PALO ALTO, Calif. (KRON) — Tesla will establish a new engineering headquarters in Palo Alto, Telsa CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday in a joint appearance with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The duo appeared together at the former Hewlett-Packard headquarters in Palo Alto shortly before noon on Wednesday to make the announcement which was streamed and posted on Tesla’s Twitter account.
“We’re very excited to announce that Tesla’s Global Engineering Headquarters will be right here at the former headquarters of Hewlett-Packard,” said Musk, clad in a black suit, white shirt and no tie. “This is a poetic transition from the company that founded Silicon Valley to Tesla and we’re very excited to make this our global engineering headquarters in California.”
“Applaud everybody, there’s a lot to be excited about,” responded a similarly tie-less Newsom.
The governor went on to speak about California’s role as a global leader in technology and innovation and how the state has also grown into the dominant manufacturing state in the U.S.
“In so many ways, the world we invented is now competing against us and you can’t rest on your laurels,” Newsom said. “You’ve got to step up your game. And I couldn’t be more proud of California’s commitment to support Tesla over the course of the last few decades.”
“It’s a point of pride, it always has been for me, that Tesla is a California company, it started here first,” Newsom added.
“You were one of the first people to buy a Tesla Roadster back in the day,” Musk remarked at one point, interrupting the governor.
“That was a healthy deposit you had me make,” Newsom responded. “You didn’t trust me.”
“A hundred grand, I think,” Musk replied. “That was a lot of money in 2007.”
“Still a lot of money, trust me brother, you ought to look at my salary. We had about the same net worth back then, 20 years ago” Newsom said.
“Mine went negative for a while,” Musk replied.
“Yours went negative, I got a pension, so eat your heart out,” Newsom responded before pivoting back to more statesmanlike platitudes. “It’s not surprising, but I don’t take it for granted that the world headquarters for engineering, for AI, for pushing out the boundaries is here in California.”
“You mentioned manufacturing,” Musk responded, “California is a tremendous manufacturer as well as a place of engineering innovation.”
Gov. Newsom’s office later issued a statement on the announcement, saying:
“The future happens in California first. We’re changing the world through our historic investments, our conveyor belt for talent, and partnerships with companies like Tesla. The state continues to be the world’s innovation hub, charging the electric vehicle revolution, and dominating the industry in every category – all while keeping the same goal in mind: ensuring a cleaner, greener, and healthier place to live for future generations.”
“At Tesla, we’re looking forward to an exciting partnership with California,” Musk concluded.
“If there was a ribbon to cut, we’d cut it,” Newsom added, to a round of applause from the people in attendance. The two took no questions from members of the press.
Tesla was founded in San Carlos, California. However, in October of 2021, Musk moved the company’s actual headquarters to Austin, Texas. Among other things, Musk cited California’s strict COVID regulations and said the Golden State had become “entitled” as reasons for relocating the company’s HQ to Austin.
Local officials praised the move from Tesla.
“It’s great news to see Tesla making a significant investment in California at this critical point on the road to meeting the State’s ambitious electric vehicle and clean energy goals,” said Mary Holing, vice president of environmental policy at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “Establishing Tesla’s Global Engineering HQ in the heart of Silicon Valley is a testament to the strength of California’s business competitiveness and the future of the innovation economy here.”
