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Elon Musk offers advice to $100M XPRIZE Carbon Removal competitors
XPRIZE officially launched the $100 Million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition. In honor of the launch, XPRIZE founder Peter H. Diamandis sat down with Elon Musk, who is funding the competition through the Musk Foundation.
In February, the Tesla CEO announced he was teaming up with XPRIZE to manage the $100 million carbon capture prize he was donating to encourage innovators to develop CO2 removal solutions. Elon Musk’s recent interview with XPRIZE’s Diamandis marked the opening of registrations for the competition.
Musk advised competitors to go for pragmatic solutions. “It doesn’t need to be perfect. You know, it’s got to be something that [it] just…fundamentally if we scale it up, would it work. And that’s it.”
Musk and Diamandis talked about some competition guidelines and pointed out three key factors that judges will consider when deciding which teams win the prize. To be considered for the award, teams must present a solution that could capture a minimum of 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Diamandis made it clear that XPRIZE judges will be looking at a team’s ability to actually capture carbon and not just their theoretical solution.
Musk admitted that making ideas tangible can be challenging. “Ideas are plentiful, actually getting it done is very hard,” Musk said. “You could say, for example, the idea of going to the moon is easy. Going to the moon is hard.”
Besides showcasing a working and viable carbon removal solution or product, teams must be able to calculate the fully considered costs of their ideas. Musk explained that teams should consider aspects of their solution. For example, they should consider factors like environmental impact or if the solution could be turned into a useful product that could generate revenue. However, one important factor teams must know is that their solutions or productions must capture CO2 with net negative emissions.
Teams will also need to prove that their solutions or products will contain the captured CO2 for at least 100 years. Their solution must also be scalable to a gigaton level.
The team that wins first place will get $50 million of the $100 million prize from the Musk Foundation. Teams in second, third, and fourth place will split $30 million of the prize. Musk said the winners could use the prizes to start a company.
After the first year of the 4-year competition, XPRIZE will be awarded up to 15 Milestone Prizes of $1 million each to competitors that made the most progress. Up to $5 million of the prize money will be dedicated to awards for student teams. Musk noted that he is willing to increase the prize if more teams deserve recognition.
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Elon Musk
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
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Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
6 million drive units
The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote.
The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.
Giga Nevada’s essential role
Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.
Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.
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Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025
The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide.
To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.
Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025
The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream.
Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.
This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.
Resilience after Supercharger team changes
2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.
Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible.
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
