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Elon Musk sets the record straight over allegations that Tesla donated no ventilators to CA hospitals
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has set the record straight about his companies’ ventilator donations to hospitals in CA. Musk’s clarification comes on the heels of reports alleging that no hospitals in California have actually received any ventilators from the CEO or any of his companies.
On April 14, the Sacramento Bee published an editorial about Elon Musk’s initiative to donate ventilators to California hospitals. The editorial criticized Musk’s decision to supply non-invasive ventilators to hospitals, which were allegedly dangerous to use for COVID-19 patients. The piece’s author, whose name was not listed by the Bee, called the initiative a “fiasco” and alleged that “not one unit has been delivered – and Musk likely never had the real ventilators our hospitals need.”
The editorial appears to have spawned similar articles alleging the same point: that despite Musk’s commitment to donate ventilators, not one has reached a California hospital. On Thursday, a CNN report was published, citing a quote from a spokesperson of the California governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The allegations were similar to those in the Sacramento Bee’s editorial.
“Elon Musk and his team told the state that he had procured ventilators and wanted to distribute them directly to hospitals with shortages. The Administration is communicating every day with hospitals across the state about their ventilator supply and to date we have not heard of any hospital system that has received a ventilator directly from Tesla or Musk,” the spokesperson noted.
.@GavinNewsom please fix this misunderstanding— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2020
In response to CNN‘s recent report, Elon Musk provided screenshots of Tesla’s communication with hospitals in California, clearly indicating that ventilator donations had been made. Musk also urged CA Governor Gavin Newsom to address the misunderstanding.
In one of Musk’s shared emails, Tesla asked Phillip Franks of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services if any donated ventilators went into use. Franks noted in a reply on March 27 that the donated units performed well during testing, and that the machines will be put into use the next day.
- (Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter)
- (Credit: Elon Musk/Twitter)
Musk also shared a message from Tom Parker, the CEO of Mammoth Hospital in CA. Parker thanked Musk and Tesla for ventilators that were donated to the hospital, stating that the units will be invaluable as COVID-19 cases in the state increased. “These ventilators will be quickly deployed in our hospital in anticipation of the coming wave of patients who will be suffering from the most severe effects of COVID-19,” Parker wrote.
At the core of the criticism against Elon Musk and Tesla’s donations is argument that most of the units donated thus far are non-invasive ventilators. While these units cannot perform as well as the $35,000 invasive ventilators used for critically-ill patients, the non-invasive units can still be used as backup ventilators for those that are not severely ill from the coronavirus. And during a global pandemic, where cases are rising rapidly, every ventilator counts.
A team of our specialists and medical students are reconfiguring hundreds of donated machines that are typically used at home for #SleepApnea and deploying them as ventilators to be used for severely ill patients who are hospitalized with #COVID19: https://t.co/qd9VKBk9jT pic.twitter.com/KXrh9h8gJP— Mount Sinai Health System (@MountSinaiNYC) April 3, 2020
Also neglected by the Sacramento Bee‘s editorial and CNN‘s report is the fact that the non-invasive ventilators donated by Tesla can actually be reconfigured to work for severely-ill COVID-19 patients. An example of this was done in Mouth Sinai NYC, which also received ventilators from the electric car maker. These efforts from the Mount Sinai team show one thing: the non-invasive ventilators from Tesla are invaluable in the fight against COVID-19, contrary to what poorly-researched critics would allege.
Another special thank you goes out to @Tesla for a donation of Medtronic invasive ventilators to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln #inTheBronx. pic.twitter.com/BH9SSj4Bbw— NYC Health + Hospitals (@NYCHealthSystem) April 4, 2020
News
Tesla starts testing its Starlink-integrated Cybercab on public roads
Tesla has been testing its all-electric, two-seater Cybercab on public roads for months now.
Nearly two years after its unveiling, the Cybercab has been seen by perhaps tens of thousands as the company has expanded testing to a handful of states, including Texas, California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and New York, among several others.
However, nobody has seen one like this quite yet.
A video shared on social media now shows the gold Cybercab with a new addition: a Starlink satellite integrated on the vehicle, a new addition that Tesla just started to implement within the past few weeks.
@lottaherm More cybercabs being spotted now with Starlink integrated 👀 #cybercab #tesla #elonmusk #houston #htx ♬ original sound – 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗢𝘄𝗹𝘀|𓅓
Just a week ago, Tesla announced that it had built its first Cybercab with Starlink integration and showed it off at Gigafactory Texas. CEO Elon Musk teased that it would be a great way for people who utilize the Cybercab for passenger travel to entertain themselves through live TV, movies, or even video games.
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said it is also a huge advantage for Tesla as it will enable constant connectivity between the company and the fleet of Cybercabs it has. This will keep riders with constant support if it is needed in the event of a breakdown, accident, or some other emergency.
Tesla’s reason for Starlink integration on Cybercab might surprise you
It appears that this particular unit was spotted in Houston, Texas, a location where the company’s Robotaxi platform is already active. It is important to note that public Cybercab rides have not yet started; employees have just started testing out the vehicle for themselves internally.
Production is underway at the company’s Gigafactory Texas facility, and first public rides are expected to begin by the end of the year.
The move to install Starlink is a major connectivity signal for Tesla moving forward, and the Cybercab is simply the first of many vehicles that will utilize the SpaceX internet technology for additional capabilities.
Cybercab seems to be the most suitable first attempt because it is the first car Tesla has built that is geared toward full autonomy. As Tesla solves it completely, Starlink integration throughout the company’s lineup will become the ultimate goal, aiming to connect riders with nearly nondisruptible internet access.
News
Tesla is building its largest Supercharger on the East Coast in New York City
Tesla is building its largest East Coast Supercharger in New York City, planning to bring a 64- to 68-stall station to Queens, New York.
It will end up being tied for the largest Supercharger on the East Coast with this number of stalls. The largest on the Eastern Seaboard is located in Halifax, North Carolina, and is also 68 stalls.
Tesla is currently building a new 64-stall Supercharger station in Queens, New York. This will be the biggest Supercharger station on the East Coast of the U.S.
It will also have two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. Thx for the pics @LetsCleanNYC. pic.twitter.com/CCo0dIoHin
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 16, 2026
The location is also set to be fitted with two pull-through stalls for EVs with trailers. We’ve seen Tesla implement these types of parking spots at newer locations as EV ownership continues to expand to those who do more than simply drive their cars.
There are plenty of Superchargers in the New York City metro, but they are mostly located in boroughs outside of Manhattan. There are five Superchargers in various neighborhoods of Manhattan, but there are limited plugs; usually only four per location. There are plenty of Destination Chargers in the Big Apple, though.
Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn have become popular locations for companies to build out charging infrastructure for those who live in the highly populated boroughs. There is simply much more real estate to build effective EV charging stations.
The Supercharger will be located in Maspeth, Queens, at 48-26 54th Road. Maspeth has I-495 running through it, so this will be a great location for Tesla owners to hop off the highway on their way to Long Island or to Manhattan to charge up before continuing their journey.
Tesla has done a really great job of expanding its charging footprint throughout the past several years, especially by building large-scale projects that cater to areas that have a high volume of traffic and are main routes of travel to major areas. Tesla is making an effort to make charging less stressful and more widely available in these concentrated regions.
News
SpaceX just launched a secret payload from California
SpaceX launched a classified Space Force mission from Vandenberg, revealing almost nothing about its payload.
SpaceX launched a classified Falcon 9 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday night, and the government released almost nothing about what was on board. The mission, designated USSF-366, lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E with a window that opened at 9:52 p.m. ET and ran into the early hours of Sunday, according to SpaceX’s own mission page, which described the payload only as classified. SpaceX confirmed the launch on its X account and pointed viewers to a livestream that began roughly ten minutes before liftoff.
Watch Falcon 9 launch the USSF-366 mission from pad 4E in California https://t.co/FFEzeYOds1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 16, 2026
The lack of detail did not stop analysts from filling in the blanks. Independent tracking of the rocket’s stage drop zones matched the pattern SpaceX has used on previous Starlink Group 15 missions, according to reporting from Outer Space Today, which pointed to Starshield as the likely payload rather than a one off government satellite. Starshield is SpaceX’s national security product, a version of the Starlink satellite bus built to Pentagon specifications for earth observation, communications and hosted payloads. Unlike consumer Starlink, government agencies do not have to disclose what Starshield satellites are actually doing once they reach orbit.
USSF-366 is the latest entry in a steady flow of classified and semi classified work between SpaceX and the Space Force. The company picked up a $178.5 million task order in April to launch missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, as Teslarati reported at the time, and followed that in July with a $1.6 billion award covering 18 more Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg through the end of 2027, also detailed by Teslarati. Add those contracts up and SpaceX’s Pentagon business for 2026 alone tops $8 billion.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
The Falcon 9 that flew Saturday landed back near the launch site, producing the sonic booms that have become routine for residents near Vandenberg. What is less routine is how little the public will likely ever learn about what the rocket carried. SpaceX and the Space Force have not confirmed the Starshield connection, and government satellite programs built on commercial buses rarely get identified beyond a mission number and a general orbit. For a company that live streams almost everything else it does, from Starship test flights to Optimus robot demos, USSF-366 is a reminder that some of SpaceX’s busiest work now happens entirely out of public view.


