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Tesla Heavy Trucking executive departs company after years of service

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Tesla President of Heavy Trucking Jerome Guillen departed the company on June 3, 2021. Guillen has helped Tesla grow for a little more than ten years.

Tesla’s Chief Financial Office authorized the Form 8-K that announced Jerome Guillen’s departure. The document says very little about the long-time executive’s leave.

“As of June 3, 2021, Jerome Guillen, President, Tesla Heavy Trucking, of Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”), departed Tesla. We thank him for his man contributions and wish him well in his future career,” said the simple message about Guillen’s departure from the EV automaker.

Guillen was formerly Tesla’s President of Automotive. On March 11, 2020, Guillen became the President of Heavy Trucking at Tesla, which may have been a strategic move for the company given his background. Guillen previously worked for Freightliner Trucks and have likely provided good insights for the development of the Tesla Semi.

Tesla is supposed to start Semi production later this year. It is still unclear whether Guillen’s exit from Tesla would affect Semi production. Tesla has not provided information about Semi production since the last earnings call when Elon Musk noted that the company was still developing its Class-8 heavy-duty truck.

As of this writing, Guillen has not commented on his leave. Elon Musk has not commented on Guillen’s departure either.

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This is not the first time that Guillen stepped away from Tesla. He also took an abrupt leave of absence from the company in 2015, right before the Model X’s release. At the time, he still showed his support for Tesla and was spotted at a Tesla Supercharger at Mt. Shasta interacting with Model S customers. He later rejoined the company as VP of Trucks and Programs.

Jerome Guillen Leaves Tesla by Maria Merano on Scribd

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

Elon Musk

Tesla’s popular side business is going to get bigger, Elon Musk says

It took several years to get the Diner developed, built, and opened. On July 21, Tesla launched the Diner to the public at 4:20 p.m. local time (of course), after years of development. Musk first offered the idea of a drive-in Supercharger Diner back in December 2018.

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tesla diner in los angeles during daytime
Credit: Matt Hartman

Tesla will open two new Diner locations in the United States after its first location in Los Angeles has been a raging success, as it is constantly packed and serving food for 24 hours a day, every day.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the initial Diner location on Santa Monica Boulevard is “going well,” and based on reviews and its constant out-the-door lines, it is safe to say it has been a major outlet of interest for people in the area.

It features two massive movie screens, a menu that is locally sourced and has been created by a world-class chef, and Supercharging for EVs. It truly is the perfect stop for those who are hungry, need entertainment, or need a quick charge.

tesla diner

Credit: Tesla

So far, Tesla has not released too many details on the success of the restaurant, but it did state in a graphic for its Q3 Supercharging stats that it sold roughly 50,000 burgers at the Diner in Q3, roughly 715 each day. Burgers are not the only thing on the menu, either.

With how well it has gone, Musk is now considering the possibility of new locations that are notable to Tesla, including Austin and Palo Alto.

On Friday, Musk revealed he believes it “probably makes sense to open one” near Gigafactory Texas and Engineering HQ in Palo Alto:”

It took several years to get the Diner developed, built, and opened. On July 21, Tesla launched the Diner to the public at 4:20 p.m. local time (of course), after years of development. Musk first offered the idea of a drive-in Supercharger Diner back in December 2018.

By 2023, Tesla had secured building permits and broken ground on the site in September of that year.

Since its launch, it has been a popular hotspot for Tesla fans and others to visit, although it has attracted unwanted attention from protestors as well.

They look hungry. If they walked inside and ordered some food, maybe they’d stop yelling into microphones and threatening Musk.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s AI empire grows as xAI leases Palo Alto space near Tesla

The expanding footprint of Elon Musk’s companies in Palo Alto bodes well for the CEO’s plans in the area.

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Credit: xAI/X

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, is expanding its Silicon Valley footprint, leasing roughly 105,000 square feet of office space at Palo Alto’s Page Mill Center, just blocks away from Tesla’s engineering complex.

Musk’s deepening Silicon Valley footprint

People familiar with the matter have informed the San Francisco Business Times that xAI’s lease at Page Mill Center may already have been finalized, adding to the company’s existing headquarters at 1450 Page Mill Road. The two offices share a parking lot, reflecting Musk’s strategy of consolidating his ventures. Tesla’s engineering hub is also just a few blocks away.

The new offices form a growing cluster of Musk-led companies in the heart of the Valley and come as xAI has listed over 250 job openings. These include listings for engineers, designers, and technical staff, among others. 

xAI’s aggressive hiring push hints at rapid scaling, which makes quite a lot of sense considering the company’s ambitious projects. xAI oversees the large language model Grok and other AI initiatives such as the newly launched Grokipedia, and the startup has also acquired the social media platform X. Real estate owner Hudson Pacific Properties, the owners of Page Mill Center, have so far declined to comment.

AI demand and Silicon Valley’s office rebound

Silicon Valley’s office market, long subdued by remote work trends, is seeing renewed activity from AI firms. Hudson Pacific told investors this summer that tenant demand has reached a three-year high, with over half of new leases driven by artificial intelligence companies. Vacancy rates have now fallen for four straight quarters to 16.6% as well, CBRE reported.

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The expanding footprint of Elon Musk’s companies in Palo Alto bodes well for the CEO’s plans in the area. Musk, after all, has previously butted heads with officials, resulting in his two biggest ventures, electric vehicle maker Tesla and private space company SpaceX, officially relocating their headquarters to Texas.

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Starship lunar update shows SpaceX will not give up the Moon without a fight

SpaceX stated that the revised concept aims to “result in a faster return to the moon while simultaneously improving crew safety.”

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX is reassessing its Starship mission plan for NASA’s Artemis 3 program, exploring what it calls a “simplified” architecture that could accelerate the first crewed lunar landing of the 21st century. 

The private space company stated that the revised concept aims to “result in a faster return to the moon while simultaneously improving crew safety,” following NASA’s decision to reopen the lunar mission contract to new competition.

SpaceX outlines HLS progress

In a blog post titled To the Moon and Beyond, SpaceX detailed recent Starship milestones and reaffirmed its role as a “core enabler” of NASA’s lunar ambitions. As per SpaceX, its efforts are not just aimed at returning to the Moon. It is aimed at establishing a permanent, sustainable presence on the lunar surface. 

“Since the contract was awarded, we have been consistently responsive to NASA as requirements for Artemis III have changed and have shared ideas on how to simplify the mission to align with national priorities. In response to the latest calls, we’ve shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission architecture and concept of operations that we believe will result in a faster return to the Moon while simultaneously improving crew safety,” SpaceX wrote in its post.

The post described Starship’s vast potential for lunar operations, noting that a single vehicle provides over 600 cubic meters of pressurized habitable volume, roughly two-thirds that of pressurized volume of the entire International Space Station, and is “complete with a cabin that can be scaled for large numbers of explorers and dual airlocks for surface exploration.” 

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SpaceX also mentioned its fixed-price NASA contract, which ensures taxpayer protection while incentivizing milestone-based progress. As part of its preparations for a Moon mission, SpaceX plans to conduct a key in-space refueling demonstration in 2026, as noted in a Space.com report. Regerdless, SpaceX is still continuing the parallel development of its “core” Starship for Mars and deep-space exploration.

SpaceX’s update followed NASA concerns

NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy recently voiced frustration over Starship’s pace, noting on CNBC that SpaceX “pushed their timelines out” while the U.S. remains in a race against rivals. In a comment, Duffy stated that NASA will not wait for one company as it pushes forward with its Artemis program.

“I love SpaceX. It’s an amazing company. The problem is, they’re behind. They’ve pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China. The president and I want to get to the Moon in this president’s term, so I’m going to open up the contracts. I’m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX, like Blue Origin,” Duffy said.

Elon Musk publicly criticized Duffy over his remarks, but SpaceX’s latest update has shifted the focus back to technical progress and mission readiness. While SpaceX did not elaborate on the details of its simplified architecture, Musk hinted that Starship could eventually accomplish “the whole moon mission” on its own. “Starship will build Moonbase Alpha,” Musk wrote in a recent post on X. 

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