News
Tesla Gigafactory Texas construction plans revealed in permit documents
Tesla’s construction plans for its newest Gigafactory in Texas were recently revealed on the City of Austin’s official website. In documents filed during the permit process, the shape of the factory itself and specific locations for several landscape features were confirmed. This new information provides a solid basis for comparison to track the step-by-step building process of the future Cybertruck and Semi factory location.
Tesla owner and enthusiast Joe Tegtmeyer has been publishing drone footage of Giga Texas progress updates on his YouTube channel since the first construction vehicles entered the site, and these latest permit images and annotations come courtesy of those efforts. In a video uploaded on September 15th, Tegtmeyer added overlays to drone footage to help viewers identify the features indicated in Tesla’s permit documents. Of particular note were the outlines of the Gigafactory foundation on the site, two switchyards (one temporary), and several water retention ponds to control rainfall that’s typical for the Austin area.
In the flyover update itself, Gigafactory construction does appear to continue its fast-paced progress as expected. A new clearing revealed an old house that will most likely be demolished, and as Tegtmeyer detailed in the video’s notes, it looks as though GeoPier work is being done in the northern part of the site. Efforts to fill in and level where the main factory foundation will go were also underway in the central parts of that area, and construction activity looked to be still drying and filling out the northwestern corner of the main building region where the building’s shape isn’t quite complete.
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTuber
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTuber
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTuber
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTube)
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTube)
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTuber
In related news, Tesla presented a rough time frame for the upcoming Cybertruck and Semi factory location in its “Travis County Colorado River Project Partner Pre‐Qualification Presentation,” which is another document recently published on the City of Austin’s official page. Giga Texas estimates a first “dry-in” by December 30th of this year, and a first “substantial completion” is scheduled for May 2021. If completed as planned, this ambitious schedule will be an amazing feat for such a mammoth-sized construction project. Given that work is being done nearly 24/7 and without much regard for weather, the efforts are the very least well-directed.
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTube)
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTube)
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTube)
- Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update – 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTuber
The Tesla Semi and Cybertruck are not the only vehicles expected to be produced at the electric car manufacturer’s Gigafactory Texas complex. During this year’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk stated that the upcoming facility would also be producing the Model 3 sedan and its sibling, the Model Y crossover. Musk additionally detailed that vehicles produced in Texas would be slotted for customers residing in the eastern United States.
Tesla’s newest Gigafactory in Texas also has the potential to house the company’s next-generation vehicle production systems, given the technology developments in play for the Semi and Cybertruck. For example, the electric pickup will not have a stamping area due to the vehicle’s use of steel and XY design, so a unique production line is expected there. Additionally, the Model Y line will likely utilize the company’s “Giga Press,” a huge machine that could give the all-electric crossover a rear body comprised of a single piece.
You can watch Joe Tegtmeyer’s full September 15th Giga Texas update below:
News
Tesla intertwines FSD with in-house Insurance for attractive incentive
Every mile logged under FSD now carries a documented financial value—lower risk, lower cost—based on Tesla’s internal driving data rather than external crash statistics alone.
Tesla intertwined its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite with its in-house Insurance initiative in an effort to offer an attractive incentive to drivers.
Tesla announced that its new Safety Score 3.0 will automatically have a perfect score of 100 with every mile driven with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) enabled.
The change is designed to boost customers’ average safety scores and deliver noticeably lower monthly premiums.
The move marks the clearest link yet between Tesla’s autonomous driving technology and its proprietary insurance product. Tesla Insurance already relies on real-time vehicle data—such as acceleration, braking, following distance, and speed—to calculate a Safety Score between 0 and 100. Higher scores have long translated into cheaper rates.
Under the previous system, however, even brief manual interventions could drag down the average, frustrating owners who rely heavily on FSD. Version 3.0 eliminates that penalty for supervised autonomous miles, effectively treating FSD-driven segments as the safest possible driving behavior.
The incentive is immediate and financial. Drivers who keep FSD engaged for the majority of their trips will see their overall score rise, potentially shaving hundreds of dollars off annual premiums.
Tesla framed the update as a direct response to customer feedback, many of whom had complained that the old scoring model punished the very behavior it was meant to encourage.
For now, the program applies only to new policies in six states: Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Virginia, and Illinois.
Existing policyholders are not yet included, a point that drew swift questions from the Tesla community. Many owners in other states, including California and Georgia, expressed hope that the benefit would expand nationwide soon.
The announcement arrives as Tesla continues to roll out FSD Supervised updates and push for regulatory approval of more advanced autonomy. By tying insurance savings directly to FSD usage, the company is putting its own actuarial weight behind the technology’s safety claims.
Every mile logged under FSD now carries a documented financial value—lower risk, lower cost—based on Tesla’s internal driving data rather than external crash statistics alone.
Tesla has not disclosed exact premium reductions or the full rollout timeline beyond the six launch states.
Still, the message is clear: the more drivers trust FSD Supervised, the more Tesla Insurance will reward them. In an era when legacy insurers remain cautious about autonomous tech, Tesla is betting that its own data will prove the safest miles are the ones driven hands-free.
Elon Musk
Tesla finalizes AI5 chip design, Elon Musk makes bold claim on capability
The Tesla CEO’s words mark a strategic shift. Tesla has long emphasized software-hardware co-design, squeezing maximum performance from every transistor. Musk previously described AI5 as optimized for edge inference in both Robotaxi and Optimus.
Tesla has finalized its chip design for AI5, as Elon Musk confirmed today that the new chip has reached the tape-out stage, the final step before mass production.
But in a brief reply on X, Musk clarified Tesla’s AI hardware roadmap, essentially confirming that the new chip will not be utilized for being “enough to achieve much better than human safety for FSD.”
He said that AI4 is enough to do that.
Instead, the AI5 chip will be focused on Tesla’s big-time projects for the future: Optimus and supercomputer clusters.
Musk thanked TSMC and Samsung for production support, noting that AI5 could become “one of the most produced AI chips ever.” Yet, the key pivot came in his direct answer: vehicles no longer need the bleeding-edge silicon.
And thank you to @TaiwanSemi_TSC and @Samsung for your support in bringing this chip to production! It will be one of most produced AI chips ever.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2026
Existing AI4 hardware, which is already deployed in hundreds of thousands of HW4-equipped Teslas, delivers safety metrics superior to human drivers for Full Self-Driving. AI5 will instead accelerate Optimus robot development and massive Dojo-style training clusters.
The Tesla CEO’s words mark a strategic shift. Tesla has long emphasized software-hardware co-design, squeezing maximum performance from every transistor. Musk previously described AI5 as optimized for edge inference in both Robotaxi and Optimus.
Now, with AI4 proving sufficient, the company avoids costly retrofits across its fleet while redirecting next-generation compute toward higher-value applications: dexterous robots and exponential training scale.
But is it reasonable to assume AI4 enables unsupervised self-driving? Yes, but with important caveats.
On the hardware side, the claim is credible. Tesla’s FSD stack runs end-to-end neural networks trained on billions of miles of real-world data. Internal safety data reportedly shows AI4-equipped vehicles already outperforming average human drivers by a significant margin in controlled metrics (collision avoidance, reaction time, edge-case handling).
Dual-redundant AI4 chips provide ample headroom for the driving task, leaving bandwidth for future model improvements without new silicon. Musk’s assertion aligns with Tesla’s pattern of over-provisioning compute early, then optimizing ruthlessly, exactly as HW3 once sufficed before HW4 scaled further.
Optimus and our supercomputer clusters.
AI4 is enough to achieve much better than human safety for FSD.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2026
Unsupervised autonomy, meaning Level 4 or higher, is not solely a compute problem. Regulatory approval remains the primary gate.
Even if AI4 achieves “much better than human” safety statistically, agencies like the NHTSA demand exhaustive validation, liability frameworks, and public trust.
Tesla’s supervised FSD has shown rapid gains in recent versions, yet real-world edge cases, like construction zones, emergency vehicles, and adverse weather, still require driver intervention in many jurisdictions. Competitors like Waymo operate limited unsupervised fleets, but only in geofenced areas with extensive mapping. Tesla’s vision-only, fleet-scale approach is more ambitious—and harder to certify globally.
In short, Musk’s post is both pragmatic and bullish. AI4 is likely capable of unsupervised FSD from a technical standpoint. Whether regulators and consumers agree, and how quickly, will determine if Tesla’s bet pays off.
The company’s capital-efficient path keeps existing cars relevant while pouring future compute into robots. If the safety data holds, unsupervised autonomy could arrive sooner than many expect.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk signals expansion of Tesla’s unique side business
Long envisioning the Tesla Diner as more than a charging stop, Musk has clearly adopted the idea that the Supercharger and Restaurant combo is a good thing for the company to have. It’s a blend of classic American drive-in culture with futuristic Tesla flair, complete with a 1950s-inspired design, movie screens, and on-site dining.
Elon Musk has signaled an expansion of Tesla’s unique side business, something that really has nothing to do with cars or spaceships, but fans of the company have truly adopted it as just another one of its awesome ventures.
Musk confirmed on Wednesday that Tesla would build a new Diner location in Palo Alto, Northern California. After hinting last October that it “probably makes sense to open one near our Giga Texas HQ in Austin and engineering HQ in Palo Alto,” it seems one of those locations is being set into motion.
Sure
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2026
Long envisioning the Tesla Diner as more than a charging stop, Musk has clearly adopted the idea that the Supercharger and Restaurant combo is a good thing for the company to have. It’s a blend of classic American drive-in culture with futuristic Tesla flair, complete with a 1950s-inspired design, movie screens, and on-site dining.
He first floated broader expansion plans shortly after the LA opening in July 2025, noting that if the prototype succeeded, Tesla would roll out similar venues in major cities worldwide and along long-distance Supercharger routes.
Earlier hints included a confirmed second site at Starbase in Texas, tied to SpaceX operations, underscoring the Diner’s role in enhancing Tesla’s ecosystem behind vehicles.
The Los Angeles location on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood has served as a high-profile test case. Opened in July 2025 at 7001 Santa Monica Blvd., it features the world’s largest urban Supercharging station with 80 V4 stalls open to all NACS-compatible EVs, over 250 dining seats, rooftop views, and 24/7 service.
The retro-futuristic building replaced a former Shakey’s and quickly became a destination. Tesla reported selling 50,000 burgers in the first 72 days—an average of over 700 daily—drawing crowds with Cybertruck-shaped packaging, breakfast extensions until 2 p.m., and movie screenings.
Palo Alto stands out as a logical next step for several reasons. As Tesla’s longstanding engineering headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley, the city is home to thousands of Tesla employees, engineers, and executives who could benefit from a convenient, branded gathering spot.
The area boasts high EV adoption rates, dense tech talent, and heavy traffic along key corridors, making a large Supercharger-diner an ideal fit for both daily commuters and long-haul travelers.
Proximity to Stanford University and the innovation ecosystem would amplify its appeal, potentially serving as a showcase for Tesla’s vision of integrated mobility and lifestyle experiences. It could be a great way for Tesla to recruit new talent from one of the country’s best universities.
If Tesla and Musk decide to move forward with a Palo Alto diner, it would build directly on the LA prototype’s momentum while addressing Musk’s earlier calls for expansion near core Tesla hubs.
Whether it materializes as a full confirmation or evolves from these hints remains to be seen, but the pattern is clear: Tesla is testing ways to make charging stops memorable. For EV drivers and enthusiasts alike, a Silicon Valley outpost could blend cutting-edge tech with nostalgic comfort, further embedding Tesla into everyday culture. As Musk’s comments suggest, the future of the Diner looks promising.









