Elon Musk's Boring Company Expands to Austin, Texas

Reports indicate that Elon Musk’s infrastructure and transit firm, The Boring Company, is considering Austin, Texas, as the location for its upcoming endeavor, as evidenced by recently published employment opportunities.

The Boring Company, which secured a contract last year to build and manage a transit system for the Las Vegas Convention Center, announced via Twitter on Monday that it is actively recruiting personnel in Austin. Positions in areas such as engineering, accounting, and business development are currently advertised on the company’s website, signaling The Boring Company’s belief in substantial potential within Austin and a possible expansion of its operational presence.

Austin is rapidly becoming a significant center for projects associated with Musk. Tesla, under Musk’s leadership, selected a location near Austin in July for its next major U.S. manufacturing facility – a $1.1 billion plant spanning four to five million square feet. This facility will produce the innovative Cybertruck, the Tesla Semi, and the Model Y and Model 3 vehicles for distribution to customers in the eastern United States.

Musk envisions this future factory as an “ecological paradise,” featuring amenities like a boardwalk, bicycle paths, and public access. Whether Tesla will be the initial client for The Boring Company remains uncertain.

The Boring Company maintains a portfolio of five distinct product offerings, all revolving around tunneling technology. Having secured $120 million in funding during the summer of 2019, the company provides basic tunneling services, alongside tunnels specifically engineered for utilities, pedestrian traffic, freight transport, and its proprietary Loop system.

The Loop is presented as an underground public transportation network utilizing self-driving vehicles to transport passengers at speeds reaching 150 miles per hour through tunnels connecting various stations. The company specifies that the autonomous vehicles employed within the Loop system are Tesla Model S, 3, and X models. (It is important to note that while Tesla vehicles incorporate advanced driver-assistance features, they are not currently classified as fully autonomous by regulatory agencies like the U.S. DOT.)

The Las Vegas Convention Center opted for the Loop system. The terms of the agreement stipulate that the LVCC Loop will transport convention attendees through two 0.8-mile tunnels using Tesla vehicles, with a capacity of four to five passengers per vehicle. Documents examined by TechCrunch suggest the Loop system may not achieve the passenger volume anticipated by the LVCC, nor meet the initial commitments made by The Boring Company.