ELON CHRON: Your 24hr Musk Companies Update

9th of May, 2025

May 09, 2025

"Major step change is 2 to 4 weeks away..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA TSLA 0.00%↑ ($298.26, +4.72%):

Attn Houston Area Tesla Owners: I was contacted by Tesla's Marketing Team yesterday, and we are coordinating a Customer Appreciation event in Houston for Memorial Day Weekend at the Tesla Houston/Cypress Center 19820 Hempstead Hwy. They are trying to make it a big event. It will have an RSVP link. They will send it to me once it is live. So, if you own a Tesla and are in Houston, you should attend. I won't go over all the details, but what they plan to have there is going to be awesome! I will keep you updated.

- Cybertruck Ambulance at Starbase! Makes you want to be an EMT. Pic by Jessica Tetreau (@JessicaTetreau).

- Mazda announced a partnership with Tesla to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS). EVs launched in Japan from 2027 onward will have the NACS port. Per Tesla Supercharger Lead Max de Zegher (@MdeZegher), "NACS becoming the standard in Japan (and South Korea) seems like only a matter of time now. It’s also great to see other fast-charging networks starting to install NACS in Japan. Tesla Charging is accelerating the transition to NACS, for the industry to get clarity faster. Vehicle manufacturers also don’t want to build market-specific variants— like CHAdeMO just for Japan or CCS1 just for South Korea."

- Senior Account Manager Leasing, Andrew Ó Connor, showcased the Model Y for the Ogilvie Fleet team at their HQ in Stirling, Scotland. "It was a pleasure to showcase the New Model Y and catch up with everyone! Delighted you enjoyed your first look at the new Model Y — here’s to an exciting future and a fruitful partnership ahead!"

- You probably saw that Panasonic Holdings Corp plans to cut 10,000 jobs this year; 5,000 in Japan and 5,000 overseas. This is part of a major restructuring to focus on core competencies. The overhaul aims to streamline operations, particularly in underperforming sectors like industrial devices and TVs. Impacts on Tesla's battery supply is likely to be limited.

- New views inside the Tesla Diner by Not A Tesla App via Thomas Adamian.

- Yesterday, Tesla launched dedicated Workshops that offer hands-on experiences with employees to explore the latest features. This a more focused page compared to their Events page. This should enhance customer engagement via transparency and education.

- Breaking Tesla Semi News: US Foods branded Tesla semi seen near Giga Nevada** The program continues to show positive momentum with multiple new customers receiving the clean air vehicles. I believe this to be a training run with a with Tesla driver/instructor showing the US

- Engineers and recruiters representing a wide range of departments and technical programs at Tesla will be attending the Formula SAE competitions in the coming weeks. Per Kyle Liechty, Tesla Senior Project Manager (University Recruiting), "We love observing the on-site troubleshooting in the paddocks, as well as seeing teams accomplish new milestones through the stages of technical inspection and dynamic events. Tesla will be recruiting during these events." Tesla will be connecting with students on-site. You can accelerate the recruiting process today if you are interested in internship and full-time opportunities at Tesla by completing the form in the sources section.

- Per Tesla Australia Country Director Thom Drew, "If we could tell you the order numbers we've got from this, we're actually in a really healthy position. When we launched (new Model Y) orders back in January, we had an enormous response to the launch edition… We've only just started test drives in the last couple of weeks. The boat's been slowly making its way around the country; seeing some really strong interest."

- Tesla has opened a new showroom at the Gurney Plaza in Penang, Malaysia. This an experience center that gives an interactive glimpse into Tesla's EV innovation, sustainable energy, and expanding supercharger network.

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

Giga Texas: Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer), 9th of May, '25. Per Joe, "No production today (normal) but still lots of activity across the site. I am covering another interesting Tesla event later this morning in Austin, so my normal Giga Texas video will be out later today than the usual time."

■ SPACEX:

- Date change. As of right now, the 20th of May will be Starship's 9th test flight. Launch time is between 6:30 and 8:34 p.m. CT. A Local Notice to Mariners (LNM) show the move from the 19th to the 20th.

- A new Hwy 4 road closure is posted for the 12th to transport between the Massey’s and launch site. Starship 35 is expected to roll to Massey's tomorrow, the 10th, and do another Static Fire. This 12th closure is for S35 to leave Massey's and go straight to the Launch Complex post static fire.

- Super Heavy Test Tank 17 rolled out of the Starfactory last night and is now sitting at near the Rocket Garden. It will most likely head to Masseys for testing soon. Pics from @LabPadre's live stream and @StarshipGazer.

- The Hwy 4 Roundabout is complete and open to the public! This will alleviate so many traffic issues at the launch complex. Pic by Shaun Gisler (@lifeatstagezero).

- Yesterday, the FAA held a virtual meeting addressing SpaceX's plan to increase Falcon 9 launches at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) from 50 to 120 annually and build a new landing zone (LZ) at . Public comments are being accepted until the 15th of May.

- Falcon 9 Booster and payload fairings head to Hanger X for an upcoming Starlink mission.

Countdown to 180 (53 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 2 - Starship):

Launch 56! Friday, 9th of May, at 5:01 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-3 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
Launch 57! Saturday, 10th of May, at 2:28 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 6-91 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Launch 58! Sunday, 11th of May, at 12:24 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 6-83 will launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Launch 59! Monday, 12th of May, at 5:00 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-4 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
Launch 60! Wednesday, 14th of May, at 11:43 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 6-67 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

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■ THE BORING COMPANY: N/A... so boring.

■ NEURALINK:

- NP3 Brad Smith (@ALScyborg) has done a new interview with MIT's Technology Review. He speaks on how the Telepathy BCI uses Grok to enhance communication speed by drafting replies and giving suggestions during conversations.

Not gonna lie, I get super sci-fi commercialized AI/brain implant feelings here. That merger appears to be rapidly approaching. Just the other day, Apple posted in the future we won't need an iPhone. Elon simply replied, "Neuralink."

■ STARLINK:

- Yesterday United Airlines had their inaugural Starlink flight. It was for a small select group of attendees to test the service on flight UA 5717 from Chicago to Detroit. Later that day, Starlink-connected regional jets paid visits to Nashville and Charlottesville, Virginia, and on routes to and from Chicago. United Airlines plans to launch Starlink on many their planes by the 15th of May. Over time, Starlink will be installed on United’s fleet of over 1,000 aircraft, covering routes in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean. Pics by Sean Cudahy for the @thepointsguy.

Per Grant Milstead, United VP of Digital Technology, "This internet is fast. It's going to feel like nothing you've ever experienced in the skies before. It's faster than the internet at my house."

Per Benjamin Din, "Throughout the 90-minute flight, I regularly clocked download speeds of over 100 Mbps, with speeds peaking at 222 Mbps."

- The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended satellite companies like Starlink will pay 4% of their adjusted gross revenue as spectrum charges for providing broadband internet services in India. They are using the Telecommunications Act 2023 as their source. Additionally, an annual fee of Rs 500 per subscriber will apply for urban users, no extra levy for rural areas. This applies to non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) and geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite systems offering fixed and mobile services. TRAI's recommendation aims to ensure fair competition and will be reviewed by the Department of Telecommunications.

■ X:

- X CEO Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) at X's New York Client Council. "Blown away by the brands, agencies and partners at X’s NY Client Council this week who showed up and out for the profound differentiation brought by the vision for X and xAI."

- Per Elon on the new Grok Recommendation Algorithm, "You should be noticing some improvements to the quality of recommendations in your timeline. We just fixed some bugs, so this is still mostly the old algorithm. Major step change is 2 to 4 weeks away."

- X Japan will hold a second round of X Advertising seminars. Locations include Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. X employees will be on hand giving how-to instructions and directions to create a campaign that gets results. X Japan CEO Ayumu Matsuyama (@ayumu_matsuyama) will participate in one of them. Q&A's will be included.

■ xAI:

- Grok.com's new login screen.

- CTC Property LLC, an xAI affiliate, filed a modeling study in March with the Shelby County Health Department for a 1.56-gigawatt simple cycle combustion turbine project for the second Colossus data center being built at 5420 Tulane Road facility in Whitehaven, Tennessee. Per the filing, "The proposed facility will produce its own electricity for sale and will include simple cycle combustion turbines and supporting equipment." Of note, yesterday the Greater Memphis Chamber officials announced via a press release that xAI has no plans to construct turbines at this data center and that the company will evaluate various power solutions for its facilities while working within regulations.

- Colossus 1 in Memphis, Tennessee, on the 7th of May. Pics by AP's George Walker.

- As I reported a few days ago, it was discovered on GitHub that xAI already has models in development for Tesla vehicles and SpaceX employees. @greentheonly was digging in the 2025.14 update and saw that Tesla has removed all the previously mentioned user-facing siren detection and replaced it with a hidden Grok assistant that has a personality button.

- xAI is still recruiting for an it's AI Gaming Studio. Per Elon, "If you’re interested in creating super fun, revolutionary AI video games, please send examples of your prior video game work to gamestudio@x.ai."

■ DOGE:

Estimated Savings: $165 Billion

Amount Saved Per Taxpayer: $1,024.84

- DOGE member and Airbnb co-founder, Joe Gebbia and his team announced the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will launch a fully digital retirement processing system on the 2nd of June, requiring all new federal retirement applications to be submitted electronically via the Online Retirement Application (ORA). Paper submissions will be banned after the 15th of July. This system will be supported with training for agency HR staff and coordination with payroll providers like the National Finance Center and Interior Business Center. Per Elon, "Retirement is now digital, so much faster and more accurate! Nice work by many."

■ ELON NEWS: N/A...

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