Kinx Bitz

More Solutions, Less Whining

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Pay attention...

[The OSS Society @osssociety]

The OSS’s legendary Col. Peter Ortiz, USMC, was born OTD 1913.
Colonel Pierre “Peter” Julian Ortiz was one of approximately 80 Marine Corps officers who served in the OSS during World War II.

Tall, urbane, fluent in ten
languages, he was the son of an American mother and French-Spanish father. Ortiz’s military service began in 1932 at the age of nineteen when he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and fought Rif Berbers in Morocco.

After his discharge, he served as a military movie technical advisor in Hollywood. Upon World War II’s
outbreak, Ortiz re-enlisted in the Foreign Legion, fought in the Battle of France, was wounded and captured. After a year-
and-a-half as a POW, he escaped and eventually reached the United States.

Ortiz enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. In January 1943, Ortiz, now a captain and a member of the OSS, was
sent to Morocco, tasked with organizing local tribesmen to conduct reconnaissance
missions against the German army. Ortiz fought in the Battle of Kasserine Pass and conducted a series of covert deep penetra-
tion reconnaissance missions.

After being severely wounded in one such mission, Ortiz was evacuated to the United States. Upon recovery, he began OSS training. In 1944, he participated in two missions, UNION I and II, to the Savoie, Isère, and Drôme departements of France.

Wearing his Marine Corps uniform
complete with decorations, his daring exploits made him the bane of the Germans.

Two of his more spectacular adventures included the theft of ten Gestapo vehicles from a military garage that were used to rescue downed RAF airmen; and forcing a group of German officers at gunpoint to drink toasts to the president of the United States and the Marine Corps.

A group of officers from the German 157th Division, which had previously suffered at the hands of Ortiz and the Maquis (French Resistance), were in the bar of a club Ortiz occasionally visited and were loudly cursing the “tall American Marine” (Or-
tiz), the Allies, President Franklin Roosevelt, and the U.S. Marine Corps.

Ortiz, who was sitting nearby and dressed in civilian clothes, had heard enough. He returned
to his safe house and donned his Marine Corps uniform and brace of Colt Model 1911 pistols over which he pulled on his raincoat.

He then returned to the club and
approached the German officers. Ortiz ordered drinks for them, then doffed his raincoat to reveal his dress Marine Corps uniform complete with badges and decorations,and aimed his pistols at the stunned officers: “A toast to the president of the United
States,” he said.

After the Germans had downed their drinks, Ortiz ordered another
round and said: “A toast to the Marine Corps.”

Some accounts have him then shooting the officers, killing them. Ortiz said that he escaped without killing the officers because by letting them live, the story of his action would boost his legend even more and further erode German morale. Later captured, despite attempts to escape, he remained a POW until the war’s end.

Colonel Ortiz is one of the most highly decorated Marine Corps officers in World War II and the most highly decorated member of the OSS.

His decorations included
two Navy Crosses, the Legion of Merit with Combat V, two Purple Hearts, Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division), Chevalier of the Legion
d’honneur, the Ouissam Alaouite, and five Croix de Guerre.

The OSS Society him by inscribing the name of his mission - UNION - on the OSS Congressional Gold Medal.

The story of his remarkable service is told in our short documentary, “Call Sign CHAOS: Gen. Jim Mattis and the US Marine Corps”: https://t.co/9RTqVFUHqc

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

WTH are you @GovAbbottPress @GregAbbott_TX @TexasGOP not doing more to end this homeless nonsense? We berate CA Gov, yet you don't seem to care about this

[@amuse @amuse]

SUICIDAL EMPATHY: Austin has surrendered its $125M library to the homeless. Families aren’t safe in the building.

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Justice ACB ruling on the Birthright Citizenship case is unforgivable. Destructive AND treacherous. The collapse of the republic will happen if this decision is not reversed when we have a Republican addition to the SCOTUS

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Not unreasonable to say that Justices Roberts and ACB along with the 3 Democrats will bear responsibility for a potential civil war in the US

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Justice Robets is a corrupt politician. And Justice ACB and the other female justices serve example of why not to nominate women to the SCOTUS.

Sorry if this is unusually sexist. Infuriated that ACB will join this destructive ruling. What's she think will happen to the republic?

[Ming @tslaming]

GOOD NEWS 🚨 Tesla has just made a massive move by hiring Gary Jiang to lead its highly anticipated Terafab project in Austin, Texas 🔥

If you haven't been tracking the automaker's pivot toward producing its own advanced silicon, this is their first major senior leadership hire. It signals loud and clear that they are dead serious about building a cutting-edge semiconductor plant from scratch.

🧠 WHO GARY JIANG IS

Jiang is an absolute heavyweight in the semiconductor space, bringing nearly 18 years of deep manufacturing experience straight from Intel.

Before joining Tesla this summer, his most recent role was serving as an Intel factory manager overseeing the development and transfer of their bleeding-edge 18A technology in Arizona.

In that position, he was directly responsible for tool installation, technology transfer, and ramping up operations for high-volume manufacturing and product certification.

He also holds a doctorate in materials science, giving him the precise technical and metallurgical background required to run a leading-edge fabrication facility.

🏗️ WHY HE IS A GOOD FIT TO LEAD TERAFAB

Building a leading-edge semiconductor fab from scratch is easily one of the most complex manufacturing challenges on earth.

It requires a highly specialized operational muscle that Tesla simply didn't possess in-house—until now.

Terafab isn't just a standard factory; it’s an ambitious venture aiming to consolidate chip design, lithography, fabrication, packaging, and testing under a single roof to slash chip iteration timelines from months down to just days.

Tesla urgently needs this capability because the company is relying heavily on its upcoming custom AI5 processors to power everything from Optimus humanoid robots and Cybercab robotaxis to next-gen orbital data centers.

This is exactly where Jiang comes in. His extensive background in fab startups, strategic planning, and yield improvement reads like a direct blueprint for Tesla's immediate goals.

His expertise will be critical as Tesla looks to scale a $20 billion prototype facility in Austin toward a massive, high-volume production site targeting an eventual one million wafers a month.

The timing is also flawless because Intel recently signed on as Terafab's primary manufacturing partner, with the project targeting Intel's ultra-advanced 14A node.

Bringing an Intel veteran on board means Tesla now has a leader who intimately understands the exact architecture, tooling, and logistical hurdles they are about to face.

Ultimately, this hire proves that Tesla isn't just dreaming about securing its own silicon supply chain—they are putting the exact talent in place to actually execute it.

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Justice Robets is a corrupt politician. And Justice ACB and the other female justices serve example of why not to nominate women to the SCOTUS.

Sorry if this is unusually sexist. Infuriated that ACB will join this destructive ruling. What's she think will happen to the republic?

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

This her most destructive opinion and warrants resignation. She and Roberts have endangered the Republic itself

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Nominating ACB to the SCOTUS has turned out to be a disaster. Incredible

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Nominating ACB to the SCOTUS has turned out to be a disaster. Incredible

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Elon getting ready to take over the streets

[Ming @tslaming]

GOOD READ 📄 Tesla has released its FIRST RESPONDER INTERACTION PLAN and Emergency Response Guides for the Cybercab 🔥

While these are technically safety manuals for emergency personnel, reading between the lines reveals several critical indicators regarding Tesla's business model, production architecture, cost structure, and go-to-market strategy for its autonomous network.

Here is a high-level breakdown of what you need to know from an investment and business perspective:

1⃣ Business model and fleet strategy: vertically integrated

💼 The document states that all Robotaxi vehicles are currently owned and operated by Tesla. This confirms a Tesla-owned/Tesla-operated fleet at this time, rather than an immediately decentralized, customer-owned marketplace.

🌐 Mission Control coordinates and manages rides, while Tesla handles fleet operations such as charging, maintenance, and routing vehicles to service locations like cleaning stations.

Highlighting this centralized control, Tesla can geofence Robotaxi service for first responders, establishing temporary 1,000-foot service blocks that last around one hour unless another duration is requested.

2⃣ Hardware innovations and aggressive cost reductions

⚡ The documentation reveals significant manufacturing and structural clues, confirming that the Cybercab utilizes a 48V low-voltage Li-ion architecture alongside a floor-mounted 400V high-voltage Li-ion battery.

Compared to traditional 12V systems, this 48V setup can reduce wiring complexity, save weight, and lower manufacturing costs, while the high-voltage battery enclosure effectively forms the structural floor of the cabin. The guides also identify a front drive unit.

Additionally, the vehicle utilizes a unique mixed-material architecture. It features plastic exterior panels—some reinforced with glass fiber—wrapped over high-strength steel crash structures, including ultra-high-strength steel A and B pillars, robust door rings, a high-strength steel overhead rail, and exceptionally heavy hinges.

Together, these highly specific design choices point directly to a purpose-built, cost-conscious autonomous fleet vehicle rather than a conventional consumer car adapted for robotaxi use.

⚙️ The Cybercab Robotaxi is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or pedals, and completely eliminates side mirrors and the glovebox. Removing these mechanical inputs and interior trim components significantly reduces manufacturing complexity and per-unit production costs.

However, this cost reduction has a counterweight: while it deletes human controls, the vehicle adds fleet and safety hardware like powered door struts, active hood pyrotechnics, motorized seat belt links, multiple airbags, gas inflators, and a pressurized air canister.

🔋 Cybercab can autonomously route itself to charging stations when its battery level is too low to accept another ride. However, the emergency response guide shows a physical charge port on the rear bumper below the trunk, with procedures for unlocking and manually releasing a charging cable.

So the key takeaway is not confirmed wireless charging, but that charging is designed as part of Tesla’s centrally managed fleet operations.

3⃣ Autonomy profile and software moat

🤖 Cybercab Robotaxi vehicles are documented as operating an SAE Level 4 automated driving system, meaning they are technically engineered to handle the entire dynamic driving task without a human backup.

🧪 Test variants are clearer now: some Cybercabs have a steer-by-wire steering wheel, electronic pedals, extra low-voltage cabling, steering-column support structures, and a relocated driver airbag.

These are explicitly designed for testing and validation, allowing investors to easily differentiate between public-ready fleet units and development prototypes.

📐 The system is sophisticated enough to autonomously detect, interpret, and follow hand signals from first responders, as well as navigate dynamic pathways marked by traffic cones.

4⃣ Operational design domain (ODD) and scale constraints

🗺️ The technical ODD includes public freeways, highways, city streets, rural roads, and private facilities like parking garages. The software handles day and night operations, alongside light-to-moderate rain, fog, and snow.

⛈️ When extreme weather is expected, Cybercab Robotaxi does not accept new rides. If unexpectedly caught in those conditions, it is designed to pull over, park, and notify Tesla Robotaxi Support.

5⃣ Risk and liability mitigation

📊 For incident reconstruction, law-enforcement requests, and safety/legal review, the vehicle is designed to automatically capture and save camera recordings before and after any "safety-critical event" or manual autonomous disengagement. Diagnostic logs and Event Data Recorder (EDR) data may also be retrievable.

🛡️ The vehicle features automated hardware fallbacks. If a hardware failure or collision occurs, the Cybercab automatically rolls down its windows to vent deployed airbag gases, unlocks its doors, activates a rapid-flash hazard sequence, and establishes live two-way communication between the cabin and Tesla Robotaxi Support.

🛑 Autonomous Mode can remain active while parked or idle; it is disabled only by Tesla, after safety-critical events, after being pulled over, or while charging. Once disabled, it cannot be re-enabled until a Tesla representative reviews the incident and explicitly initiates it.

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

https://t.co/NUwSIfN7ly

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

https://t.co/P9iJOcQ5bv

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Progress

[Trump War Room @TrumpWarRoom]

NEW: Vice President @JDVance says the United States made significant progress in talks with Iran, building on the MOU:

- The Strait of Hormuz remains open
- Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspectors back into the country — a critical step toward ending its nuclear program
- New mechanism was established to help facilitate ceasefires during escalations
- Technical teams were formed to finalize the details over the next 60 days

"Yesterday was a very, very good day!"

[Kinx Bitz @kinxbitz]

Lol

[Yatharth Mann @yatharthmann]

For those who are saying AI data centers in space are impossible:

[Gavin Baker @GavinSBaker]

Really fun to interview my old friend Bret Johnsen in Mission Control.

Three parts of the @SpaceX story that I wish were more widely discussed:

SpaceX has created thousands of good blue-collar jobs: welders, machinists, electricians. Everyone talks about the need to bring high-paying, blue-collar jobs back to America. SpaceX and Tesla are making that happen. To the best of my knowledge, they have created more manufacturing jobs in the US than just about any other American company over the last ten years. It’s hard to imagine our nascent industrial renaissance succeeding without these companies.

SpaceX was started with the goal of putting humans on Mars. And along the way, they have massively improved life for many humans on Earth. Mars may be a starter planet, but Earth is our planet, and the technologies developed at SpaceX are already in use today connecting and safeguarding the people of Earth. Starlink is a really efficient way to bring internet to low-income countries. In Kenya’s remote Murang’a County, Starlink has made it possible for patients in rural villages to consult with medical specialists via telemedicine. In the rainforests of Brazil, Starlink has connected schools to reliable high-speed internet that will provide more educational opportunities to students. Here in America, Starlink has proven vital to emergency teams responding to natural disasters. During Hurricane Helene, the Starlink hubs dropped into North Carolina and East Tennessee were often the only contact point between cut-off towns and the outside world. Literally life-saving.

This IPO will be a big milestone for the company. It’s important to celebrate this, while also remembering that making humanity multi-planetary is the ultimate goal. Going to Mars is really hard. There have been many setbacks thus far, ranging from fiery explosions to failed landings. There will be many more. Ad Astra Per Aspera. But SpaceX is at its best *after* a setback imo. Their first 3 launches were “failures”. Had the 4th not succeeded, there might not be a SpaceX today. The company’s success in the face of such daunting odds is a testament to the resilience of the culture and absolute commitment to the mission shared by every employee I’ve ever spoken with. Some of the world’s most talented engineers have chosen to live in Airstreams at Starbase away from their families for weeks on end in service of this goal. I will never forget the welders who told me they signed every weld because they wanted to be accountable if they were responsible for a failure. True missionaries, all of them.

I am grateful to every single person at SpaceX for helping to make the future as inspirational as possible. And I will be even more grateful if I get to see a blue sunset on Mars!

More info on https://t.co/dLOPlKr0Un

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

Here is @SpaceX's full IPO roadshow presentation from CFO Bret Johnson, who has been CFO at the company for the last 15 years.

It's worth watching.

[sourcery @sourceryy]

SpaceX employee #13 @_Eric_Romo on why we don't see many Falcon Heavy launches:

"Falcon Heavy is extremely expensive, in part because it's three Falcon 9s strapped together."

"SpaceX has been clear they would prefer not to fly that vehicle."

"And it makes sense—every time they fly one of those, they have to shut down the pad for longer than they would for a Falcon 9."

"So when you look at how much time it takes to launch one Falcon Heavy and how many Falcon 9s they could have launched during that time, it's actually economically better for them to launch Falcon 9s."

" They have to launch Falcon Heavies because they've got big contracts with Space Force. Our government really needs it. NASA really needs it. But in the commercial market, those launches don't happen very often."

[Dave Limp @davill]

Some LC-36 updates. Now that we’ve had access to the pad and integration facility we can share a bit of good news. The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape. This is good luck because these are very long lead items. The water tower is also good. The big support tower is damaged, but it can be repaired in place rather than torn down and replaced. The booster “Never Tell Me The Odds” and the three GS-2s that were onsite in the integration facility also look good.

I’ve seen some speculation that we might move directly to the 9x4 configuration, but we won’t do that. Rate manufacturing of 7x2 is going well, and we’re going to continue that at pace as planned and store the stages for use. In addition, we had already been working for some time on eliminating our transporter-erector in favor of an alternative vertical conop, and we’ll now go directly to that; so we don’t need a new transporter-erector.

We will fly again before the end of this year. Gradatim Ferociter.

[SpaceNews @SpaceNews_Inc]

Space Force awards SpaceX $4.16 billion to build satellite network for airborne target tracking https://t.co/U4SPqcKQZF

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

SpaceX has almost finished writing V1.0 of an in-house AI training stack in C that exact-maps to 220k GB300s with 800G NICs, making heavy use of pipeline parallelism and getting as close to bare metal as possible.

The potential speed improvement vs JAX for large training runs is over an order of magnitude.