S.E. Robinson, Jr.

Want to Know: Your Daily Musk Companies Update (Patreon)

Published:

2025-02-14 21:14:31

Imported:

2026-06

Content

14th of February, 2025 ♥️

"I’m just a volunteer tech support guy and have the T-shirt to prove it..." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

Please Repost, Comment, and Subscribe. Thanks, everyone!

■ TESLA $TSLA ($355.84, -0.028%):

- He is already after our women!

- Tesla's software update 2025.2.6 activates the cabin radar in Model Y vehicles (2022 and later, manufactured from early November 2021), Model 3 Highland, and Cybertrucks, enabling detection of front-row passengers for improved vehicle and safety features. The radar has been inactive for over three years and Tesla offers free replacements for eligible vehicles to ensure compatibility. Per Tesla, "The cabin radar can detect the presence of people inside the vehicle and use the measurements to determine occupancy. Cabin radar supports certain vehicle and safety features, such as occupancy detection for the front passenger seat."

- Tesla introduced the first lines of code for the upcoming Robotaxi service into its iOS app. A new endpoint named "rides_feedback_upload" allows users to rate vehicle cleanliness and upload photos. June is quickly approaching. So get ready Austin, we are coming your way.

- Per Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt), Tesla has started cancelling legacy Model Y Long Range AWD orders in the UK due to "exceptional demand." The vehicle is also no longer available to order on Tesla's UK website.

- The $249/month lease pricing for the Model 3 in the U.S. will end on the 3rd of March. Get your orders in now.

- Per Tesla's Lars Moravy (@larsmoravy) on Tesla's automatic adaptive headlight beams and U.S. regulations, "We got it this time. We'll start with New Model Y and work our way to the others. We got through the difficult work."

- 4 Tesla owners in Thailand have the chance to visit Giga Shanghai. This campaign is open to existing owners and new customers who purchase a stock inventory Model 3 or Y by the 19th of March and take delivery no later than the 28th of March.

- Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed optimism about a potential partnership with Tesla for its robotaxi service, stating, "I think it would be great for Tesla to list their robotaxis on our network. It would be a great economic decision for them." He acknowledged Tesla's competitive strengths but emphasized, "Economics apply to everyone, including Tesla." Ok, but who has more to worry about, Uber or Tesla?

- John (@teslaownersSV) and crew got to tour the Lathrop Megafactory and we are jealous. "We got a full walk through of the Tesla Megapack factory in Lathrop. Tesla Energy business is a sleeping giant. Video coming soon." Can't wait!

- Tesla and Zelestra have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) in Spain to supply renewable energy for Tesla's operations. The long-term 57 MWac PPA will provide Tesla with around 130 GWh of renewable energy annually from three solar plants in Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha: Brazatortas I, II, and IV. These plants have a combined capacity of over 74 MWdc and will produce 146 GWh yearly. Construction has started following the agreement.

- A snow covered Giga Berlin by Romain Hedouin (@RomainHedouin) and Tesla.

- Tesla's Jim Rugg, "This week we have been spreading the Powerwall 3, PW3X & Remote Meter by kicking off the 2025 UK Tesla Energy Installer Roadshows at Bicester, Gatwick, and Milton Keynes! Thanks to all our Certified Installers who attended the training! The training continues up until May with further roadshows across the UK. If you are a Powerwall certified installer and want to attend, sign up today!"

FLYOVERS (flight links in sources section):

Giga Texas: Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer), 14th of February, '25. More new Model Y's in the outbound lot and Cybertrucks line the EOL building. Subscribe to Joe and support his efforts!

Giga Nevada Semi Factory: Zanegler (@HinrichsZane), 13th of February, '25. Subscribe to Zane and support his efforts!
Giga Texas: Brad Sloan, 13th of February, '25.

■ SPACEX:

- Starship 38 nose cone inside the Starfactory. Pic by Carlos, the Starbase Surfer (@cnunezimages).

- Today, what looked like a welding robot was removed from the High Bay and taken across into the Starfactory. Keep an eye out, this could be the beginning of the end for High Bay.

- SpaceX hired Williams & Jensen to lobby the House Armed Services Committee on national security launches. Specifically, the Department of Defense program for deploying military and intelligence satellites using commercial launch services. They will be using lobbyist Christopher Brinson. He was previously the chief of staff to House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.).

- Your NASA SpaceX Crew-10 members:

Commander Anne McClain (@AstroAnnimal) - NASA astronaut. This will be her second mission to the International Space Station.
Pilot Nichole Ayers (@Astro_Ayers) - NASA astronaut and a major in the U.S. Air Force. This mission marks her first spaceflight.
Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi (@Astro_Onishi) - JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut. This will be his second trip to the space station.
Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov - Roscosmos cosmonaut. This will be his first spaceflight.

Per Commander McClain, "Let’s do it! Crew-10 has been training for about 18 months for this mission, and we are ready to meet the new timeline for launch."

- Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), chair of the House Science Committee, and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), ranking member of the House Science Committee, have directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the FAA's Part 450 regulations. The letter asks the GAO to specifically answer a handful of questions, including:

Whether the FAA has established clear processes and definitions for Part 450
How long it takes to receive a yes or no from the FAA from a company’s first interaction
If the FAA’s existing organization is slowing down the consideration process
How the agency coordinates with other agencies, including state and local offices
What the FAA is planning to improve Part 450 on its own
Recommendations to boost efficiency

- "Motion passed." Yesterday, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved SpaceX's Starbase Deluge Water Permit after finding no significant environmental impact.

- SpaceX secured $38.85 million NASA contract on Monday for research & development in physical, engineering, and life sciences. It is administered by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Specific project details within this contract are not fully disclosed in the public domain.

- RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos) has posted their regular weekly flyover. We get great views as always. Flyover linkis in the sources section. Subscribe to RGV and support their efforts!

Countdown to 180 (19 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 1 - Starship):

Launch 21! Saturday, 15th of February, at 1:14 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 12-8 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 22! Monday, 17th of February, at 5:18 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 NROL-57 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. This is the eighth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities.
Launch 23! Tuesday, 18th of February, at 6:00 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 10-12 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 24! Monday, 19th of February, at 4:00 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-1 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 25! Wednesday, 26th of February, at 7:17 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Nova-C IM-2 & Lunar Trailblazer will launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The booster will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is the second mission of Nova-C lunar lander developed and built by Intuitive Machines. This time it carries a NASA payload called PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1), which is to be the first demonstration of in-situ resource utilization on the Moon. PRIME-1 consists of two instruments: TRIDENT drill and Msolo mass spectrometer.
Launch 26! Thursday, 27th of February, at 7:10 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 SPHEREx & PUNCH will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will return to Vandenberg and land at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4).

SPHEREx is a planned two-year astrophysics mission that will survey the sky in near-infrared light to explore the origins of the universe and the evolution of galaxies, while also searching for water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries and planet-forming disks around stars. It aims to collect data on over 300 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars within our Milky Way, providing insights into the conditions necessary for life.
NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) consists of four suitcase-sized satellites, which will focus on the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) and how it generates the solar wind. The spacecraft also will track coronal mass ejections – large eruptions of solar material that can drive large space weather events near Earth – to better understand their evolution and develop new techniques for predicting such eruptions.

■ THE BORING COMPANY: N/A... boring.

■ NEURALINK: N/A...

■ STARLINK:

- Starlink is now available across the Åland Islands of Finland, and the Svalbard archipelago and Jan Mayen island in the Arctic Ocean under the sovereignty of Norway.

- Yesterday, Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh's interim leader, and Elon discussed introducing Starlink to Bangladesh. They held a virtual meeting to explore how Starlink could improve connectivity, especially for rural youth, women, and remote communities. Yunus emphasized that this could enhance education, healthcare, and economic growth, building on the efforts of Grameen Bank and Grameenphone to connect rural areas. Elon expressed interest in visiting Bangladesh for the potential launch stating, "I look forward to it." He also praised the Grameen Bank microfinance model for its global impact on poverty alleviation.

■ X:

- Yesterday, X sold $1.5 billion in debt to help repay loans taken out during Musk's acquisition of the company in 2022. The debt sale was managed by Bank of America and included high-yield bonds, also known as "junk bonds."

- X Middle East and North Africa (MENA) signed the UAE Children's Digital Wellbeing Pact at the World Government Summit 2025 in Dubai, led by Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (@abudhabi_eca) and DigitalUAE, to enhance children's online safety by promoting a secure digital environment, minimizing exposure to harmful content, and protecting from cyberbullying. Per X CEO Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX), "Working to keep our kids safe - across the globe."

- More of X's Florence Best (@BabyModeuse) and Cris Nulli (@crisnulliat) the Luxury Innovation Breakfast speaking about the intersection of AI and luxury, and how tools like Grok are redefining creativity and strategy on X. "Special thanks to Nvidia for their incredible insights and collaboration, and to Stefano Galassi (@GalaxyMindful) (Limitless) for organizing such an inspiring event - it’s partnerships like these that push boundaries and inspire innovation. From exploring new ways to work smarter to playing with cutting-edge tech, yesterday was a reminder of the limitless possibilities ahead within this exciting journey!"

- X's Rina Montalvo Assini (@montalvo_rina) hosting H1B Town Halls for X and xAI both in-person and virtual.

■ xAI:

- News has broken that Dell is reportedly in advanced talks to secure a contract worth over $5 billion to provide xAI with servers containing Nvidia GPUs.

- Shortly after, Bloomberg reported that xAI is in discussions for a $10 billion funding round. This would value the company at $75 billion. Existing investors like Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Valor Equity Partners are in talks to participate. "No Comment..."

■ DOGE:

- DOGE is at the IRS. Time to audit the auditors.

- The Department of Agriculture terminated 18 contracts totaling approximately $9 million, which included services for "Central American gender assessment consultant services," "Brazil forest and gender consultant services," and the "women in forest carbon initiative mentorship program." ... ... Wait, what?!

- Yesterday, DOGE announced the cancellation of 167 contracts, saving approximately $115 million, including a $2.23 million contract for HHS focused on "equity assessments of existing program policies."

- The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recovered $1.9 billion in misplaced funds from the Biden administration, which were initially earmarked for financial services administration but were no longer needed. Secretary Scott Turner worked with the DOGE to resolve this issue, de-obligating the funds for use by the Treasury.

■ ELON NEWS:

- When Tech Support arrives...

__________

■ SUPPORT:

If you enjoyed the update, know that it is posted every Monday thru Friday at closing bell. This is a subscriber supported news letter, so please subscribe and show your support. It is only $4/month, at an average of only .18¢/update! Subscribe here

For February, one subscriber will get the official Tesla Year of the Snake T-Shirt (L). This is not sold in any other country outside of the APAC region. Subscribe here to be eligible