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Elon Musk’s Boring Company ramps hiring as Vegas tunnel project gets serious

(Image: Tesla)

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The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s high-speed tunnel system endeavor, is looking to expand its workforce as construction plans for a Las Vegas Convention Center Loop edge closer to becoming a reality.

Musk and Boring alike recently brought attention to the company’s job board, indicating that engineering, operations, and production positions are open for interested applicants to apply directly. Civil engineers, construction managers, architects, and tunnel boring machine operators are just a few of the jobs needing to be filled. If selected for one of the positions, most new hires can expect extended hours, weekend work, and traveling requirements of up to 20%, according to the postings for Las Vegas openings. Tunnel mechanics, however, may travel up to 90% of the time, which may indicate Boring’s intention for some hires to be involved with several of the company’s ongoing projects aside from the Las Vegas loop.

“Come work with us in Las Vegas – lots of boring jobs available!” the tunneling startup’s Twitter account posted. Musk then retweeted the message to give it a bit more reach among his 27 million or so followers.

The board members of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LCVA) approved a $48.6 million contract with The Boring Company in May this year to build a transport tunnel under the the LCVA campus. The project will be comprised of two tunnels that are designed to transport passengers from the campus’ New Exhibit Hall to the existing North/Central Hall, and construction is expected to be completed in time for the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show. Although the timetable is a bit aggressive, the tunnel lengths are under a mile, improving The Boring Company’s chances for an on-time completion.

Specifically, the Las Vegas transport tunnel will utilize a Loop System, which is comprised of autonomous electric vehicles (AEV) that can carry passengers from one point to another. The Boring Company has noted previously that standard AEVs are Tesla Model X and Model 3 vehicles, though high-occupancy AEVs are also under development. These versions will utilize a modified Model X chassis capable of transporting up to 16 passengers with both sitting and standing room.

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If construction delays are avoided, test runs in the Loop System could begin as early as November 2020, according to the public contract between the two entities. Given the state of the LCVA project, it makes sense for The Boring Company to ramp up its hiring.

For a quick look at Boring’s general tunnel model, watch the video below:

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.

As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.

Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:

New Animation Screen for 3/Y

Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.

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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.

Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.

Grok Improvements

Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:

You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.

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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.

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Tesla briefly offered this Robotaxi part for your personal car

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Credit: @tpgoebel | X

Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.

Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.

First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.

This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.

However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.

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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?

While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.

AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.

This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.

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Tesla Robotaxi gets sweeping but polarizing change

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.

Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.

But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:

However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.

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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.

Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.

The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.

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