News
Elon Musk accused of astroturfing after SpaceX employees expressed support for Boring Co. project
In a rather bizarre turn of events, Elon Musk is now being accused of astroturfing after three SpaceX employees spoke in favor of The Boring Company’s proposed Dugout Loop project for Los Angeles. The Boring Company held its public review at the Dodgers Stadium yesterday, where it presented the concept of its high-speed tunnel system to residents in the area. Only around 50 people attended the event, and a handful opted to express their support for the project.
Independent filmmaker Erin Faulk, who goes by the @erinscafe handle on Twitter, attended The Boring Company’s public hearing. In a series of Twitter posts, Faulk pointed out the public hearing’s weak turnout, while also expressing her doubts about the proposed tunnel system. Faulk summarized her thoughts about the project in a statement to CNET.
“I thought it sounded kind of silly before, but now I’m convinced it’s ridiculous. The desperate attempts to show how it’s going to help people in Los Angeles are kind of transparent. It has such a narrow scope and use,” she said.
The independent filmmaker also discovered that several individuals who spoke in favor of the Boring Company’s proposed Dugout Loop were actually employees of SpaceX. Among these were Hailey Cockrum, a Materials Planner, and Chris Charhut, a Process Development Engineer. This connection with Elon Musk instantly incited controversy among members of the Twitterverse, some of whom accused Musk of astroturfing (compensating a group of individuals to give the impression that a project, idea, or person is enjoying widespread support) the public hearing. Being the controversy magnet that Musk’s name has unfortunately become as of late, it is somewhat unsurprising to see accusations of astroturfing being thrown his way.
“As Elon describes, traffic here is soul-crushing.”
There is no way Elon didn’t pay these people wtf is happening. pic.twitter.com/qBB4xJwzCn
— Scafe says wear a gd mask (@erinscafe) August 29, 2018
IS THIS REAL LIFE pic.twitter.com/TC11INnFEO
— Scafe says wear a gd mask (@erinscafe) August 29, 2018
While it is true that SpaceX employees did speak on the Boring Company’s public hearing, there is one little problem with the astroturfing accusation. The SpaceX employees who showed up and spoke at the event were LA residents. Thus, they were at Dodgers Stadium as private citizens and had every right to air their support for the Dugout Loop. The Boring Company provided a statement about the event through its official Twitter account, poking a little fun at the astroturfing accusation.
SpaceX employees spoke – not with our knowledge or at our urging – to offer support as private citizens. We‘d have asked them to identify themselves to avoid confusion if we had known. SpaceX has 5k employees in LA – if the goal was to astroturf, we’d have done a much better job!
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) August 29, 2018
The Dugout Loop and the Boring company might be getting mocked and bashed on social media after its recent public review, but the proposed project is actually getting some support from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, who described the project as a “great example of public-private partnership.” Dodgers CFO Tucker Kain also aired his support for the project, stating that the team is entirely behind initiatives that would ultimately make it easier for baseball fans to get to a game.
The proposed Dugout Loop will begin at the Dodger Stadium property and run under Vin Scully Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, with starting points being set up at either Vermont/Sunset, Vermont/Santa Monica or Vermont/Beverly. The Boring Company aims to utilize the Dugout Loop as a support for the city’s Metro Red Line stations.
The tunneling startup would be using its Loop transport concept for the LA tunnel system. The Loop system uses electric pods which are designed to carry up to 16 people at a time. The Boring Company expects to charge $1 per person for every ride in the Loop system. Construction for the Dugout Loop is estimated to take about 14 months to complete. The project is also 100% privately funded, and thus, will be built at no expense to the city’s residents.
The Dugout Loop is, if any, a prototype project that just happens to have public utility as a pleasant side effect. The tunnel, after all, is just one of the Boring Company’s projects across the United States. In Chicago alone, the company is involved in a high-profile project that would see the tunneling startup attempt to develop a high-speed transport system connecting downtown Chicago to O’Hare airport.
The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering (LABOE) posted a document covering some of the finer details of Boring Company’s proposed Dugout Loop project, which could be accessed here.
Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship V3 is almost ready and it will change space travel forever
SpaceX is targeting April for the debut test launch of Starship V3 “Version 3”
SpaceX is closing in on one of the most anticipated rocket launches in history, as the company readies for a planned April test launch and debut of its next-gen Starship V3 “Version 3”.
The latest iteration of Starship V3 has a slightly taller Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage than their predecessors, and produce stronger, more efficient thrust using SpaceX’s upgraded Raptor 3 engines. V3 also features increased propellant capacity, targeting a total payload capacity of over 100 tons to low Earth orbit, compared to around 35 tons for its predecessor. With Musk’s lifelong aspiration to colonize Mars one day, the increased payload capacity matters enormously, because Mars missions require moving massive amounts of cargo, fuel, and eventually, people. But the most critical upgrade may be orbital refueling. SpaceX’s entire deep space architecture depends on moving large amounts of propellant in space, and having orbital refueling capabilities turn Starship from just a rocket into a true transport system. Without it, neither the Moon nor Mars is reachable at scale.
Initial Super Heavy V3 and Starbase Pad 2 activation campaign complete, wrapping up several days of testing that loaded cryogenic fuel and oxidizer on a V3 vehicle for the first time. While the 10-engine static fire ended early due to a ground-side issue, we saw successful… pic.twitter.com/uHGji17srv
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2026
A fully reusable Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX aims to drive marginal launch costs down and at a tenfold reduction compared to current market leaders. To put that in perspective, getting a kilogram of cargo to orbit today costs thousands of dollars. Bring that number down far enough and space stops being an exclusive domain. That price point unlocks mass deployment of satellite constellations, large-scale science payloads, and affordable human transport beyond Earth orbit. It also means the Moon stops being a destination we visit and starts being one we inhabit.
NASA expects Starship to take off for the Moon’s South Pole in 2028, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanently crewed science station there. A successful V3 flight this spring keeps that timeline alive. As for Mars, Musk has shifted focus toward building a self-sustaining city on the Moon first, arguing that the Moon can be reached every 10 days versus Mars’s 26-month alignment window. Mars remains the horizon, but the Moon is the proving ground.
Elon Musk hasn’t been shy with hyping the upcoming Starship V3 launch. In a social media post on Wednesday, he confirmed the first V3 flight is getting closer to launch. SpaceX also announced its initial activation campaign for V3 and Starbase Pad 2 was complete, wrapping up several days of cryogenic fuel testing on a V3 vehicle for the first time. The countdown is on. April can’t come soon enough.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck gets long-awaited safety feature
Tesla has announced the rollout of its innovative anti-dooring protection feature to the Cybertruck via the 2026.8 software update.
Tesla is rolling out a new and long-awaited feature to the Cybertruck all-electric pickup, and it is a safety addition geared toward pedestrian and cyclist safety, as well as accidents with other vehicles.
Tesla has announced the rollout of its innovative anti-dooring protection feature to the Cybertruck via the 2026.8 software update.
This safety enhancement uses the vehicle’s existing cameras to detect approaching cyclists, pedestrians, or vehicles in the blind spot while parked. Upon attempting to open a door, if a hazard is detected, the system activates: the blind spot indicator light flashes, an audible chime sounds, and the door will not open on the initial button press.
Drivers must wait briefly and press the button again to override, providing crucial seconds to avoid an accident.
Anti-dooring protection now rolling out to @Cybertruck
This feature comes standard on every new Model 3, Model Y & Cybertruck – using cameras to delay door opening if a cyclist, pedestrian or other vehicle is detected approaching in your blind spot
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) March 17, 2026
The feature, also known as Blind Spot Warning While Parked, comes standard on every new Model 3 and Model Y, and is now extending to the Cybertruck. Leveraging Tesla’s vision-based system without requiring new hardware, it represents a cost-effective software solution that builds on community suggestions dating back to 2018.
This technology addresses the persistent danger of “dooring,” where a driver opens a car door into the path of a passing cyclist or pedestrian.
Tesla implemented this little-known feature to make its cars even safer
Dooring incidents are alarmingly common in urban environments.
According to Chicago data, in 2011 alone, there were 344 reported dooring crashes, accounting for approximately 20 percent of all bicycle crashes in the city, nearly one incident per day.
While numbers have fluctuated (dropping to 11 percent in 2014 before rising again), dooring consistently represents 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities.
A national analysis of emergency department data estimates over 17,000 dooring-related injuries treated in the U.S. over a decade, with many involving fractures, contusions, and head trauma, particularly affecting upper extremities.
By automatically intervening, Tesla’s system not only protects vulnerable road users but also safeguards its owners from potential liability and enhances overall road safety.
As cities promote cycling for sustainable transport, features like this demonstrate how advanced driver assistance and camera systems can evolve beyond highway driving to everyday urban scenarios.
Enthusiastic responses on social media highlight appreciation for the proactive safety measure, with some calling for broader rollout to older models where hardware permits. Tesla continues to push the boundaries of vehicle safety through over-the-air updates, making its fleet smarter and safer over time.
Elon Musk
Tesla Roadster is ‘sorcery and magic’ and might be worth the wait, Uber founder says
Perhaps the wait will be worth it, especially according to Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who recently teased the Roadster’s potential capabilities based on what he has heard from internal Tesla sources.
Tesla is planning to unveil the Roadster in late April after years of waiting. But the wait might be worth it, according to Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber, who recently shed some light on his expectations for the all-electric supercar.
We all know the Roadster is supposed to have some serious capability. CEO Elon Musk has said on numerous occasions that the Roadster will be unlike anything else ever produced. It might go from 0-60 MPH in about a second, it might hover, it might have SpaceX cold gas thrusters.
However, the constant delays in the Roadster program and its unveiling event continue to send Tesla fans into confusion because they’re just not sure when, or if, they’ll ever see the finished product.
Perhaps the wait will be worth it, especially according to Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who recently teased the Roadster’s potential capabilities based on what he has heard from internal Tesla sources.
Kalanick said on X:
When I’ve run into people who are in the know, I inquire, they tell me nothing, but their eyebrows raise and their eyes widen in a way that can only mean something of sorcery and magic is coming…
— travis kalanick (@travisk) March 17, 2026
Musk has said this vehicle is not going to be geared for safety, and that, “If safety is your number one goal, do not buy the Roadster.”
There has been so much hype regarding the Roadster that it is hard to believe the company could not come through on some kind of crazy features for the vehicle.
However, the latest delay that Tesla put on the unveiling event is definitely eye-opening, especially considering it is the latest in a series of pushbacks the company has put on the vehicle for the past several years.
Tesla has made several jumps in the Roadster project over the past few months, as it has ramped up hiring for the vehicle and also applied for a patent for a new seat design.
The car has been a back-burner project for Tesla, as it has been focusing primarily on autonomy and the rollout of Robotaxi and Cybercab. Additionally, its other vehicle projects, like the Model 3 and Model Y refreshes, took precedence.
Tesla still plans to unveil the Roadster next month, so we can hope the company can stick to this timeframe.
SpaceX’s Starship V3 is almost ready and it will change space travel forever
Tesla Cybertruck gets long-awaited safety feature
