Connect with us

Elon Musk

Elon Musk, President Trump share interesting dialogue regarding Tesla Gigafactory India

Tesla factory in Tilburg, Netherlands. (Credit: Tesla)

Published

on

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump shared an interesting dialogue regarding the automaker’s potential entry into the Indian market, which could require the construction of a new Gigafactory in the country.

For the past several years, Tesla and India have attempted to come to terms on an agreement that would see the EV maker bring its vehicles to the country permanently. There have been several sticking points in the negotiations, which have delayed Tesla’s plans.

Tesla has wanted to test demand by shipping vehicles from its Gigafactory Berlin plant in Germany to India.

This would not be an adequate way to assess whether India is an ideal market for Tesla because the country applies 100 percent import duties to imported vehicles, doubling the price of the car in question.

India has agreed to reduce or even eliminate the import duties for Tesla under one condition: it commits to building a factory in the country. This would essentially eliminate the need for the demand test, though.

This is where Tesla and India have been held up. However, recent discussions between Musk and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have resulted in Tesla initiating hiring efforts for Sales and Service advisors in India.

But things got interesting during an interview with President Trump and Musk yesterday, especially in regards to Tesla’s potential plans to build a Gigafactory in India.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk to meet with Indian PM once again – Here’s why

Musk and Trump both discussed the high import duties on imported vehicles in India, which Tesla will likely need to use a Gigafactory in the country to avoid.

President Trump seems more in tune with the idea of Tesla sending American vehicles to India and using a reciprocal tariff strategy to force the country to eliminate its duties.

Advertisement

The back-and-forth went like this:

Musk: The tariffs are like 100 percent import duty.

President Trump: The tariffs are so high —

Musk: Yeah.

President Trump: — they don’t want to — now, if he [Musk] built the factory in India, that’s okay, but that’s unfair to us. It’s very unfair. And I said, “you know what we do?” I told Prime Minister Modi yesterday — he was here. I said, “Here’s what you do. We’re going to do — be very fair with you.” They charge the highest tariffs in the world, just about.

Media: 36 percent?

President Trump: Oh, much, much higher.

Musk: It’s 100 percent on — auto imports are 100 percent.

President Trump: Yeah, that’s peanuts. So much higher. And — and others, too. I said, “Here’s what we’re going to do: reciprocal. Whatever you charge, I’m charging.”

The interesting bit about President Trump stating that Tesla building a factory in India is “unfair to us. It’s very unfair” seems to be a point of potential disagreement between the two.

Advertisement

It’s nothing that can’t be worked out, but it seems there could be a bargaining point between Musk, President Trump, and Modi.

Musk wants to get Tesla’s vehicles in India because it is such a large market and it could be a massive boost to the company’s annual delivery totals in the coming years. It has to be at the right price and at the right time.

Modi wants Tesla in India, too, but this will only happen if it can boost the economy. India has a very hellbent focus on domestic manufacturing through its “Make In India” campaign, which is why import duties are so high.

Trump wants Tesla to continue building vehicles in the U.S. to bolster his plans that would provide a resurgence to domestic manufacturing. He is fine with Tesla operating in India, but only if the U.S. sees a benefit, and not Tesla exclusively.

This will likely prolong what seemed to be an almost guaranteed deal between Tesla and India.

Need accessories for your Tesla? Check out the Teslarati Marketplace:

Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Boring Company opens Vegas Loop’s newest station

The Fontainebleau is the latest resort on the Las Vegas Strip to embrace the tunneling startup’s underground transportation system.

Published

on

Credit: The Boring Company/X

Elon Musk’s tunneling startup, The Boring Company, has welcomed its newest Vegas Loop station at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

The Fontainebleau is the latest resort on the Las Vegas Strip to embrace the tunneling startup’s underground transportation system.

Fontainebleau Loop station

The new Vegas Loop station is located on level V-1 of the Fontainebleau’s south valet area, as noted in a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. According to the resort, guests will be able to travel free of charge to the stations serving the Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as to Loop stations in Encore and Westgate.

The Fontainebleau station connects to the Riviera Station, which is located in the northwest parking lot of the convention center’s West Hall. From there, passengers will be able to access the greater Vegas Loop.

Vegas Loop expansion

In December, The Boring Company began offering Vegas Loop rides to and from Harry Reid International Airport. Those trips include a limited above-ground segment, following approval from the Nevada Transportation Authority to allow surface street travel tied to Loop operations.

Under the approval, airport rides are limited to no more than four miles of surface street travel, and each trip must include a tunnel segment. The Vegas Loop currently includes more than 10 miles of tunnels. From this number, about four miles of tunnels are operational.

The Boring Company President Steve Davis previously told the Review-Journal that the University Center Loop segment, which is currently under construction, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2026. That extension would allow Loop vehicles to travel beneath Paradise Road between the convention center and the airport, with a planned station located just north of Tropicana Avenue.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

SpaceX Starship V3 gets launch date update from Elon Musk

The first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.

Published

on

Credit: SpaceX/X

Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s next Starship launch, Flight 12, is expected in about six weeks. This suggests that the first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.

In a post on X, Elon Musk stated that the next Starship launch is in six weeks. He accompanied his announcement with a photo that seemed to have been taken when Starship’s upper stage was just about to separate from the Super Heavy Booster. Musk did not state whether SpaceX will attempt to catch the Super Heavy Booster during the upcoming flight.

The upcoming flight will mark the debut of Starship V3. The upgraded design includes the new Raptor V3 engine, which is expected to have nearly twice the thrust of the original Raptor 1, at a fraction of the cost and with significantly reduced weight. The Starship V3 platform is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability. 

The Starship V3 Flight 12 launch timeline comes as SpaceX pursues an aggressive development cadence for the fully reusable launch system. Previous iterations of Starship have racked up a mixed but notable string of test flights, including multiple integrated flight tests in 2025.

Interestingly enough, SpaceX has teased an aggressive timeframe for Starship V3’s first flight. Way back in late November, SpaceX noted on X that it will be aiming to launch Starship V3’s maiden flight in the first quarter of 2026. This was despite setbacks like a structural anomaly on the first V3 booster during ground testing.

“Starship’s twelfth flight test remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026,” the company wrote in its post on X. 

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is getting cited by OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Some responses generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT have recently referenced information from Grokipedia.

Published

on

UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Some responses generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT have recently referenced information from Grokipedia, an AI-generated encyclopedia developed by rival xAI, which was founded by Elon Musk. The citations appeared across a limited set of queries.

Reports about the matter were initially reported by The Guardian

Grokipedia references in ChatGPT

Grokipedia launched in October as part of xAI’s effort to build an alternative to Wikipedia, which has become less centrist over the years. Unlike Wikipedia, which is moderated and edited by humans, Grokipedia is purely AI-powered, allowing it to approach topics with as little bias as possible, at least in theory. This model has also allowed Grokipedia to grow its article base quickly, with recent reports indicating that it has created over 6 million articles, more than 80% of English Wikipedia. 

The Guardian reported that ChatGPT cited Grokipedia nine times across responses to more than a dozen user questions during its tests. As per the publication, the Grokipedia citations did not appear when ChatGPT was asked about high-profile or widely documented topics. Instead, Grokipedia was referenced in responses to more obscure historical or biographical claims. The pattern suggested selective use rather than broad reliance on the source, at least for now.

Broader Grokipedia use

The Guardian also noted that Grokipedia citations were not exclusive to ChatGPT. Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude reportedly showed similar references to Grokipedia in some responses, highlighting a broader issue around how large language models identify and weigh publicly available information.

In a statement to The Guardian, an OpenAI spokesperson stated that ChatGPT “aims to draw from a broad range of publicly available sources and viewpoints.” “We apply safety filters to reduce the risk of surfacing links associated with high-severity harms, and ChatGPT clearly shows which sources informed a response through citations,” the spokesperson stated.

Anthropic, for its part, did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. As for xAI, the artificial intelligence startup simply responded with a short comment that stated, “Legacy media lies.”

Continue Reading