. Located at 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 2, Brownsville, TX 78521
Countdown to 180 (92 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 3 - Starship):
Launch 96! Tuesday, 29th of July, at 11:30 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-29 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 97! Wednesday, 30th of July, at 8:39 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 13-4 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 98! Thursday, 31st of July, at 12:09 p.m. ET, NASA SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-11 will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This will be Crew Dragon Endeavour's 6th flight. Booster B1094 will return to site and land at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Launch 99! Saturday, 2nd of August, at 7:05 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 17-4 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 ??! Flight 10 NET August 4th.
Enjoying the ELON CHRON? IF so please subscribe HERE and support.
■ THE BORING COMPANY:
- The Boring Company is set to announce plans for the Nashville LOOP connecting Nashville International Airport (BNA) to downtown along Murfreesboro Pike, State Hwy 41. Looks to be roughly an 11 mile tunnel. The project aims to shuttle passengers in Teslas to ease traffic congestion. It is rumored that prep work has already started and construction will start right after the announcement is made. The Boring Company and Governor Bill Lee are expected to announce plans this afternoon. If you are in Nashville, your assignment is to find the dig and document the project. Get after it.
- Benjamin De Santiago, Safety and Security Manager at The Boring Company, led a security operation in West Africa during a government overthrow two years ago. Recruited by Nic Smith, he joined the company, and yesterday his leadership helped secure the TSA Gold Standard Award for the Vegas Loop system. The award, TSA's highest for transit agencies, recognizes top scores in the BASE program across 17 categories like security plans, training, drills, public outreach, and background checks. The Vegas Loop was one of five nationwide honorees in 2025 for passenger safety, security, and resilience; De Santiago credited it to extensive work, interdepartmental collaboration, and colleagues Josh Hemphill and Elias Marquez-Aguirre.
■ NEURALINK:
- Neuralink Patient No.9 Audrey Crews (@NeuraNova9) has introduced herself to the world. She is the first woman to be implanted with a Neuralink BCI! She has been a quadriplegic since the age of 16. She underwent brain surgery last week at the University of Miami Health Center to implant Telepathy. She explained that a hole was drilled in her skull and 128 threads were placed into her motor cortex. The staff treated her like a VIP with exceptional kindness. She remains in Miami but plans to return home shortly and share more detailed videos explaining the process.
Per Neuralink BCI Research Field Engineer, Sammy Nio (@SammyNio), "Audrey is courageous, kind, honest, and driven— a true pioneer. Can’t wait for the rest of the world to meet the first ever woman to use our BCI system."
- Shortly after Audrey introduced herself, patient No.8 did as well. Meet Nick Wray (@Telepath_8). Nick has ALS and was linked with Telepathy. He describes the implant’s precision and speed as "astounding and liberating," restoring digital autonomy he hadn’t felt in years, and eagerly anticipates relearning the drums while contributing to the technology’s development. He references The Matrix, Johnny Mnemonic, the book Neuromancer, and likens himself to a "Console Cowboy." Nick is embracing his role in The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis to advance human-machine symbiosis. Nick reflects that ALS, his "price of admission," was worth it, as the BCI offers a glimpse of capabilities beyond his wildest dreams as an able-bodied person.
- According to ClinicalTrials.gov, Neuralink is collaborating with the University of California at Santa Barbara and researchers in Spain (not publicly know yet) on a clinical trial "to address fundamental questions that will allow the development of a Smart Bionic Eye" aimed at helping blind individuals recognize faces, navigate outdoors, and read. The trial is currently enrolling patients by invitation only and will eventually involve Neuralink patients once available. Neuralink's role remains unclear at this time, but it is possible that this is part of their Blindsight project.
■ STARLINK:
- Starlink is set to offer 200 Mbps connectivity in India for approximately ₹3,000/mo ($36 US), with an equipment kit costing around ₹33,000 ($396 US), according to Union Minister Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar. The service, will be limited to 2 million customers and focus on rural and remote areas. As previously reported, SpaceX received its final license from IN-SPACe in July, but still requires spectrum allocation and must meet India’s security standards.
■ X:
- X's Alex Perez (@iMinichrispy) posted that XChat (iOS only ) will now have Typing indicators & reactions in Inbox, Replies & mentions in push notifications, New messages divider, Search conversations, and Block messages from user.
- P4mui (@P4mui) found X Money flags showing cash and cheques deposits features enabled.
■ xAI:
- Memphis-Shelby County Schools, with over $1 billion in deferred maintenance, partnered with xAI, who inspected HVAC, plumbing, athletic fields, and gyms at three schools near the Colossus 1 datacenter—John P. Freeman Optional School, Fairley High School, and Westwood High School—upgrading HVAC systems, contracting local firms for donated labor, providing STEM workshops, donating equipment to technical programs, supporting job fairs, and removing over 100 tons of roadway debris.
Per xAI Colossus Lead Brent Mayo (@BrentM_SpaceX), "Students shouldn't be sweating in school. You should look forward to going to high school... Looking forward to working with City/School leaders and businesses (large and small) to prioritize the children in the community. The xAI Memphis team will always focus on the community that supports it."
- New Grok 4 settings are active on the web. Mobile soon.
- Elon and Kimbal's Musk Foundation has donated $350,000, along with $10,000 from the Shelby County Government, to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. This enabled the reopening of two Club sites that lost funding. One is at Booker T. Washington High School and the other is at Westwood High School. The donation covers all operational costs, including salaries, benefits, transportation, and program supplies, benefiting nearly 1,000 students.
Per Elon, "We’re honored to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis in reopening these sites, giving kids in underserved communities the tools to build brighter futures."
Per Michael Garriga, Board Chair of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis, "This commitment will ensure the youth of our community have the opportunities they need to develop their skills and talents to become successful students and future citizens."
- Epoch AI was commissioned by xAI to evaluate Grok 4's mathematical capabilities. They found it excels in complex computations, shows improvement in proofs from a low baseline, and proves useful for mathematical literature searches. It achieved a new record on medium-hard high school math competitions like AIME '25, HMMT '25, and OTIS Mock AIME '24-'25, with an accuracy of around 87%, surpassing models like o4-mini (high) at ~80%, Gemini 1.5 Pro at ~75%, and earlier versions. Grok 4 typically employs low-level "grind it out" methods, such as coordinate geometry and calculus, rather than conceptual approaches, as seen in a unique problem it solved that no other model has. What they said Grok 4 lacked was its performance on the IMO, logical flaws in attempts, and reduced capability without deep prior knowledge.
- xAI is working on a Teams feature for Grok. It looks to be the same as the one used in xAI's API. H/T @blankspeaker.
- Thanks to X Freeze (@amXFreeze), we are all now aware that we can install Grok as a standalone app via Chrome in three easy steps.
Click the top-right icon.
Select "Install App."
Pin to the taskbar.
You can also hotkey the app with Ctrl + Alt + G.
■ DOGE:
UPDATED!
Estimated Savings: $199 Billion
Amount Saved Per Taxpayer: $1,236.02
- DOGE announced this past week that agencies terminated 141 contracts with a ceiling value of $5.1 billion and savings of $498 million. This included:
$526k USAID professional services contract for a “global health security advisor in Senegal.”
$1.4M HHS contract for “professional services in Rwanda.”
- DOGE gave a Weather Radio Update and National Weather Service (NWS) has upgraded 33 more sites to wireless, saving ~$114k/mo. The total upgraded sites is now ~750. As of today, the NWS has produced networking kits for all LTE-compatible sites. The remaining 274 sites will undergo complete upgrades over the coming weeks. See below transmission from Newcastle, Wyoming.
■ ELON NEWS:
- Rae (@dystopiangf) responded to Elon's post about bringing back Vine driven by AI by saying "technology + AI waifus will sterilize millions, but especially those with high time preference and low impulse control. Dopamine tech will be the Great Filter, and those who come out on the other side will be the best that humanity has to offer."
Elon replied, "Wake up, kid, that was happening even before the Internet. US birth rate has been below replacement since ~1971, except for a split second echo of the baby boom. AI will increase birth rates in order to maximize the future light cone of neurotransmitter tonnage."
■ WAYS TO SUPPORT:
The ELON CHRON is FREE-FOR-ALL, but it needs your support to continue. You can help by subscribing for only $4/month. That's less than .18¢/update! When you subscribe you also become instantly eligible for the monthly random subscriber giveaway.
In 4 days I am giving away Tesla's official Year of the Snake Backpack ($50)! Like always, one random subscriber's name will be drawn. Join the likes of Elon himself and SUBSCRIBE HERE!
If you are looking for some cool Musk Company Merch, you can also support the content by checking out the new shop! serobinsonjr.shop
REFERRALS:
Tesla: 3 free months of FSD or $400 Off Solar Panel Installation. ts.la/stephen746292
Starlink: Free Month for either Residential or Roam service! https://www.starlink.com/residential?referral=RC-3527509-65487-76
T-Mobile (Starlink Direct-to-Cell): $50 credit 45 days after you activate. Direct-to-Cell has dropped from $20 to $10 per month! https://share.t-mobile.com/stephenr-3419
SOFI (ARK Venture Fund): $25 worth of stock. SOFI is the only outlet the public can invest in Cathie Wood's ARK Venture Fund ($ARKVX). This ARK fund includes SpaceX, xAI, Tesla, X, and a ton of other major AI, Tech, and Bio companies. Of note, investing in the fund requires an initial $500. https://www.sofi.com/invite/invest?gcp=ecf25d1c-7bc9-4ee0-a407-a51849297288&isAliasGcp=false
Robinhood: Get a Free stock. https://join.robinhood.com/stepher-fcc938
Have a great day!
■ SOURCES:
SpaceX:
Starlink:
xAI:
Elon News:
