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Elon Musk: The King of Job Creation

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Since the launch of Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity, serial tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s companies have consistently created thousands of high paying jobs worldwide. SpaceX has grown from a small team of engineers working out of a warehouse to a global team of over 5,000 employees. Similarly, Tesla has gone from a garage operation in Palo Alto to an operation consisting of over 18,000 employees worldwide. SolarCity, backed by Musk and founded by his cousins, was acquired in 2016 by Tesla and employs over 12,000 workers.

Musk’s role in job creation has has had a deep impact on thousands of lives, and on a global scale. Between all of his companies, Musk employs over 35,000 employees globally, of which 30,000+ are in the US.

Advanced Manufacturing: Tesla

Since Tesla began production of the Roadster in 2008, the company has been able to put more than 190,000 electric vehicles on the road and reduce vehicle emissions on a global level. In addition to the environmental contributions, Tesla’s economic activities have spanned far and wide, leading to the coined term, “The Tesla Effect.”

“I define the ‘Tesla effect’ as a positive shift toward changing Reno’s national perception for the better. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business, and many other national publications have written about Reno’s emerging neighborhoods, such as Midtown, downtown, and the Fourth Street corridor. And this is due in large part to our booming technology industry with billions of dollars being invested from some of Fortune’s highest-ranked companies, which includes Tesla, Switch, Amazon, and Microsoft.” said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve in a comment to Teslarati.

Reno has seen a complete boom in job growth and a resurgence in the housing market near Tesla’s $5 billion Gigafactory facility. Reno expects to gain 80,000 indirect jobs created through recent developments (20-30k indirectly from the Gigafactory) and host to 40,000 homes expected to be constructed by 2020. Tesla’s effects on the market could even create a “housing crisis” as builders struggle to build enough homes to meet demand according to Mike Kazmierski, president of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada.

Elon Musk in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 8, 2014. Photographer: Yuriko Naka for Bloomberg

In Reno alone, Tesla has created 1,000 full-time local jobs at the Gigafactory and over 1,900 construction jobs. A Tesla spokesperson tells us that the company expects to hire another 1,000 employees in the first half of 2017 while strategic partner Panasonic expects to hire 2,000 workers at the factory. Tesla expects to employ 6,500 full-time employees at the facility in 2018 and as many as 10,000 once the Gigafactory hits peak production

Engineering the Future: SpaceX

SpaceX currently employs over 5,000 employees and has operations all across the country. The company has been in hyper-growth mode for over a decade and has launched 29 rockets successfully into space to date. The company currently has over 800 job openings which is expected to increase as the company prepares for a busy year to come.

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Thousands of skilled labor jobs: SolarCity (now part of Tesla Inc.)

SolarCity was founded in 2006 by Musk’s cousins Peter and Lindon Rive and financially backed by an initial $10M investment from Musk. Since then, the company has completed projects in 27 states which includes solar installations for over 300,000 customers, making up over 2.5GW of solar.

Photographer: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images

SolarCity employs over 12,000 workers and has nearly 1,900 job openings posted on their site. The company plans to start producing its own solar cells and solar roof panels in the second half of 2017 from its Buffalo, NY plant. The plant plans to employ more than 1,400 people as they prepare to begin production later this year.

Overall, Musk has played a crucial role in job creation in the 21st century as his companies look to surpass 40,000 jobs created this year. This makes Musk one of the most significant voices on the White House’s Manufacturing Jobs Council as he continues to create thousands of high-paying jobs in the US. Musk’s companies have a combined total of 4,800+ job openings globally.

 

Christian Prenzler is currently the VP of Business Development at Teslarati, leading strategic partnerships, content development, email newsletters, and subscription programs. Additionally, Christian thoroughly enjoys investigating pivotal moments in the emerging mobility sector and sharing these stories with Teslarati's readers. He has been closely following and writing on Tesla and disruptive technology for over seven years. You can contact Christian here: christian@teslarati.com

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Neuralink’s third brain chip patient shares first video edited with BCI

The third Neuralink brain chip patient is the trial’s first patient with ALS and its first non-verbal patient, and he has detailed his experience regaining speech and more.

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Credit: Neuralink

Elon Musk’s Neuralink has officially installed its brain-chip interface (BCI) into a third human patient, and the individual shared a video this week detailing his experiences gaining control of external devices and regaining the ability to talk through the use of AI.

On Monday, X user Bradford G Smith shared a video detailing his experience as the third person in the world to receive the Neuralink BCI, and as the first non-verbal patient and the first with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to receive the implant. In the video, Smith details how the BCI works, how it’s less limiting than his previous eye tracker technology, and how it has literally helped him regain his voice through AI.

“I am typing this with my brain,” Smith wrote. “It is my primary communication.”

The video, which he says is the first edited directly with a BCI, is narrated by an AI-generated version of his old voice. Prior to the BCI, he was also unable to leave the house using his eye tracker, as it made it difficult to communicate unless he was in dark or low-light settings.

The video also shows how he’s able to connect with external devices using the BCI, with a live shots of him controlling his computer using a cursor.

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You can see the full update below, which runs a little under 10 minutes.

READ MORE ON NEURALINK: Elon Musk: over 1,000 humans with Neuralink implants in 2026 is feasible

The news follows Neuralink’s initial update with Brad and other initial BCI patients, as was shared in a post on the company’s website in February. In it, Brad also explained how groundbreaking it was to be able to communicate outside and see his son win a robotics award, along with being able to consider leaving the city area for the first time in half a decade:

The most significant thing that happened this week will sound strange to you: I got to use the computer on the porch, and it worked!!

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I went to [my child’s] soccer game, and the referee thought I was sleeping. I was actually able to talk outside. I [am] actually thinking about traveling outside the [city] metro [for] the first time in 5 years.

Both of Neuralink’s studies focus on restoring autonomy to people who are paraplegic through the use of external devices. The company gained initial approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to install the first BCI in a human patient in May 2023, with Noland Arbaugh being the first, a patient named Alex being the second, and Brad being the third.

Neuralink opened its Patient Registry worldwide earlier this month, allowing participants to submit to take part in the company’s initial PRIME and CONVOY studies. The firm also announced plans to operate the PRIME study out of a second location in Miami, Florida in January, after an initial location was launched in Phoenix, Arizona.

Last week, it was reported by Bloomberg that Neuralink is currently targeting a $500 million funding round at a valuation of $8.5 billion. Meanwhile, Neuralink has also been constructing office buildings near Austin, Texas, which initially aimed to be completed in May 2025.

Neuralink human trial patient shares his progress

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Tesla fends off new attack that will hurt consumers more than anyone else

Consumers stand to be hurt the most by a new bill that aims to take away Tesla’s Direct-to-Consumer licensing

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is likely going to be forced to fend off a new attack that is much different than the petty vandalism, arson, and domestic terrorism it has faced from those who oppose the company and its CEO Elon Musk. It would hurt consumers more than anyone else.

Over the past several months, we have reported numerous instances of vandalism against Tesla. No victim is too big or too small to be a potential target, as everything from keying vehicles to having Molotov cocktails thrown at showrooms is sufficient in the eyes of perpetrators.

However, the latest attack appears to be politically motivated and could hurt Tesla, its consumers, and even other automakers, and it seems to be some form of retaliation against Musk due to his affiliation with President Trump.

The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Lawmakers in New York state are now attempting to shut down Tesla showrooms in a move that would force the company to sell through dealer franchises, complicating the sales process and making the direct-to-consumer platform the company has used for years obsolete.

The New York Times reported that New York State Sen. Patricia Fahy is one of several lawmakers that is looking to hit Tesla where it hurts the most: its accessible and stress-free showrooms.

The problem is that this will hurt consumers more than Tesla.

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Sen. Fahy said in March that the ease-of-sales platform Tesla uses has to be taken “from Elon Musk,” because “he’s part of an effort to go backwards.”

The licenses Tesla uses in the state allow it to sell cars directly to consumers instead of going through the traditional dealership model. These licenses, in Sen. Fahy’s perfect world, would be revoked from Tesla and given to other EV manufacturers. At one time, she was a proponent of Tesla and supported the company operating its D2C sales, stating it would cut emissions.

Now, Sen. Fahy believes Musk’s association with the Trump Administration is counterintuitive, as she says it is “killing all the grant funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, killing wind energy, killing anything that might address climate change.”

Tesla could face New York store ban under this legislation

She continued by stating:

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“The bottom line is, Tesla has lost their right to promote these when they’re part of an administration that wants to go backwards. Elon Musk was handed a privilege here.”

The bill is with the Senate and Assembly Finance committees.

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Tesla posts Semi factory update, shares new Semi logo design

As per Priestley, there are a lot of exciting things coming to the Semi factory and the Tesla Semi itself.

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Credit: Tesla Semi/X

Tesla has posted an update video on the construction of its Semi factory near Giga Nevada. 

The electric vehicle maker also shared the new logo of its Class 8 all-electric truck, which is pretty slick and classic Tesla at the same time.

Semi Factory Update

In the video, Tesla Semi program lead Dan Priestley stated that the last few months were spent building the factory shell of the facility, from its walls to its columns to its concrete floors. With the Semi factory shell completed, it is now time to equip the facility with the necessary equipment that would allow it to mass produce the Tesla Semi. The Tesla executive also shared the facility’s target output.

“This factory is designed with an annual capacity of 50,000 units a year. So over the next several quarters, we’re going to be industrializing the factory, installing the equipment, and preparing for high volume production. First units are set to be on the line by the end of this year, and we’ll be ramping the factory through 2026,” Priestley stated in the video. 

The Tesla Semi is arguably Tesla’s most underrated product, with the vehicle operating in real-world fleets over the past years. As per Priestley, there are a lot of exciting things coming to the Semi factory and the Semi itself. These things, the Tesla executive noted, would prove that electric trucking is ready to scale.

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New Tesla Semi Logo

The end of the Tesla Semi factory update video featured a logo for the vehicle that had not been shared by Tesla before. Similar to the Cybertruck, it appears that Tesla will be giving the Semi its own stylized logo. Unlike the Cybertruck’s graffiti print, however, the Class 8 all-electric truck’s logo features the word “Semi” written in a futuristic, thin font. Interestingly enough, the “E” in the word “Semi” was written with three horizontal lines, similar to the Tesla Model 3’s original logo.

Below is the Tesla Semi’s new logo.

Credit: Tesla Semi/X

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