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Elon Musk shares first look at Tesla Model X zipping through a Boring Company tunnel
After winning the coveted contract to build Chicago’s high-speed transit tunnel, the Boring Company held a press conference at the city’s Block 37 Superstation to formally announce the tunneling startup’s high-profile project. Dubbed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as the “X,” the high-speed tunnel system is designed to link downtown Chicago to O’Hare Airport.
Prior to the press conference, The Boring Company shared a video of a Tesla Model X being carried by “electric skates” through a tunnel on Twitter. While incredibly brief, the short clip gives an idea of the speed that Chicago commuters can expect from the tunneling startup’s transportation system.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made an appearance at Block 37 Superstation, sharing the stage with the city mayor. As noted by Chicago Tribune reporter Bill Ruthart on Twitter, Emanuel was very optimistic about the Boring Company’s project, stating that the high-speed tunnels would “not cost the city a penny” and that it builds on Chicago’s “legacy of innovation.” Emanuel noted that part of the reason behind the city’s decision to select the Boring Co. was Musk’s record and vision.
“We’re taking a bet on a guy who doesn’t like to fail — and his resources. There are a bunch of Teslas on the road. He put SpaceX together. He’s proven something. The risk — with no financial risk — is I’m betting on a guy who has proven in space, auto and now, a tunnel, that he can innovate and create something of the future,” the Chicago Mayor said.
Addressing Chicago’s press, Elon Musk expressed his thanks at the city and Mayor Emanuel for placing his faith in the Boring Co. Musk noted that he hopes to start digging in as soon as four months. Digging shall commence from both Loop and O’Hare ends. When asked about the high-speed tunnels’ funding, Musk noted that he is confident he can raise the estimated ~$1 billion for the project, considering that he has already raised $22 billion among all of his companies. The serial tech entrepreneur also noted that the downtown Chicago-O’Hare tunnel is “quite economically appealing.” Lastly, Musk announced that The Boring Company would tap both union and non-union workers for manpower.
The city of Chicago formally announces The Boring Company’s downtown-O’Hare tunneling project. [Credit: The Boring Company]
The Boring Company’s high-speed Chicago tunnel system is expected to accommodate almost 2,000 passengers per direction every hour, with pods leaving every 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Cost for the high-speed rail is estimated to be between $20-$25 per person, roughly half the price of a typical ride-share or cab. The trip is expected to last only 12 minutes with pods traveling more than 100 mph. The upcoming project’s preliminary route will be Block 37, Randolph St. west, under the Kennedy north, north under Halsted, northwest under Milwaukee, northwest under Elston before again crossing under the Kennedy near Bryn Mawr Avenue and heading west to O’Hare, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Boring Company and the Chicago mayor have noted that it is far too early to provide a concrete timeline for the completion of the high-speed tunnel system. Apart from handling the costs of the project, The Boring Company will also construct a new station at O’Hare and help in the completion of the Block 37 Superstation. Overall, the ~$1 billion tunnel is part of Chicago’s $8.5 billion overhaul of O’Hare Airport.
The Boring Company’s contract with Chicago stands as the tunneling startup’s first high-profile project. So far, the Boring Co. has only embarked on smaller-scale test projects in Los Angeles, as well as a tunnel beneath SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA, which will offer free demo rides to the public upon regulatory approval.
Elon Musk said he is planning to give “every one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America” in 2027, stating that “this will be the first of many.”
SpaceX went public earlier this year, and its stock price has been relatively stable since leveling off shortly after its IPO. Based on its current price, it’s a gift of just over $10 billion to children across the United States.
It appears to be closely related to President Donald Trump’s bank accounts for children, which were set up earlier this year as Trump Accounts.
Just hours earlier, Anthropic had announced the establishment of its Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, “a new wholly-owned entity dedicated entirely to public benefit.” Musk responded by stating he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public,” and that he would be doing it that way.
Just a little bit later, Musk said children across the U.S. would be getting a share from him:
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.
This will be the first of many.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
There are roughly 70 million children, meaning someone under the age of 18, in the United States, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Musk’s ownership of SpaceX stock shows he has around 849 million Class A shares of SpaceX stock, according to filings with the SEC.
Elon Musk revealed in a post on X that “Permits were impossible to get,” explaining the fate of The Boring Company’s most ambitious East Coast proposal.
The comment responded to a query about what became of his July 20, 2017 announcement that he had “just received verbal govt approval” for an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., capable of carrying passengers from the Big Apple to the Nation’s Capital in just 29 minutes.
The Boring Company receives verbal ‘approval’ to build NY to DC Hyperloop tunnel
The 2017 post, which envisioned city-center stations and multiple elevators in each city, sparked immediate scrutiny. Local and state officials in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. said they had no knowledge of any approval. A White House spokesperson confirmed only “promising conversations” about the transformative infrastructure.
Musk clarified shortly after that there was “still a lot of work” to do for formal approvals.
@cybrtrkguy Permits were impossible to get
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
Limited progress followed, as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s administration issued a conditional utility permit and supported work near Fort Meade. In 2018, Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary permit for site preparation and excavation on a vacant lot at 53 New York Ave. NE in the NoMa neighborhood, which The Boring Company said could become a station.
A draft environmental assessment for a D.C.-Baltimore segment was released in 2019. Yet, by April 2021, the company had removed the project from its website, and the Federal Highway Administration reported receiving no indication of further interest. Communication with Maryland officials had ceased.
The full corridor would have required coordination among the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other agencies.
Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, utility clearances, and approvals for novel infrastructure added to the overall complexity of the project and its approval.
Speculation on the permitting barriers centers around a few factors, but a multi-state, multi-level route involving unproven high-speed vacuum-tube technology inherently triggers exhaustive safety, environmental, and engineering reviews that can stretch for years, even for conventional projects.
There are also other elements, of course, like officials who may face political exposure if a privately funded, untested system encountered anything such as cost overruns, delays, or safety issues. On the outset of this project, there were limited things such as engineering plans or demonstrated technology maturity, which also added to the potential skepticism.
The East Coast vision for Boring Co., once framed as a privately funded revolution that could reshape Northeast travel, quietly ended without construction of the promised network. Musk’s recent statement frames the outcome as a regulatory impasse, unfortunate but not unexpected.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to his social media platform X on Sunday to remind everyone that the Roadster’s true meaning is not about company growth or adding dollars to shareholders’ pockets. Sometimes, you just do things because you can.
Following the Roadster’s epic unveiling event last Thursday, skeptics and critics of the company or the project itself came out to say that the vehicle is a pointless project because it is not geared toward growing the company, delivering supreme margins for profitability, nor does it contribute to the big picture of Artificial/Super Intelligence.
But that’s just the thing: Roadster is not meant to be some shareholder dream; it’s meant to be a vehicle that people buy just because it is something awesome, unique, and the first of its kind.
Tesla Roadster: Three configs, one can fly, 0-60 in 0.8 seconds
Musk had to remind those who are skeptical about the Roadster’s importance to the company mission that while it is not a major contributor to Tesla’s long-term goals, it is something that is being built just because it can be:
“Optimus and Cybercab will be the vast majority of Tesla’s value. The only things that will scale to incredible size (K2 and beyond) economically are super intelligence, robots, solar power, and mass to space. And, of course, if you have the first two, the rest will follow. But Roadster is super cool, so we’re doing it anyway.”
Musk has said on many occasions that Optimus would be the project that would make up the vast majority of Tesla’s value in the coming years.
Robotics will be a major focus of Tesla over the coming years, especially as Musk believes Optimus will enable work to be optional for humans and will enable what he calls “High Universal Income.”
Optimus and Cybercab will be the vast majority of Tesla’s value.
The only things that will scale to incredible size (K2 and beyond) economically are super intelligence, robots, solar power and mass to space.
And, of course, if you have the first two, the rest will follow.
But Roadster is super cool, so we’re doing it anyway.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2026
Cybercab will be a passive income opportunity for owners, Musk and Tesla have said for a very long time, as a fleet of self-driving vehicles will operate within a ride-hailing Robotaxi service that won’t require a human driver to be present.
Tesla investors are more than enthusiastic about the company’s future projects, at least from a general consensus perspective. However, it is important to note that the Roadster is a fun and cool project that pushes the boundaries of what people thought was possible for an automobile.
What we saw last week was the first true example of a flying car, and despite the backlash about how it might not contribute to Tesla’s grand ambitions, it’s okay to have fun sometimes, too.
Elon Musk will give ‘every kid in America’ a SpaceX share in 2027
Elon Musk reveals why Boring Co’s biggest East Coast project never happened
Tesla CEO Elon Musk reminds everyone about Roadster’s true meaning
SpaceX reveals how its 1 Million AI satellite network will work and prevent space collisions
Tesla Roadster: Three configs, one can fly, 0-60 in 0.8 seconds
