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Chinese company looks to shatter Musk’s Hyperloop record with 2,300 mph system

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The China Aerospace Science and Industrial Corporation will begin development of supersonic transportation technology, rivaling Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s designs with an intercontinental model that will travel at speeds up to 2,300 mph.

The technology, dubbed the T Flight “flying train,” would shatter Musk’s initially proposed 745 mph design should it come to fruition. CASIC has significant resources, netting nearly $1.5 billion last year and employing 150,000 workers.

T Flight would use the same magnetic levitation (maglev) model as Musk’s designs, but will seat 16 people and be propelled down a 7-by-7-foot tunnel. It will also feature a turntable to launch capsules on a prospective route every 3 to 4 minutes.

CASIC is aiming to complete research for T Flight by 2020, and has already registered around 200 patents for the technology. The company is aiming to partner with 20 companies to develop and implement the technology in Wuhan, China.

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The first stage of T Flight would transport around 8 million people around the region at speeds ranging from 370 to 620 mph. The company would then focus on connecting major cities in the country before trying to make the jump to the 2,300 mph goal.

Should T Flight come to fruition, it would rival Hyperloop One, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and Musk and The Boring Company’s efforts to create practical, affordable Hyperloop transportation. Though CASIC has released its plans, it is only beginning its project while the aforementioned companies are in full swing with Hyperloop development.

We recently reported that HTT reached an agreement with the Indian government to build a Hyperloop in India between Vijaywada and Amaravati.

In addition to sponsoring Hyperloop development competitions, Musk has also hinted at his own desire to develop a Hyperloop between Washington, D.C. and New York City. The Boring Company later added fuel to the fire by saying its tunnels would be used for Hyperloops as well as Musk’s underground highways.

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Musk has already come out with saying he hopes his own Hyperloop pusher pod will reach a 300 mph speed sometime in the near future.

The news from China indicates that competition is heating up to develop supersonic transportation for the future. Either way, it brings Musk closer to his goal of revolutionizing transportation across the globe.

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I'm an East Coast reporter for Teslarati. Contact me at matt@teslarati.com

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Elon Musk’s xAI wins permit for power plant supporting AI data centers

The development was reported by CNBC, citing confirmation from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

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Mississippi regulators have approved a permit allowing Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI to construct a natural gas power plant in Southaven. The facility is expected to support the company’s expanding AI infrastructure tied to its Colossus data center operations near Memphis.

The development was reported by CNBC, citing confirmation from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

According to the report, regulators “voted to approve the permit” of xAI subsidiary MZX Tech LLC to construct a power plant featuring 41 natural gas-burning turbines “after careful consideration of all public comments and community concerns.”

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality stated that the permit followed a regulatory review process that included public comments and community input. Jaricus Whitlock, air division chief for the MDEQ, stated that the project met all applicable environmental standards.

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“The proposed PSD permit in front of the board today not only meets all state and federal permitting regulations, but goes above and beyond what is required by law. MDEQ and the EPA agree that not a single person around our facilities will be exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution,” Whitlock stated.

The planned facility will help provide electricity for xAI’s AI computing infrastructure in the Memphis region.

The Southaven project forms part of xAI’s efforts to scale computing capacity for its artificial intelligence systems.

The company currently operates two major data centers in Memphis, known as Colossus 1 and Colossus 2, which provide computing power for xAI’s Grok AI models. xAI is also planning to build another large data center in Southaven called Macrohardrr, which would be located in a warehouse previously used by GXO Logistics.

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Large-scale AI training requires substantial computing power and electricity, prompting technology companies to develop dedicated energy infrastructure for their data centers.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell previously stated that xAI plans to develop 1.2 gigawatts of power capacity for its Memphis-area AI supercomputer site as part of the federal government’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge. The commitment was announced during an event with United States President Donald Trump.

“As part of today’s commitment, we will take extensive additional steps to continue to reduce the costs of electricity for our neighbors. xAI will therefore commit to develop 1.2 GW of power as our supercomputer’s primary power source. That will be for every additional data center as well. We will expand what is already the largest global Megapack power installation in the world,” Shotwell said.

“The installation will provide enough backup power to power the city of Memphis, and more than sufficient energy to power the town of Southaven, Mississippi where the data center resides. We will build new substations and invest in electrical infrastructure to provide stability to the area’s grid.”

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Tesla China teases Optimus robot’s human-looking next-gen hands

The image was shared by Tesla AI’s account on Weibo and later reposted by Tesla community members on X.

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Credit: Tesla China

A new teaser shared by Tesla’s China team appears to show a pair of unusually human-like hands for Optimus. 

The image was shared by Tesla AI’s account on Weibo and later reposted by Tesla community members on X.

As could be seen in the teaser image, the new version of Optimus’ hands features proportions and finger structures that look strikingly similar to those of a human hand. Their appearance suggests that they might have dexterity approaching that of a human hand.

If the image reflects a new generation of Optimus’ hands, it could indicate Tesla is continuing to refine one of the most critical components of its humanoid robot.

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Hands are widely viewed as one of the most difficult engineering challenges in robotics. For Optimus to perform complex real-world work, from manufacturing tasks to household activities, its hands would need to be the best in the industry.

Elon Musk has repeatedly described Optimus as Tesla’s most important long-term product. In posts on social media platform X, Musk has stated that Optimus could eventually become the first real-world Von Neumann machine.

In theory, a Von Neumann machine is a self-replicating system capable of building copies of itself using available materials. The concept was originally proposed by mathematician John von Neumann in the mid-20th century.

“Optimus will be the first Von Neumann machine, capable of building civilization by itself on any viable planet,” Musk wrote in a post on X.

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If Optimus is expected to carry out complex work autonomously in the future, high levels of dexterity will likely be essential. This makes the development of advanced robotic hands a key step towards Musk’s long-term expectations for the product.

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Tesla Cybercab ramps Robotaxi public street testing as vehicle enters mass production queue

Recent sightings on public roads and growing fleet activity at Giga Texas signal Tesla’s accelerating push toward the Cybercab’s commercial launch.

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Tesla Cybercab spotted in San Jose, CA testing on public roads with Robotaxi validation equipment [Credit: Nic Cruz Patane via X]

Tesla Cybercab is being spotted with increasing frequency both on public roads and across the grounds of Gigafactory Texas, suggesting that the company’s road testing and validation program is ramping meaningfully ahead of mass production.

A total of 25 Cybercab units were recently observed across three separate locations at Giga Texas by drone observer Joe Tegtmeyer — with 14 metallic gold units parked in a tight formation outside the factory exit, nine more at the crash testing facility undergoing structural and safety validations, and two additional units at the west end-of-line area for final checks.

The activity on public roads is just as telling. The Cybercab was spotted testing on public roads for the first time last October, near Tesla’s Engineering Headquarters in Los Altos, California, marking a significant development in the vehicle’s progression toward commercial readiness. As expected at that early stage, a safety driver was present in the seat.

Since then, sightings have only become more frequent. Community observers on X have posted fresh footage of Cybercabs navigating public streets in Silicon Valley, with each new clip adding to a growing body of evidence that Tesla’s validation efforts are well underway. The production backdrop supports the momentum. Tesla’s production line at Giga Texas moved into a higher volume early in March, representing what observers are calling the largest single-day grouping of Cybercabs seen to date.

Tesla Cybercab spotted testing on public roads in Los Gatos, CA – March 10, 2026 [Credit: Osman Sarood via X]

CEO Elon Musk has been clear-eyed about what to expect from the ramp. “It’s an all-new product and radical redesign of car manufacturing to achieve ~5X higher production rate, which means the output S-curve will be very slow in the beginning, but ultimately super high volume,” Musk wrote on X. “For Cybercab and Optimus, almost everything is new, so the early production rate will be agonizingly slow, but eventually end up being insanely fast.”

Tesla ramps Cybercab test manufacturing ahead of mass production

Musk has also stated that Tesla is aiming for at least 2 million Cybercab units per year across more than one factory, with a potential ceiling of 4 million annually.

With testing activity on public roads accelerating and factory output visibly increasing week over week, the coming months at Giga Texas are set to be pivotal in determining how quickly Tesla can bring the Cybercab from validation to volume.

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