S.E. Robinson, Jr.

ELON CHRON: The Daily Chronicle of Elon Musk's Companies

Added 2025-07-14 21:50:01 +0000 UTC

14th of July, 2025

"Optimus 3 will have agility roughly equal to an agile human...." - Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

■ TESLA TSLA -0.25%↓ ($316.90, +1.08%):

- Elon ate at the Tesla Diner! "I just had dinner at the retro-futuristic Tesla diner and Supercharger. Team did great work making it one of the coolest spots in LA!" Pics are by Tesla King (@TeslaKing420) and AL Set (@AlSet51241438).

- Per Elon, "Just left the Tesla design studio. Most epic demo ever by end of year... Ever." Roadster, Optimus?!

- Tesla holds 3 of 10 spots in the top bestselling EVs in the U.S. for the first half of 2025. Holding the No.1 spot is the Model Y at 155,000 units. At No.2 is the Model 3 with 97,600 units. And at No.10 is Cybertruck with 10,500. H/T

@SawyerMerritt.

- On Saturday, Tesla announced the beta integration of Grok into their vehicles via incoming update 2025.26 . This is a hands-free interaction feature that does not control the vehicle, but complements the existing voice command system. Interactions with Grok are securely processed by xAI, with conversations remaining anonymous and not linked to the user or their vehicle. Tesla is shouting the feature directly on their U.S. website: "You can now talk to Grok, your AI companion from xAI in your vehicle. You can choose Grok's voice and personality, ranging from Storyteller to Unhinged."

Other items in the update include:

Light Sync that lets accent lights respond to music and match album colors.
Audio settings allow creating and saving multiple presets.
Dashcam updates enable zooming and playback speed adjustment, with Cybertruck adding a grid-view Dashcam Viewer.
Charger lists indicate valet or pay-to-park needs, and arrival notifications provide access codes, parking restrictions, level/floor info, and restroom availability.

- Elon stated that shareholders will vote if Tesla will invest in xAI, but that a merger is out of the question. "If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago."

- "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger..." per the Robotaxi X account. The geofence expansion is now in effect with the latest up. So far Robotaxi completely avoids getting on I-35. Other app updates include walking directions for pickup and final destination, search results show if a destination closes near arrival time, and you can edit your destination after booking. Oh, and the price jumped from $4.20 to... $6.90... lol.

- Alexander Kristensen (@LinkN01suggests) made the suggestion that Tesla allow Full Self-Driving (FSD) transfer to Europe for loyal customers until EU regulatory bodies approve the service. Elon replied simply, "Sounds Fair."

- PepsiCo Semi spotted in Stockton California by trucker Shawn Fogelman. Per Shawn, "As a 31 year professional driver, I really look forward to driving one of these in the near future! The technology that’s packed into these new Tesla Semis is just mind blowing! Thank you Elon and team Tesla!"

- Powerwall 3 and Expansion Units are now available in the Netherlands.

- Cybertrucks on the Bethel Ridge section of the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR), a 122-mile off-road trail known for its challenging terrain and stunning views, including Mt. Adams. Pic by Dave Mattson (@DaveMattson).

- This past Friday, Tesla AI's Srihari Sampathkumar (@srihari__) announced he has left the company after 8 years. Srihari was deeply grateful to Elon and the team for shaping his career and trusting him to contribute to Robotaxi and Optimus. He stated he isn’t leaving to join a competitor but to pursue personal passions and recharge.

- In Canada for the first half of the year, Tesla registrations fell 67% YoY, from 26,000 units to only 9,000. This was mainly due to the elimination of federal and provincial EV rebates in British Columbia and Quebec. Last week, Tesla cut Model Y prices by $20,000 by importing from Germany to evade tariffs, but other models remain unchanged.

■ SPACEX:

- Per Elon on Flight 10, "Launching again in ~3 weeks." This is NET August 4th.

- According to the Wallstreet Journal, SpaceX committed $2 billion to xAI in the $5 billion equity round. This values xAI at $113 billion. Grok will power chatbot Starlink support. This has not been confirmed or denied by SpaceX or Elon. What we do know is SpaceX already uses a version of Grok for interna use. So this report is most likely true.

- Early Sunday morning, launch 88 of Falcon 9 IAI Dror-1 took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. This was the 13th flight for booster B1083. It previously launched Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, CRS-31, Astranis: From One to Many, IM-2, and seven Starlink missions. The booster landed on drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. This was SpaceX's 500th orbital spaceflight mission! Pics by Scott Schilke (@SchilkeScott) and Paradox Adventure Photography (@PdxAdvPhoto). Follow both and support their work!

This was a "Commercial GTO 1" mission; a contracted launch of the Dror-1, a geostationary communication satellite built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It features locally developed Israeli technologies, including an advanced digital communication payload and “smartphone in space” capabilities for enhanced communication agility throughout its operational life.

- This morning, the Crew Dragon Grace carrying the Axiom 4 (Ax4) crew undocked from the International Space Station's Harmony module, completing a two-and-a-half week space research mission. Grace slowly maneuvered away from the station into an orbital track that will return the crew and its cargo safely to Earth tomorrow, splashing down off the coast of California.

- At Starbase's Pad 1, new openings and pipework are being added to the Booster Quick Disconnect (BQD) hood, with a new framework affixed over the past few days. Pipework is being routed to the hood's top. This is in line with plans to attach a Quick Disconnect (QD) plate to interface with Starship for static fire testing on the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM). Pics by Shaun Gisler (@lifeatstagezero). Follow Shaun!

- Today at McGregor, two vertical tanks were spotted by @NASASpaceflight arriving. Good guess is these will soon be tested and sent to Massey's at Starbase. Subscribe to NASA Spaceflight and support their amazing coverage!

- A new Falcon 9 booster was spotted prepped for transport at the Hawthorne facility. Should be on its way to the McGregor test facility by now. Pic is by TSW1 (@TheShipWatch_1). TSW1 says it is B1098.

- RGV Aerial Photography (@RGVaerialphotos) dropped their weekly Starbase update. By far the best in-depth breakdown of Starbase with co-host Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase). Find out the current status on Massey's, Rio West, Giga Bay, the employee apartment complex, and the Launch Complex. Video in sources section

- SpaceX is hiring for an AI Software Engineer. The role involves utilizing existing AI technologies and developing in-house solutions for safe AI use, including setting up LLMs with RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation), training internal models on SpaceX data, applying Machine Learning to extract knowledge from time-series data, and creating new technologies to accelerate engineer design and testing of space hardware like electronics and propulsion systems. The team collaborates with company engineers to build AI systems that resolve engineering bottlenecks and revolutionize access and utilization of engineering data at SpaceX. H/T grant (@GrantObi).

- Weekend Starbase images by Carlos (@cnunezimages). Subscribe to him and support his work!

Starbase City Commission Meeting:

Wednesday, 16th of July, at 7:00 p.m. CT, at 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 02, Brownsville, TX 78521.

Countdown to 180 (85 - Falcon 9, 0 - Falcon Heavy, and 3 - Starship):

Launch 89! Monday, 13th of July, at 7:13 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-2 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 Atlantic Ocean.
Launch 90! July, Wednesday, 16th of July, at 2:10 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 Project Kuiper #1 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. This is the first of a three launches contracted for Amazon's Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation.
Launch 91! Wednesday, 16th of July, at 7:08 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 17-3 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 Atlantic Ocean.
Launch 92! Sunday, 20th of July, at 7:09 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 17-2 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 Atlantic Ocean.
Launch ??! Thursday, 31st of July, at 12:09 p.m. ET, NASA SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-11 will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This will be Crew Dragon Endeavour's 6th flight. Booster B1094 will return to site and land at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

■ THE BORING COMPANY:

- The Boring Company announced the Vegas LOOP is now open everyday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. This includes all stations; from Resorts World, Westgate, and Riviera. All stations, including Encore, are open during LVCC conventions.

■ NEURALINK:

- Co-founder and President of Neuralink, DJ Seo, had a talk at Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) a couple of weeks ago, and they have finally released the video. DJ gives and inside look at the future of BCIs. CDL operates a neuroscience-focused stream to support founders in transformative neurotechnology by connecting them with mentors, neuroscientists, and investors. Video link is in the sources section.

■ STARLINK:

- Gamer Adin Ross streamed for 7 hours straight on a jet via Starlink with zero interruptions.

- Allegiant Air is exploring inflight Wi-Fi due to passenger demand. They have started talks with SpaceX to provide Starlink and other providers. Nothing has been finalized.

- Starlink has validated Cisco Systems' Wi-Fi routers for handling satellite-based traffic after a pilot program. This enables seamless routing of space-based wireless traffic through terrestrial networks. Cisco's satellite-enabled routers provide two-way satellite communication, support multicast and unicast traffic, and integrate telemetry for end-to-end visibility and service guarantees to telecom providers and end users. The routers are tweaked to trace traffic from terrestrial to non-terrestrial networks and support space-to-earth broadband services regardless of carrier.

■ X: N/A...

■ xAI:

- Yesterday evening, Elon announced the launch of Grok Companions. Here are the two current Companions for Grok 4; Ani and Rudy/Bad Rudy. This appears to only be available on iOS. I cannot find it on Android. Also of note, each has their on official X account by affiliated with Animation Inc. and Anichat; Ani (@AniAnichat), Rudy (@RudyAnichat), and Bad Rudy (@BadRudyAnichat). The brooding anime guy is coming soon.

- Grok Android did get an update and received two new voices; Soothing Female Eve and Smooth Male Sal.

- "MechaHitler" was due to an upstream code update that misaligned with its truth-seeking intent. xAI responded by removing the deprecated code, refactoring the system, and publishing the new system prompt on GitHub for transparency.

- Today, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) in Arlington, VA, awarded $200M ceiling contracts each to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI to advance DoD AI adoption for national security. The focus is on agentic AI workflows in mission areas, intelligence, business, and enterprise systems. This is being led by Chief Digital and AI Officer Dr. Doug Matty.

Shortly after, xAI announced Grok for Government; a suite of frontier AI products including Grok 4, Deep Search, and Tool Use to US federal, local, state, and national security customers. Offerings include custom models for national security and critical science, forward-deployed engineering support with cleared engineers, AI applications for healthcare and security, and models for classified environments. Milestones feature a new US Department of Defense contract and GSA schedule availability for all federal entities.

- The work continues inside the Colossus 1 datacenter in Memphis. Video by TikTok user Jones718 (_jones718). "Working at Elon Musk's xAI… Project Colossus data warehouse!"

- Per Elon, "We are creating a multi-agent AI software company xAI, where Grok spawns hundreds of specialized coding and image/video generation/understanding agents all working together and then emulates humans interacting with the software in virtual machines until the result is excellent. This is a macro challenge and a hard problem with stiff competition... After talking to the xAI team late one night about this, I thought damn we’re probably in a sim right now...

Input Bitstream -> Feedback -> Output Bitstream. Tesla already does the first two steps in the car and has also been able to generate real-world video for a few years. Just need to widen the aperture for a far broader variety of bit IO patterns. Traditional coding will be like painting with brushes. It would be silly to “automate” painting with brushes using a robot hand! Just render the pixels."

■ DOGE:

Estimated Savings: $190 Billion

Amount Saved Per Taxpayer: $1,180.12

- On Saturday, DOGE announced agencies terminated 230 contracts with a ceiling value of $2.8 billiob and savings of $407 million, This included:

$144k USDA contract for a “Mexico sustainable landscapes consultant.”
$420k Treasury contract for “mentoring, evaluation, learning specialist services in Haiti.”

■ ELON NEWS: N/A...

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