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Tesla China gives sneak peek at Giga Shanghai operations with new video series
Tesla China announced that it would release a series of videos providing a sneak peek into Giga Shanghai’s operations. The first video in the series shares information about Tesla China’s cost management strategy.
Giga Shanghai’s Layout
The first factor in Tesla China’s cost control strategy is Giga Shanghai’s layout. The stamping, welding, painting, and assembly workshops are connected to minimize “the logistics path” between each process, improving efficiency. Giga Shanghai also utilizes the longitudinal space in all its workshops through elevators and machine transportation tracks. The placement of Giga Shanghai’s docks is also a way of running the factory efficiently, which minimizes time and costs.
Elon Musk once stated that Tesla’s gigafactories would become products themselves. Tesla China seems to have taken that to heart with Giga Shanghai.
“It can be said that the innovation of the factory itself builds [an] enforceable foundation for the innovation of the production and manufacturing. Without this foundation, cost control would be like a tree without roots or water without a source,” noted Tesla China.
Take a tour inside Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai and follow us to explore the unique charm of the "Tesla Giga Principle" of cost control.
A series of cool videos will be released later. Don't miss out👀 Let’s #GoGiga 🔥 @elonmusk
🔗https://t.co/7jdNmCipL8— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) December 16, 2021
Tesla China R&D Center
Tesla’s local R&D Center in Shanghai was completed earlier this year. Tesla China states that the R&D Center is another pillar in its cost management strategy. The R&D Center handles essential parts of Tesla’s manufacturing process from design to testing and quality control.
Tesla China believes the R&D Center provides a complete closed-loop product development process. It helps Giga Shanghai vehicles evolve over time by delivering precise cost management blueprints that improve the affordability of Tesla products, from its all-electric vehicles to its battery storage systems.
Tesla Giga Shanghai Production
Tesla Giga Shanghai’s production process is yet another factor contributing to lowered costs. The process includes independent parts production. An excellent example of independent parts production would be the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y’s single-cast rear bottom plate.
“Take the Model 3 as an example. It needs roughly more than 70 punch-welded parts for the rear bottom plate. Most OEMs usually outsource those parts production, and they still have to set up a welding line,” said one Tesla Chain Casting Process Engineer.
“So, the whole production cycle is quite long. After we realized the one-piece casting, we only need the aluminum ingots from a supplier to manufacture it ourselves, including melting, die-casting, post-treatment, and machining. Within a very short period of time, the raw materials will be molded into a complete rear bottom plate,” he said.
The management of the docks contributes to the efficiency of production as well. The factory handles nearly 2,000 containers a day. Each customer order affects the sequence the factory transports the car parts through the assembly line. Suppliers also follow customer orders by sending parts as each order is made.
Through this level of organization with suppliers and in Giga Shanghai, Tesla China ensures that little to no parts need to be kept in a warehouse. Giga Shanghai aims to have zero inventory.
The supply chain significantly affects production, as can be seen in the way the docks are managed. Localizing Giga Shanghai’s supply chain was crucial in Tesla China’s cost management strategy. The local supply chain helps reduce production costs and raise the standards for parts.
Tesla China’s cost control video provides a tiny glimpse into all the work and forethought that went into Giga Shanghai from layout to production. It also explains why Giga Shanghai has become cost-efficient and Tesla’s primary export hub.
Giga Shanghai has helped increase Tesla’s production and delivery numbers at a monumental level. In November, Tesla China’s Global VP Grace Tao stated that Giga Shanghai aims to produce 500,000 vehicles by the end of 2021.
Watch Tesla China’s Giga Shanghai feature in the video below.
https://youtu.be/esa7iC0MOJ8
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Anthropic deal has a catch, and Elon Musk just addressed it
Elon Musk says SpaceX’s Anthropic compute deal cuts both ways after Chamath floats higher prices.
Elon Musk pushed back on Sunday against the idea that SpaceX’s compute contract with Anthropic is a one way bet, after venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya argued the company could use a termination clause to charge the AI lab far more.
“It works both ways, of course. If compute becomes plentiful and cheap, SpaceX revenue will drop. No crying in the casino for either party,” Musk wrote on X Sunday evening, replying to a clip of Palihapitiya’s comments shared by AI commentator Rohan Paul.
On the All-In podcast released Sunday, Palihapitiya said either side can walk away from the agreement on 90 days’ notice. If data center supply tightens, he argued, SpaceX could exercise that option and bring the contract back at two to three times the current price, and Anthropic would have little choice but to accept. He called it “the kingmaking move,” according to BigGo Finance.
The clause itself is not new. SpaceX disclosed in its IPO filings in May that Anthropic would pay $1.25 billion per month for dedicated capacity at its Colossus clusters through May 2029, nearly $45 billion in total, with both companies able to terminate on 90 days’ notice, as Teslarati reported at the time. SpaceX’s later compute deals with Google and Reflection AI carry similar exit terms.
What has changed is the political backdrop. Palihapitiya’s thesis rests on incoming Democratic governors pulling tax incentives for data centers and slowing new construction. In Texas, Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on a moratorium on new data center approvals, and Deutsche Bank analysts warned last week that SpaceX’s Texas compute capacity could face delays. SpaceX and Tesla shares both fell after the midterm results.
A slowdown would favor companies that already own capacity. SpaceX acquired xAI in February and has been renting data centers to outside AI labs before the space is needed for Grok. At the Baron Investment Conference on Friday, Musk said SpaceX was “getting 50 billion a year for 35 billion dollar investments” and that it can bring a data center online in eight or nine months, compared to two and a half years for competitors. He also said SpaceX is tracking toward an annualized revenue rate above $100 billion in December, with a “best guess” of $500 billion by December 2027.
Musk’s reply points to the other side of the clause. Anthropic has signed large compute agreements with Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and if that capacity comes online faster than new construction slows, the AI lab would have its own leverage to renegotiate or leave. Musk has called Anthropic “obviously currently the leader in AI,” and it remains one of SpaceX’s largest compute customers.
SpaceX shares rose more than 2 percent in overnight trading late Sunday after closing Friday at $134.27, according to Stocktwits.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk spotlights the Starlink rescue that got through where no cell tower could
Elon Musk spotlighted how Starlink helped rescuers reach five people stranded in Kazakhstan’s snowy mountains.
Elon Musk put a spotlight on a mountain rescue in eastern Kazakhstan on Sunday, writing “Starlink saves lives” in response to a post describing how SpaceX’s satellite internet helped five stranded people reach emergency crews.
The post from DogeDesigner, which had been viewed more than 500,000 times by Sunday afternoon, said the group’s SUV broke down about 15 kilometers from the village of Kystau Kurchum in an area with no usable mobile network. Starlink carried their call for help and kept them in contact with rescuers, who used the connection to locate them.
The rescue itself took place in October. Local outlet YK.kz reported on October 22 that Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations responded to the breakdown in the Kurchum district of East Kazakhstan region and noted that the group stayed in touch through Starlink. Rescuers covered roughly 100 kilometers in a Trekol, a low pressure tire vehicle built for snow and marshland, then escorted the disabled SUV back to Kystau Kurchum. Nobody needed medical attention.
Starlink saves lives
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2026
Conditions in the region were rough at the time. Kazakh broadcaster Channel 7 identified the five as hunters caught in a snow trap and said satellite communication allowed rescuers to pinpoint where they were. A spokesperson for the East Kazakhstan emergency department said a storm warning was in effect and urged residents not to leave populated areas unless necessary. The same weather stranded seven utility workers repairing power lines in the nearby Kuygan rural district, according to Tengrinews.
Kazakhstan has been one of Starlink’s more notable markets in Central Asia. Teslarati reported in 2024 that Starlink was serving 1,731 of the country’s 1,879 schools, with the country’s Education Minister saying it had set a new standard for internet service in schools.
Rescue stories like this one have followed Starlink for years, usually in places where ground networks fail or never existed in the first place. Then Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis called Starlink a “game changer” for search and rescue crews during Hurricane Milton, and SpaceX and T-Mobile switched on Starlink Direct to Cell in North Carolina to push emergency alerts to phones after Hurricane Helene.
The next target is dead zones for people who do not carry a dish at all. SpaceX is building out Starlink Mobile and earlier this week selected Qualcomm to supply core infrastructure for a planned terrestrial 5G network in the United States, which it intends to pair with its next generation satellite constellation.
Sunday’s post is at least the third time Musk has written “Starlink saves lives” on X this week, following identical posts on November 5 and November 7.
Elon Musk
SpaceX will perform Starship double catch attempt with Flight 15
SpaceX plans to attempt what will be a defining moment in rocket reusability on Starship Flight 15.
As Elon Musk announced in a recent X post, SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy Booster and the Starship upper stage during the upcoming orbital flight. If successful, it will mark the first time that all parts of an orbital rocket return to Earth intact, a breakthrough Musk has called essential to making life multiplanetary.
SpaceX will attempt to catch both the Super Heavy booster and Starship on the upcoming flight.
If both are successful, it will mark the first time that all parts of an orbital rocket return to Earth intact.
This is the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2026
Previous flights have demonstrated the tower-catch technique with Super Heavy. SpaceX has successfully caught V1 boosters three times (on Flights 5, 7, and 8), with some even reflown. The Ship upper stage has never been caught.
Returning from orbital velocity after deploying payload makes it a significantly harder challenge due to higher energy, heat loads, and the need for precise belly-flop reentry, a flip maneuver, and a final landing burn to settle between the Mechazilla tower’s chopstick arms.
Flight 15, using Booster 22 and Ship 42 (both Block 3 vehicles), is targeted for no earlier than Friday, November 13, 2026, from Orbital Launch Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The 75-minute window opens at 4:45 p.m. CT, pending regulatory approval. After hot staging and separation, the booster is planned to return for a catch roughly 6 minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff.
The Ship will insert into a roughly 275 km orbit, deploy 26 advanced Starlink V3 satellites, complete about 14 orbits over more than 22 hours, and—if systems check out—perform a deorbit burn, reentry, flip, and landing burn for a tower catch at approximately T+22 hours 32 minutes.
SpaceX confirms Starship 15 launch window with massive ambitions
A simulation shown during SpaceX’s October earnings call depicted the Ship descending in a belly-flop attitude, flipping upright with a short engine burn, and being captured by the arms:
From simulation to reality
SpaceX is just ONE WEEK away from attempting its most ambitious Starship catch yet https://t.co/nHrxSX6DSz
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) November 6, 2026
Contingency splashdown zones exist in the Gulf of Mexico (booster) and Pacific (Ship) if a catch is not viable. SpaceX has stressed rigorous health checks before committing the Ship to a return-to-launch-site trajectory.
Musk has described the odds of success on this first dual-catch attempt as “more likely than not,” noting a steady stream of additional flights is already scheduled if needed. Full recovery would enable rapid inspection, refurbishment, and reflight—slashing costs and supporting the high launch cadence required for Starlink expansion, lunar missions, and eventual Mars settlement.
As Musk put it, this is “the critical breakthrough needed to make life multiplanetary.”