Tesla’s factories are not just the company’s biggest assets. They are also its best product. This is, at least, as per Tesla China’s recent post on social media platform Weibo.

Tesla China’s Weibo post was shared to celebrate Giga Shanghai’s changeover to the new Model Y, which is currently being delivered to consumers globally.

Tesla’s Best Product

In its post, Tesla China noted that Gigafactory Shanghai was able to complete its new Model Y production ramp up in just six weeks. This is a new record for Tesla, and it speaks to the company’s intense focus on efficiency. Tesla also highlighted the Cybercab’s production line in its Weibo post, stating that the upcoming vehicle will see “ultra-high levels of automation” when it gets produced.

“The factory is Tesla’s best product—Tesla Shanghai Super Factory completed the new Model Y production capacity ramp-up within 6 weeks, setting a record for the company’s fastest model production speed. In the future, the North American factory is expected to roll out a Tesla self-driving electric Cybercab every 5 seconds to subvert the vehicle production and manufacturing model. Adhering to the first principle of car manufacturing is Tesla’s core advantage that is difficult to copy,” Tesla China wrote in its post.

Tesla’s Factories

Tesla’s factories are among the best in the world. Tesla only operates four vehicle factories for its entire vehicle lineup today, which is quite impressive for a company that has so far sold up to 1.8 million vehicles per year. Tesla is expected to improve its factories’ output with its future vehicles as well, with Elon Musk stating during the company’s Q1 2025 All-Hands Meeting that the Cybercab’s factory will look more like a high-speed consumer electronics line than a car production line. These innovations, Musk noted, should allow Tesla to ramp the Cybercab’s production to 2 million units per year. 

Musk highlighted the importance of Tesla’s factories in the first quarter earnings call as well. While discussing the Cybercab’s line, Musk noted that with Tesla, the factory is as much a product as its cars. “The factory is the product as much as the car is the product. So, this really is the first principles approach to manufacturing that will ultimately allow us, I think, to… achieve a cycle time, meaning a unit every five seconds or less, off a single line,” Musk stated.

During a recent interview with the New York Times, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates shared a lot of criticism towards Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his work with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk, for his part, responded with choice words towards Gates. 

Bill Gates on DOGE

In his NYT interview, Gates lamented the fact that funding has been cut for programs that are supposed to help children abroad. Referencing the DOGE cuts made to the money going to Gaza Province in Mozambique, Gates stated that the people doing the cutting are not the most knowledgeable. 

“They cut the money to Gaza Province in Mozambique. That is really for drugs, so mothers don’t give their babies H.I.V. But the people doing the cutting are so geographically illiterate, they think it’s Gaza and condoms. Will they go meet those babies who got H.I.V. because that money was cut? Probably not,” Gates noted, adding that there will be “millions of additional deaths of kids” because of the cuts.

The Microsoft cofounder also admitted that he was surprised at the cuts that the Trump administration has implemented through the guidance of DOGE. As per Gates, he expected U.S.A.I.D. to receive a cut of about 20%, but the administration cut far more. “The reductions to U.S.A.I.D. are stunning. I thought there’d be, like, a 20% cut. Instead, right now, it’s like an 80% cut. And yes, I did not expect that,” he said.

Gates and Musk

Considering the nature of the interview, it was no surprise that Elon Musk himself was brought up as a topic. When the Times noted that Musk was not giving much away to the needs of the world’s poor, Gates stated that the Tesla CEO was ultimately the one who pushed for the cuts on U.S.A.I.D.’s budget. These cuts, Gates argued, effectively involve Musk in the deaths of the world’s poorest children.

“Well, he’s the one who cut the U.S.A.I.D. budget. He put it in the wood chipper, because he didn’t go to a party that weekend… the world’s richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world’s poorest children,” Gates stated. Musk, in response, stated in a post on social media platform X that “Gates is a huge liar.”

Musk and Gates have not really gotten along, thanks in no small part to the Microsoft co-founder putting a $500 million short bet against Tesla. In Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk biography, Gates stated that he was shocked that Elon Musk was super mean to him after the Tesla CEO found out that he shorted Tesla. “Once he heard I’d shorted the stock, he was super mean to me, but he’s super mean to so many people, so you can’t take it too personally,” Gates noted.

The X Money payment system hit a roadblock in New York as state lawmakers urged regulators to deny the company a critical operating license. The payment system is Elon Musk’s bid to launch a person-to-person payment system on the X platform.

Two Manhattan Democrats, Assemblymember Micah Lasher and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, sent a letter Monday to New York’s Department of Financial Services, opposing X Corp.’s application for a money-transmitter license.

“What we’re talking about is nothing less than Elon Musk becoming a permanent part of the country’s financial infrastructure — with access to enormous quantities of consumer data, including the data of New Yorkers,” Lasher said. “I think it would be grossly irresponsible and contrary to the law.”

The lawmakers argue that Musk’s “pattern of reckless conduct” in business and government, including his role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), demonstrates a lack of “character and general fitness” required under state law for a money-transmitter license.

New York’s Department of Financial Services “thoroughly reviews all license applications and holds all applicants to identical, robust standards,” said spokesperson Ciara Marangas, declining to comment on X Corp.’s application. State law requires regulators to assess an applicant’s financial responsibility, experience, and trustworthiness.

Musk’s ties to President Donald Trump have intensified scrutiny in New York, with lawmakers like Lasher pushing to pause Tesla’s lease renegotiation for a Buffalo factory and state Sen. Patricia Fahy proposing legislation to close Tesla dealerships. X Corp.’s lobbyists did not respond to inquiries.

Musk aims to transform X into an “everything app” enabling financial transactions alongside media and communication. Once in operation, X Money would rival Venmo, Zelle, and Apple Pay. X Corp. announced a Visa partnership in January to support the system.

Musk noted that license approval for X Money in the District of Columbia, New York, and California would be the most onerous. X Money obtained California’s license in September 2024. As of this writing, X has already secured money-transmitter licenses in 42 states.

As X Money seeks to redefine digital payments, New York’s resistance could delay Musk’s vision. The outcome will shape X’s ability to integrate financial services and compete in the evolving fintech landscape.