Starlink is keeping everyone connected, including a former Tesla employee who went viral on TikTok for his dome in the desert. While using the app, a viral video by Always Kenny popped up on my For You Page. He’s known on the app as the hole guy or the dome guy.
In the video, Reid explained how he was able to have internet while living in the desert. I thought his story would be great to share here and I asked him to share it with me.
From Tesla to the desert
Reid told me that he was working for Tesla after he’d finished college and left Tesla to work for a few startups here and there. However, he wasn’t fulfilling his purpose in life just yet.
“I kind of knew that there was something bigger–more different that I wanted to do. Covid hit and Tesla stock shot up so I drove around the country looking for a place to settle down. A place that wasn’t Seattle or San Francisco.”
While working at Tesla, Reid purchased a Model 3 and was one of the first people to actually live out of his Tesla.
“I did that for about a year. That’s how I saw the country. I did a loop through the West Coast, saw the national parks, and then I did a loop going through the South, sleeping at Superchargers.”
“Weirdly enough I came out here and fell in love with this place, dug a hole and put a dome in it and the rest is history. It’s still being written.”
Reid has made his home in the desert and went viral on TikTok when he built the dome. He asked viewers for feedback and has gotten a lot of great tips on how to make his dome efficient and better.
Although Reid lives in the dome, he told me he does go to civilization, however, this is where his heart is. It’s his home.
Starlink in the desert.
Reid has had Starlink since he first decided to make his home in the dome.
“I had Starlink since I got here. I was on the waiting list and luckily, right before I came out, they sent me the satellite dish. It was actually waiting here in mid-March when I came out. It was an essential part of me doing this entire thing.”
“Going somewhere this remote, it was super important that I stay connected to my friends, family, and the outer world, in general. I couldn’t have done this last year.”
I asked Reid to share his thoughts about the new partnership between SpaceX and T-Mobile. The new partnership will end mobile dead zones with the launch of a new mobile service that is enabled by Starlink’s second-generation satellites and T-Mobile’s bandwidth.
“That’s great news. I would love to be able to drive around and never lose service. I’ve spent so much time on the road that I have to have my playlist downloaded so I end up listening to the same song over and over again. It’s not worth the pain of going through service challenges.”
The new Starlink and T-Mobile service is what Reid is the most excited about, he said. It takes him two hours to get to the grocery store and the majority of that is out of service.
“So to be able to still call people and move things forward with my life while on the road out here, that’s going to be huge.”
Some of the challenges of living in a dome in the desert.
Some of the challenges Reid has faced head-on include extreme heat and staying cool. He’s also seen a few scorpions and snakes here and there–but nothing poisonous, yet.
“It’s been nothing but challenges but that’s kind of why I did this. I knew that putting a dome that I bought at Walmart for $600 in a hole that I dug with pretty much no other preparation was going to be a little problematic.”
“But right now, I’m fixing a problem where the sand is caving into the sides of the dome and making all the beams snap and bend. In its current state, it wouldn’t last very long. So I’m currently putting some wood around the side. I actually made a video asking TikTok for help and people have really good suggestions on reinforcing the dome to make it last longer.”
Reid is also building a house and is learning all things that go into building a home.
“It just makes me appreciate any building and structure that people live in so much more. It’s been eye-opening.”
The heat is another challenge. Although he expected it to be hot in the desert, it’s actually hotter inside the dome.
“It’s not well-designed for the summer. It’s about 15-20 degrees hotter in there than it is outside. It’s like 100 outside and 118 in the dome.”
While waiting for things to cool off, Reid has kept himself busy and cool by digging out another hole and making it into a pool.
“I dug a pool one night and put some tarps in the bottom of it and put another dome that I built over that. It’s created an indoor shaded pool which has been nice for hanging out during the day. I also bought an umbrella.”
Reid’s story is one of many provided by Starlink users. I’ve received a lot of feedback on my Starlink-related articles with people sharing their stories or wishes for Starlink to be available in their rural areas.
One of our readers told me that before Starlink, he couldn’t find cost effective internet service. “Thanks to Elon Musk he has made a difference in rural communities.”
Another one of our readers, a doctor, told me that they’ve been a rural Starlink client for over a year. “This service is akin to early man discovering fire or the wheel. Two children and an adult all zooming for college and work while recording other digital items with no issues is our new life.”
The doctor noted that the regulatory authorities who oversee Starlink have grossly misjudged Starlink. I believe he’s referring to the Federal Communications Commission’s reversal of Starlink’s $885.5 million infrastructure award. SpaceX is currently appealing the FCC’s reversal of the award and even FCC Commissioner Brendon Carr called out the agency for denying Starlink’s award.
I agree with the doctor, Commissioner Carr, and SpaceX. Starlink, in my opinion, will not only keep people connected but save lives during disasters. I’ve spoken about being without communications during hurricane Ida’s aftermath. And in my interview with Elon Musk, he emphasized the importance of Starlink as a life-saving tool. Elon told me,
“Well, just in general, Starlink, because it is not dependent on any ground-based infrastructure can provide internet connectivity to areas that have had floods or fires or earthquakes that t have destroyed the ground-based infrastructure.”
“That’s obviously extremely helpful for rescuing people and people being able to ‘I need to I need help. I need rescue.’ It’s like how do you find them? How do you communicate with them? Starlink can and has provided that in a number of situations.”
Note: Johnna is a Tesla shareholder and supports its mission.
Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, or concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.
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Tesla has finally clarified the situation regarding the viral crash in Texas where a Model 3 slammed into a home.
CEO Elon Musk replied to reports on Monday that stated the crash was due to the company’s Full Self-Driving or Autopilot suite, which seemed unlikely to those who are familiar with it. Video showed the car slamming into a house at an excessive rate of speed, making it highly unlikely the crash was due to the suite’s operation, as it does not travel at those speeds in residential areas.
Musk said:
“This makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets, and this was a high-speed crash!”
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, added context, revealing that the company’s data shows the driver “manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.”
He revealed the speed reached by the car was 73 MPH, and the accelerator was still pressed “even after the crash.”
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Authorities are reportedly investigating “whether Tesla’s Autopilot system played a role after a Model 3 left the roadway…slammed through a brick house at high speed and fatally struck Matha Avila as she sat inside,” the New York Post reported.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now investigating the crash. Tesla will work with the agency to provide them with whatever information they need in order to clarify the cause of the crash.
Similarly, Tesla had claims of a fatal accident in Harris County, Texas, a few years ago. Early reports indicated that Full Self-Driving was the cause of the crash. After the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) worked with Tesla, the agency proved there was “no use of the Autopilot system at any time during this ownership period of the vehicle, including the time frame up to the last transmitted timestamp on April 17, 2021.”
Tesla alleged “driverless” crash in Texas: What is known so far
“Application of the accelerator pedal was found to be as high as 98.8 percent,” the NTSB said in their findings. The highest recorded speed in the five seconds leading up to the impact was 67 miles per hour. The area where the crash occurred is residential, and Texas State laws have default speed limits of 30 MPH in residential streets.
This appears to be a similar situation. However, an investigation will prove what happened for sure.
SpaceX announced today that it commenced its first-ever public bond offering, marking a significant step in the newly public company’s capital markets strategy.
The company announced an offering of senior unsecured notes expected to raise at least $20 billion.
The move comes just a short time after SpaceX completed one of the largest initial public offerings in history. In mid-June, the company priced shares at $135 and raised more than $85 billion, propelling founder Elon Musk’s net worth past the trillion-dollar mark and giving the firm substantial liquidity.
🚨 SpaceX has announced its inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes.
The net proceeds will be used to repay outstanding loans under its bridge loan facility in full.
This inaugural debt offering represents a financing milestone for SpaceX, which previously depended… pic.twitter.com/pcOZuVbTRv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
According to the company’s SEC filing, the net proceeds from the notes will be used primarily to repay in full the outstanding borrowings under its existing bridge loan facility, cover related fees and expenses, and fund general corporate purposes. The offering is being conducted under Rule 144A, as well as Regulation S, targeting qualified institutional buyers and non-U.S. investors. Notes will be unsecured obligations ranking equally with other unsubordinated debt.
The $20 billion bridge loan was used to refinance approximately $17.5 billion in higher-cost “junk” debt tied to X and xAI. SpaceX had merged with xAI in February 2026 in an all-stock deal. The bridge facility, which matures in September 2027, had represented the bulk of SpaceX’s long-term debt.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
In connection with the bond launch, SpaceX disclosed it held approximately $100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19. Investor calls began on the announcement date, with pricing and launch expected shortly thereafter. Rating agencies have assigned investment-grade ratings to the proposed bonds, reflecting confidence in SpaceX’s dominant position in commercial launches and the growth trajectory of its Starlink internet offering.
The debt raise also allows SpaceX to optimize its balance sheet by replacing short-term, higher-cost bridge financing with longer-date, lower-cost fixed-income securities. This provides greater financial flexibility to support capital-intensive initiatives, including the development of Starship, the expansion of the Starlink constellation, and the integration of AI capabilities following the xAI combination.
SpaceX shares (NASDAQ: SPCX) fell sharply on the news, dropping over 16 percent overall on the market on Monday. The stock had surged initially after debuting but pulled back amid profit-taking and broader market dynamics.
Overall, the bond offering underscores SpaceX’s transition to a mature public company with access to diverse funding sources. It positions the firm to pursue its long-term vision of multiplanetary expansion and AI infrastructure, while maintaining a disciplined approach to its capital structure in a high-growth but capital-heavy industry.
SpaceX confirmed today that it has officially signed its third massive compute deal, providing compute at its Colossus data center in Southaven, Mississippi.
Reflection AI will gain immediate access to NVIDIA GB300 chips at SpaceX’s Colossus 2 data center. In return, Reflection will pay SpaceX $150 million per month starting on July 1, with total payments reaching approximately $6.3 billion if the contract runs through its duration, which is until 2029. Either party can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice after the initial three-month period.
CNBC first reported the deal.
🚨 SpaceXAI has agreed to a new compute deal with Reflection AI.
Reflection gets access to NIVIDIA GB300s, and will pay $150M per month to SpaceXAI for the compute. pic.twitter.com/bNPare8U5u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
This latest partnership highlights SpaceX’s strategy of commercializing its massive Colossus supercomputing infrastructure, originally developed to power Elon Musk’s Grok AI models. The company has rapidly expanded its customer base in the AI sector following its February 2026 merger with xAI, a transaction that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.
SpaceX has previously signed significant compute deals with other major players.
It granted Anthropic exclusive access to the full capacity of its Colossus 1 data center, which exceeds 300 megawatts and includes over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Details from SpaceX’s IPO filings indicate Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, potentially generating around $45 billion over the term of the deal.
Additionally, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month for compute capacity from October 2026 through June 2029. This 32-month period will provide Google access to roughly 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, along with supporting processors and memory. Capacity ramps up through September at a reduced fee, with termination options after the first year.
SpaceXA also established arrangements for computing power with Cursor, an AI coding startup. SpaceX acquired them in a $60 billion all-stock deal.
These arrangements position SpaceX’s collective position as an AI infrastructure powerhouse with high-margin revenue potential. The Google deal alone could generate nearly $29.5 billion over its term, while the Reflection contract adds another $6.3 billion.
Combined with the Anthropic arrangement, SpaceX stands to realize tens of billions in revenue from compute leasing in the coming years, which diversifies beyond SpaceX’s traditional rocket launches and Starlink operation.
The deals underscore growing demand for advanced AI training and inference capacity amid chip shortages and surging model development needs. Reflection, valued at $25 billion and focused on “American open intelligence” with government and national security ties, cited recent restrictions on closed models as validation for open-source approaches.
For SpaceX, the partnerships transform capital-intensive data centers into flexible revenue sources while supporting its broader AI ambitions after the company has gone public.
Tesla finally clarifies fatal Texas crash, confirms driver manually overrode acceleration
SpaceX makes $20 billion move to optimize its balance sheet
