Lifestyle
Elon Musk’s Boring Company flamethrower apparently exists in real life
Back in December, Tesla CEO Elon Musk joked that after selling 50,000 Boring Company hats, the tunneling startup would start offering The Boring Co. flamethrower. The flamethrower joke never really died down, thanks in part to Musk’s constant mention of the allegedly “safe” product on his tweets. As recently revealed by one of Musk’s followers on social media, however, The Boring Company flamethrower actually exists, and it’s fully functional.
The Boring Co. flamethrower recently made a quiet debut on social media, after writer-musician D.A. Wallach posted a brief clip of himself holding and operating the fiery device while he toured the tunnels being dug by the Elon Musk-led firm. During the short clip, Wallach could be seen playfully talking to the camera while demonstrating the fiery capabilities of The Boring Co. flamethrower. As noted by an Instagram commenter on Wallach’s post, the device itself appears to be a modified CSI S.T.A.R. XR-5 Airsoft Rifle. Instead of firing rounds of BBs, however, The Boring Co. flamethrower fires a stream of red-hot flame.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeHSiMmBazJ/?tagged=boring
Not long after Musk joked that his tunnel-digging venture would be selling the ‘safest flamethrower ever’, the Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Co. CEO announced that ten lucky hat buyers would be selected at random to tour the Los Angeles tunnel system and drive the company’s Boring Machine. Based on the social media activity of the tech investor and musician-writer, it appears that Wallach could have been one of the lucky hat owners who was picked to win the fun prize, though it’s more likely that he was invited as a guest of Musk. It is still unknown, however, if Wallach did end up operating GoDot or Line-Storm during his tour.
I know it’s a little off-brand, but kids love it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2017
While Wallach’s Instagram updates seemed to be a simple upload featuring some shots of the Elon Musk-led firm’s operations, the image and clip that were posted on the social media platform do provide a rare look into the recent workings of The Boring Company. Among Elon Musk’s ventures, very little of what actually happens in the operations of the tunneling firm have been shared with the public. Based on Wallach’s social media upload, however, it seems like The Boring Co.’s tunnels, at least in the Los Angeles area, are already quite expansive.
As we mentioned in a previous report, Tesla and SpaceX board member Steve Jurvetson has expressed his full support for the tunneling firm’s venture, with the executive even stating that he personally likes The Boring Co,’s concept more than Hyperloop. According to Jurvetson, Elon Musk’s vision for the tunneling firm’s concept is more than feasible.
“I personally love the idea, in fact even more than the Hyperloop idea, of digging these tunnels. The inside I think that’s so powerful is that if you only envision electric vehicles in your tunnels, you don’t need to do the air handling for all carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, you know, basically pollutants for exhaust. You could have scrubbers and a variety of simpler things that make everything collapse to a smaller tunnel size, which dramatically lowers the cost. The whole concept of what you do with tunnels changes.”
The company’s first route in Southern California is expected to run parallel to a section of Los Angeles’ notorious 405 freeway and consistent winner of “America’s worst freeways”. A statement made on The Boring Company’s website indicates that the route will work like a fast freeway, where electric skates carrying vehicles and people on pods on the main artery travel at up to 150mph. Upon successful completion of Phase 1, a Phase 2 route will extend into the outskirts of Los Angeles County and stretch from San Fernando Valley in the north to as far south as Long Beach airport.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
Tesla launches 200mph Model S “Gold” Signature in invite-only purchase
The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
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