Elon Musk’s AI robots appear in dystopian Christmas card as Tesla founder’s plans for Texas town are revealed

Elon Musk’s new Tesla Optimus robots appeared in a dystopian Christmas card-themed ad as the SpaceX founder moved forward with his plans to create a new city in Texas.

In one Christmas Eve post on Xtwo of the Optimus robots were seen wearing Santa hats and Christmas sweaters, including one with a Tesla car that read “Silent Night, Electric Light.”

“They grow up so fast,” the company wrote as it tried to promote the $30,000 devices designed to help with household chores as a good holiday gift.

Meanwhile, employees of his other company, SpaceX, collected signatures and filed an official petition to hold an election as the first major step toward creating their own company town, called Starbase, on the South Texas coast. reports the New York Times.

If the petition were approved by a Cameron County judge, residents within a mile of Musk’s Starbase would be allowed to vote for three new city officials — including the first mayor, who he said should be SpaceX’s security manager. Gunnar Milburn.

The petition describes a community of approximately 500 residents, including at least 219 primary residents and more than 100 children.

Nearly everyone in the proposed city is renters, living in company-owned homes around the company’s main buildings and working for the rocket company.

It remains unclear why the proposed leader of the Department of Government Efficiency wants to create a city.

But in a letter filed with the petition, Kathryn Lueders, SpaceX’s general manager for Starbase, said the company “needed the opportunity to grow Starbase as a community.”

She also noted that the company is “currently performing civilian functions” due to its remote location, including managing utilities and providing education and medical care.

“We are investing billions in infrastructure and generating hundreds of millions in revenue and taxes for local businesses and governments, all with the goal of making South Texas the gateway to Mars,” Luenders said. wrote in her letter to the Cameron County judge – who must approve the petition if it meets all legal requirements.

‘Integrating Starbase will streamline the processes needed to build the facilities needed to make the area a world-class place to live – for the hundreds of people who already call it home, as well as for potential employees who are eager to help build humanity’s future in space.’

Richard Cardile Sr., the manager of spaceport operations for SpaceX, also wrote in an affidavit that the company “is the principal landowner in the proposed Starbase area and, with few exceptions, owns all real estate.”

He said the company maintains “detailed records of all individuals living in each residential unit in the proposed city of Starbase.”

Elon Musk’s plans to create a new Texas city around his Starbase SpaceX launch site moved forward this month when residents filed an official petition to hold elections

If the petition were approved by a Cameron County judge, residents within a mile of Musk’s starbase would be allowed to vote for three new city officials.

Creating the city could also help the company as it faces local opposition in Cameron County from environmental groups over the impact of the large-scale and frequent launches on nearby protected coastal ecology.

Residents and officials from Brownsville, about 20 miles away, have also complained that the launches have closed roads and cut them off from the beach.

But initially, SpaceX only seemed interested in changing the area’s name for mail delivery purposes. An application for this is now being processed by the federal agency.

“We thought that was what they were really going for, but I think they wanted to expand that a little bit further,” Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. said. to the Times.

“It’s clear they think there’s a benefit to it.”

Kathryn Lueders, SpaceX’s general manager for Starbase, said the company needed “the opportunity to grow Starbase as a community.”

As a city, Starbase could create its own police or fire department, enact its own ordinances and maintain roads. It would also be eligible for state and federal grants, and the city would have some immunity from lawsuits and condemnation of properties.

Incorporation would also allow the community to elect their own local leaders and create a municipal utility system.

Trevino said the county’s legal team and elections office are now reviewing the petition to determine whether it meets legal requirements.

If so, an election for city officials could be scheduled as early as next year, which residents say they are excited about.

Cayatana Polanco, for example, told the Times that she hoped Starbase “could be a model of what new cities should be.”

“If this petition all goes through, my baby might be the first child born in this city,” said Polanco, who does not work for SpaceX but says her husband does.

“It would be pretty epic.”