News
Elon Musk files permits for The Brick Store to sell The Boring Company’s bricks
As The Boring Company prepares to hold the opening party for its first completed test tunnel this coming December 10, Elon Musk is also laying the foundations of a company directly connected to the activities of the tunneling startup. As revealed by planning documents filed in Hawthorne, CA, Elon Musk has started a company that is aimed at selling the Boring Bricks, which are durable, affordable bricks that are made from tunneling rock.
In true Elon Musk fashion, the new company has a perfectly appropriate name — The Brick Store LLC. Founded in July, The Brick Store is expected to be managed by Steve Davis, a former SpaceX engineer who is also running The Boring Company. State filings for The Brick Co. indicate that the startup’s purpose is the “manufacture and sale of bricks.” Quite interestingly, the new company was founded around the same time as when The Boring Co. asked the city for permission to build an access shaft where it could extract the tunnel boring machine it used to build its test tunnel.
As could be seen from documents submitted to the city last October, The Brick Store is already looking to build its first physical store. Located at 12003 Prairie Avenue, the Brick Store’s first outlet would be about a mile away from the SpaceX and The Boring Company headquarters.
While The Brick Store is a separate entity from The Boring Company, its planning documents suggest that its physical store would be painted in white, gray and black — a color scheme that is also being utilized by the tunneling startup. Details on The Brick Store outlet’s exterior were described in the planning documents.
“The proposed colors are white, gray, and black. The proposed colors avoid monotony throughout the project site and blend well together. The color scheme does not create an incompatible look to the surrounding neighborhood. The applicant is utilizing white for the majority of the building with gray trim surrounding the building with black security doors as an accent to the building. The black steel security bars and doors will be utilized around the building to accent the entrances and windows.”
The location of The Brick Store’s upcoming physical outlet is strategic to The Boring Company’s operations as well, considering that the building is located close to an exit tunnel where the tunneling startup plans to extract the TBM utilized to build the Hawthorne test tunnel.
Elon Musk teased some details on The Boring Bricks last September, stating that the bricks would cost just 10 cents per piece. Musk has also noted that the blocks themselves are rated for California seismic loads, and thus are quite durable. In a later tweet, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO added that the Boring Bricks would be given for free if they are used for affordable housing projects.
Dwell Earth founder Bob de Jong, whose company sells machines that are capable of producing bricks by applying a mixture of earth and cement, noted to TechCrunch that he is quite excited about the Boring Bricks and Elon Musk’s brick-production project.
“Elon seems to have a way of bringing energy and talent to big challenges, and we are happy to see that he may be as excited about (compressed earth blocks) as we are,” he said.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD
“Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes,” Musk said in regards to FSD v14.2.1 allowing texting and driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced a major update with texting and driving capabilities on Full Self-Driving v14.2.1, the company’s latest version of the FSD suite.
Tesla Full Self-Driving, even in its most mature and capable versions, is still a Level 2 autonomous driving suite, meaning it requires attention from the vehicle operator.
You cannot sleep, and you should not take attention away from driving; ultimately, you are still solely responsible for what happens with the car.
The vehicles utilize a cabin-facing camera to enable attention monitoring, and if you take your eyes off the road for too long, you will be admonished and advised to pay attention. After five strikes, FSD and Autopilot will be disabled.
However, Musk announced at the Annual Shareholder Meeting in early November that the company would look at the statistics, but it aimed to allow people to text and drive “within the next month or two.”
He said:
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
Does anyone think v14.3 will enable this? pic.twitter.com/N2yn0SK70M
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 23, 2025
Today, Musk confirmed that the current version of Full Self-Driving, which is FSD v14.2.1, does allow for texting and driving “depending on context of surrounding traffic.”
Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2025
There are some legitimate questions with this capability, especially as laws in all 50 U.S. states specifically prohibit texting and driving. It will be interesting to see the legality of it, because if a police officer sees you texting, they won’t know that you’re on Full Self-Driving, and you’ll likely be pulled over.
Some states prohibit drivers from even holding a phone when the car is in motion.
It is certainly a move toward unsupervised Full Self-Driving operation, but it is worth noting that Musk’s words state it will only allow the vehicle operator to do it depending on the context of surrounding traffic.
He did not outline any specific conditions that FSD would allow a driver to text and drive.
News
Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet
The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.
The Tesla Semi is moving closer to broader fleet adoption, with Keller Logistics Group wrapping up a key pre-production planning session with the electric vehicle maker’s team this week.
The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.
Keller’s pre-production Tesla Semi sessions
Keller Logistics Group, a family-owned carrier with over 300 tractors and 1,000 trailers operating in the Midwest and Southeast, completed the session to assess the Tesla Semi’s fit for its operations. The company’s routes typically span 500-600 miles per day, positioning it as an ideal tester for the Semi’s day cab configuration in standard logistics scenarios.
Details remain under mutual NDA, but the meeting reportedly focused on matching the truck to yard, shuttle and regional applications while scrutinizing economics like infrastructure, maintenance and incentives.
What Keller’s executives are saying
CEO Bryan Keller described the approach as methodical. “For us, staying ahead isn’t a headline, it’s a habit. From electrification and yard automation to digital visibility and warehouse technology, our teams are continually pressure-testing what’s next. The Tesla Semi discussion is one more way we evaluate new tools against our standards for safety, uptime, and customer ROI. We don’t chase trends, we pressure-test what works,” Keller said.
Benjamin Pierce, Chief Strategy Officer, echoed these sentiments. “Electrification and next-generation powertrains are part of a much broader transformation. Whether it’s proprietary yard systems like YardLink™, solar and renewable logistics solutions, or real-time vehicle intelligence, Keller’s approach stays the same, test it, prove it, and deploy it only when it strengthens service and total cost for our customers,” Pierce said.
News
Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Tesla appears to be doubling down on its European Full Self-Driving (Supervised) push, with the company extending its demo ride-along program by three months until the end of March 2026. The update seems to have been implemented due to overwhelming demand.
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Extended FSD demonstrations
Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager Ivan Komušanac shared on LinkedIn that the company is offering ride-along experiences in Germany, France and Italy while working toward FSD (Supervised) approval in Europe.
He noted that this provides a great feedback opportunity from the general public, encouraging participants to record and share their experiences. For those unable to book in December, Komušanac teased more slots as “Christmas presents.”
Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt highlighted the extension on X, stating that dates now run from December 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, in multiple cities including Stuttgart-Weinstadt, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf in Germany. This suggests that the FSD ride-along program in Europe has officially been extended until the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Building momentum for European approval
Replies to Merritt’s posts buzzed with excitement, with users like @AuzyMale noting that Cologne and Düsseldorf are already fully booked. This sentiment was echoed by numerous other Tesla enthusiasts on social media. Calls for the program’s expansion to other European territories have also started gaining steam, with some X users suggesting Switzerland and Finland as the next locations for FSD ride-alongs.
Ultimately, the Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager’s post aligns with the company’s broader FSD efforts in Europe. As per recent reports, Tesla recently demonstrated FSD’s capabilities for Rome officials. Reporters from media outlets in France and Germany have also published positive reviews of FSD’s capabilities on real-world roads.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD
Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet
