Manufacturing Technology
Tesla’s Diner, $16.5B Samsung Chip Deal, Cali Growth, xAI Stake & Rival Moves
Updated on Mon, Jul 28, 2025
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Just last week, we wrote a news article that covered a wide range of headlines pertaining to renowned tech mogul Elon Musk and his various companies and their various moves.
It covered Starlink’s global outage, details about xAI and Kalshi tie-up, Neuralink’s $1 billion ambition, X Community Notes for posts, and several troubles that Tesla is currently undergoing.
We also realized that it’s tough to go a day without Elon Musk or one of his many companies making the headlines—and that’s exactly what we’re going to explore now—(some of) the latest developments in Musk’s world.
A few days ago, Musk celebrated the opening of the first Tesla Diner, which is a multipurpose spot that oozes Tesla characteristics.
Tesla Diner is a retro-futuristic, drive-in themed charging station that spans 80 supercharger stalls, two 66-foot megascreens that play short films, feature-length movies, and Tesla videos, and a classic American diner that seats over 250 people.
The establishment is donned in a Cybertruck-inspired steel exterior. Visitors can also purchase Tesla-themed merchandise and get popcorn served by Tesla’s humanoid robot—Optimus.
It is accessible to the general public as well. #NoTeslaNoProblem
Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Tesla Diner is located in Hollywood, California—but the company expects to grow to other global locations soon.
“If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes,” said Musk in a post on X, adding, “An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging!”
In a separate post, Musk also published a video of Tesla Diner. Check out a rendered video and more images.
In another post, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla has partnered with Samsung Electronics to acquire semiconductors, AKA chips, through a contract worth $16.5 billion.
At first, unofficial posts revealed a regulatory filing by Samsung mentioning a deal worth more than $16 billion ($16.1 billion was quoted in the post). However, subsequent posts by Musk confirmed the move, along with more information about the partnership.
Responding to the question “Is this true?” on a post that read, “BREAKING: Samsung has struck a $16.5 billion deal to produce semiconductors for Tesla, as per Bloomberg,” Elon Musk simply replied, “Yes.”
"The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher," he said.
“Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate. Samsung currently makes AI4. TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona,” said Musk in one post.
Another post read, “Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house.”
Interestingly, Samsung had initially refused to name the counterparty, along with other details, which would not be disclosed until 2033, “to protect trade secrets.”
“Since the main contents of the contract have not been disclosed due to the need to maintain business confidentiality, investors are advised to invest carefully considering the possibility of changes or termination of the contract,” said Samsung.
Coming to its flagship product—vehicles—Tesla mentioned plans to launch a chauffeur-style service backed by human drivers in California, specifically the San Francisco Bay Area.
Currently, Tesla does not possess the required permits to operate autonomous vehicles in the state and hasn’t even applied for them yet.
However, in an earnings call, Musk said that Tesla was “getting the regulatory permission to launch” robotaxis in several markets, including the San Francisco Bay Area. However, reports note that this service could be robotaxis that come with human drivers who would be able to control the car if needed. As per Tesla’s Ashok Elluswamy, the company is expected to launch a robotaxi service in the Bay Area “with the person in the driver's seat, just to expedite, while we wait for regulatory approval.”
A day later, this idea was confirmed, as Tesla provided robotaxi users with a new terms-of-service agreement that read, “If your ride is taking place in California, it is being conducted with a safety driver using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) pursuant to authority from the California Public Utilities Commission.”
The clarification comes at the same time the California Public Utilities Commission said, “Tesla is not allowed to test or transport the public (paid or unpaid) in an AV with or without a driver. Tesla is allowed to transport the public (paid or unpaid) in a non-AV, which, of course, would have a driver.”
Meanwhile, Tesla has begun trials of its self-driving cars in the United Kingdom. The UK Government outlined plans to allow driverless taxi services without safety drivers by 2026.
Additionally, the company revealed that numerous shareholders have proposed plans to invest in Elon Musk’s xAI. The move comes as xAI looks to raise funds, including $2 billion from Musk-led SpaceX.
At the same time, reports find that investors are beginning to doubt Musk’s futuristic ambitions amid disappointing earnings reports and sliding stock prices, which have fallen 22% this year and 16% year-over-year in Q2-2025.
All this comes as Tesla’s rivals enjoy good news.
Google’s Waymo rejoiced as the probe into 17 self-driving vehicle collisions, safety law violations, and other unexpected behavior—one that ran for over 14 months—was finally closed. Moreover, this transpired without any further action being taken.
A major reason for this win spanned two recalls issued by Waymo, including one that affected over 1,200 vehicles—1212 to be exact.
On the other side of the world, Pony AI and WeRide both said they received permission to operate fully driverless commercial robotaxi services in China’s Shanghai. WeRide’s robotaxi service deployment will come in partnership with Chery Group and Jinjiang Taxi.
Interestingly, reports published by TikTok owner Bytedance's auto unit Dcar, found that Tesla outperformed rivals such as BYD, Xiaomi, and Huawei in a series of tests of assisted driving technologies. The study included testing the level 2 advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) of over 20 electric vehicle (EV) brands in China.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model X passed five out of six scenarios of highway tests that included 36 models, while BYD's Denza Z9GT and Aito M9 passed in three, and Xiaomi's SU7 passed in one of six.
Do you think Tesla’s various moves could help it capture a commanding position in the EV and self-driving vehicles market?
Let us know in the comments below!
It covered Starlink’s global outage, details about xAI and Kalshi tie-up, Neuralink’s $1 billion ambition, X Community Notes for posts, and several troubles that Tesla is currently undergoing.
We also realized that it’s tough to go a day without Elon Musk or one of his many companies making the headlines—and that’s exactly what we’re going to explore now—(some of) the latest developments in Musk’s world.
A few days ago, Musk celebrated the opening of the first Tesla Diner, which is a multipurpose spot that oozes Tesla characteristics.
Tesla Diner is a retro-futuristic, drive-in themed charging station that spans 80 supercharger stalls, two 66-foot megascreens that play short films, feature-length movies, and Tesla videos, and a classic American diner that seats over 250 people.
The establishment is donned in a Cybertruck-inspired steel exterior. Visitors can also purchase Tesla-themed merchandise and get popcorn served by Tesla’s humanoid robot—Optimus.
It is accessible to the general public as well. #NoTeslaNoProblem
Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Tesla Diner is located in Hollywood, California—but the company expects to grow to other global locations soon.
“If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes,” said Musk in a post on X, adding, “An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging!”
In a separate post, Musk also published a video of Tesla Diner. Check out a rendered video and more images.
In another post, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla has partnered with Samsung Electronics to acquire semiconductors, AKA chips, through a contract worth $16.5 billion.
At first, unofficial posts revealed a regulatory filing by Samsung mentioning a deal worth more than $16 billion ($16.1 billion was quoted in the post). However, subsequent posts by Musk confirmed the move, along with more information about the partnership.
Responding to the question “Is this true?” on a post that read, “BREAKING: Samsung has struck a $16.5 billion deal to produce semiconductors for Tesla, as per Bloomberg,” Elon Musk simply replied, “Yes.”
"The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher," he said.
“Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate. Samsung currently makes AI4. TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona,” said Musk in one post.
Another post read, “Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house.”
Interestingly, Samsung had initially refused to name the counterparty, along with other details, which would not be disclosed until 2033, “to protect trade secrets.”
“Since the main contents of the contract have not been disclosed due to the need to maintain business confidentiality, investors are advised to invest carefully considering the possibility of changes or termination of the contract,” said Samsung.
Coming to its flagship product—vehicles—Tesla mentioned plans to launch a chauffeur-style service backed by human drivers in California, specifically the San Francisco Bay Area.
Currently, Tesla does not possess the required permits to operate autonomous vehicles in the state and hasn’t even applied for them yet.
However, in an earnings call, Musk said that Tesla was “getting the regulatory permission to launch” robotaxis in several markets, including the San Francisco Bay Area. However, reports note that this service could be robotaxis that come with human drivers who would be able to control the car if needed. As per Tesla’s Ashok Elluswamy, the company is expected to launch a robotaxi service in the Bay Area “with the person in the driver's seat, just to expedite, while we wait for regulatory approval.”
A day later, this idea was confirmed, as Tesla provided robotaxi users with a new terms-of-service agreement that read, “If your ride is taking place in California, it is being conducted with a safety driver using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) pursuant to authority from the California Public Utilities Commission.”
The clarification comes at the same time the California Public Utilities Commission said, “Tesla is not allowed to test or transport the public (paid or unpaid) in an AV with or without a driver. Tesla is allowed to transport the public (paid or unpaid) in a non-AV, which, of course, would have a driver.”
Meanwhile, Tesla has begun trials of its self-driving cars in the United Kingdom. The UK Government outlined plans to allow driverless taxi services without safety drivers by 2026.
Additionally, the company revealed that numerous shareholders have proposed plans to invest in Elon Musk’s xAI. The move comes as xAI looks to raise funds, including $2 billion from Musk-led SpaceX.
At the same time, reports find that investors are beginning to doubt Musk’s futuristic ambitions amid disappointing earnings reports and sliding stock prices, which have fallen 22% this year and 16% year-over-year in Q2-2025.
All this comes as Tesla’s rivals enjoy good news.
Google’s Waymo rejoiced as the probe into 17 self-driving vehicle collisions, safety law violations, and other unexpected behavior—one that ran for over 14 months—was finally closed. Moreover, this transpired without any further action being taken.
A major reason for this win spanned two recalls issued by Waymo, including one that affected over 1,200 vehicles—1212 to be exact.
On the other side of the world, Pony AI and WeRide both said they received permission to operate fully driverless commercial robotaxi services in China’s Shanghai. WeRide’s robotaxi service deployment will come in partnership with Chery Group and Jinjiang Taxi.
Interestingly, reports published by TikTok owner Bytedance's auto unit Dcar, found that Tesla outperformed rivals such as BYD, Xiaomi, and Huawei in a series of tests of assisted driving technologies. The study included testing the level 2 advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) of over 20 electric vehicle (EV) brands in China.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model X passed five out of six scenarios of highway tests that included 36 models, while BYD's Denza Z9GT and Aito M9 passed in three, and Xiaomi's SU7 passed in one of six.
Do you think Tesla’s various moves could help it capture a commanding position in the EV and self-driving vehicles market?
Let us know in the comments below!
First published on Mon, Jul 28, 2025
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