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
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
NASA named the rovers, landers, and vendors that will build America’s first Moon Base.
NASA has laid out its most detailed Moon Base plan to date, describing a permanent outpost near the Moon’s south pole that the agency intends to build over the coming decade as a direct stepping stone to Mars. “The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, adding that every mission crewed and uncrewed “will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”
The plan is structured in three phases involving both uncrewed and crewed missions to deliver equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure to the surface, with the first three moon base missions targeted to launch before the end of 2026.
Moon Base I, targeting fall 2026, will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to deliver scientific instruments to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, the same region where Artemis astronauts will land. Moon Base II will send Astrobotic’s Griffin lander carrying more than 1,100 pounds of cargo including Astrolab’s FLIP rover to begin developing mobility systems on the surface. Moon Base III will carry the Lunar Vertex science mission on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Trinity lander to study lunar swirls near the south pole, with ESA and Korean science payloads aboard.
On the rover side, NASA awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build the first phase of Lunar Terrain Vehicles, with both rovers targeted for deployment to the lunar surface by 2028. Astrolab’s crewed rover weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and can reach over 6 mph. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover can operate autonomously or via remote control at over 9 mph. Blue Origin separately received $188 million with an option worth $280.4 million to deliver cargo landers for rover transport.
NASA also confirmed that MoonFall, a mission deploying four survey drones to scout Artemis landing sites, has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the transport spacecraft, with a 2028 launch target.
SpaceX sits at the center of that commercial layer. SpaceX holds the NASA Human Landing System contract for the Starship-derived lander that will put astronauts on the surface under Artemis IV, currently targeting 2028. Before that can happen, SpaceX must demonstrate in-orbit propellant transfer at scale, a process requiring multiple Starship tanker launches to fuel a single mission. Water ice at the lunar south pole is central to the base’s long-term viability, as it can be converted into drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel, directly reducing dependence on Earth resupply. That resource loop becomes far more practical if Starship can land and be refueled on or near the Moon itself.
Elon Musk has publicly stated that Starship V3, which recently completed its first flight, should be capable enough for initial Mars missions. The Moon Base plan announced Tuesday is the infrastructure layer that connects everything between those two ambitions, and SpaceX is the only American company currently contracted to build the rocket that gets humans to either destination.
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.
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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.”
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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.
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