News
Tesla seen as opportunity for post-pandemic economic growth to Fort Worth, TX
It appears that Tesla is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after companies in the United States, with the electric car maker’s speculated move to Texas receiving a vote of support from Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, who made a pitch to CEO Elon Musk requesting his company’s presence in the Lone Star State.
The Fort Worth mayor’s request goes past Texas being the new home of the world’s premier electric automaker. City officials see Tesla as a turning point in Fort Worth’s resurgence as an economic powerhouse in Texas, and the sustainable transportation company could be the spark needed to push post-COVID-19 economic growth.
Price acknowledged the inevitable loss of employment the pandemic is going to cause in her pitch. “Every city is going to lose some jobs and some businesses, so you’ve got to replace them,” she said, noting that Fort Worth is ready to make an offer to Musk.
Above all, we’ve got a trailblazing, pioneering spirit and a community unlike any other. Tequila shots (post @Tesla test-drive and site visits) on me when you come to see #FortWorthNow. pic.twitter.com/3JeRBwzNBU
— Betsy Price (@BetsyPriceftw) May 13, 2020
Other cities in Texas have expressed their support of Musk, explaining why their city works for the electric car maker’s operations. Still, Fort Worth’s Betsy Price has an advantage that very few political officials have.
I had lunch with Elon Musk several years ago when he was looking for a place for his battery plant,” Price stated, according to an NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. “So, he knows a little bit about Fort Worth. So, I think it is a great time to be recruiting him,” she added.
Fort Worth also has plenty of undeveloped land, the most in the State of Texas, with 70,000 acres left for commercial use. Tesla’s Fremont facility is 5.3 million square feet and only sits on 370 acres of land, so the Texas city’s large unused commercial areas could be a perfect fit for the electric car maker, particularly its upcoming Cybertruck Gigafactory/Terafactory.
“We have more green space than any other major city in Texas. We’ve got a lot of places to be built out still. We have a lot of older buildings and things that can be redone. We’ve got lots and lots of opportunities and lots and lots of space. It spreads out. It’s not quite as dense as some cities are and right now that lack of density is a plus for people,” Price said.
Musk has been fielding requests from several U.S. States for the past few days after he hinted that Tesla’s headquarters and future projects will be leaving California. Apart from Texas, Oklahoma and Florida officials have reached out to Musk with offers in the past week.
The Tesla CEO had been sparring with authorities in Alameda County over officials’ hesitation to reopen the Fremont factory, which produces the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y. Ultimately, the Fremont plant reopened Sunday evening against county health officials’ orders. An agreement between both Tesla and Alameda County was eventually reached, which would allow the automaker to resume normal operations next week.
Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
