Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled a new manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, with a blockbuster party.
Musk arrived on stage at the “Cyber Rodeo” in a Tesla Roadster wearing a black cowboy hat. According to The Wall Street Journal, the entrepreneur gave new details about the Cybertruck — which Musk said would be built at the site beginning in 2023 — as well as the new Roadster and semi-truck.
“We are really entering a new phase of Tesla’s future,” Musk proclaimed.
Musk also said that Giga Texas is the largest factory in the world by volume. As he described, it is “equivalent to three Pentagons; when a building is measured in units of Pentagon, you know it is quite large.”
Giga Texas is the largest factory building in the world by volume. According to our calculations, you could fit a 194 billion hamsters in this building” – @elonmusk
pic.twitter.com/i0nu8O2wML— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) April 8, 2022
“According to our calculations, you could fit 194 billion hamsters in this building,” he continued.
The party was invitation-only and off-limits to the news media, according to ABC News, while up to 15,000 people were expected to attend.
Last year, Elon Musk revealed that Tesla would be moving its headquarters from California to Texas, despite retaining a manufacturing presence in the Golden State. Musk had previously threatened to move Tesla’s headquarters in 2020 when COVID-19 lockdowns shuttered the company’s manufacturing facility in Fremont, California.
“It’s tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away,” Musk said. “There’s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area. In Austin, our factory is like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from Downtown.”
Earlier this week, Elon Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder following the purchasing of a 9.2% stake in the social media firm. He has promised to “make significant improvements to Twitter” and has polled his followers on whether or not Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principles of free speech.
In the wake of his purchase — after which he received a position on Twitter’s board of directors — many employees are wary of reforms that Musk may bring to the site. Twitter told Reuters that the company’s board “plays an important advisory and feedback role across the entirety of our service” while daily decisions are made by Twitter’s management and employees.
One employee found this distinction “hard to believe” and told Reuters, “If that’s the case, why would Elon want a board seat?”
Reuters added that other employees fear Musk will alter Twitter’s “corporate culture” of “inclusivity,” as Musk “has faced widespread criticism for posting memes that mocked transgender people and efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19.”
“Some people are dusting off their resumes,” another employee told the outlet. “I don’t want to work for somebody [like Musk].”
Musk’s launch into Twitter appears to be at least partially motivated by the company’s censorship — particularly toward conservatives. Musk reportedly reached out to Seth Dillon, the CEO of Christian satire site The Babylon Bee, prior to issuing a poll about Twitter for his followers to vote on.
“Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech,” Dillon reported. “He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.”