Neon Lights, Fireworks and $90 Merch: Elon Musk Throws Massive 'Cyber Rodeo' Party at Tesla Factory Opening Musk took the stage around 10 p.m. to talk about Tesla's past, present and future.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
If there's one thing Elon Musk is going to do, it's make sure that everything is done as big and over the top as possible.
Thursday's opening party for Tesla's new Gigafactory in Texas was certainly no exception.
The factory is the sixth for Tesla, which now operates across three continents after the opening of Gigafactory Berlin earlier this year.
Musk pulled up to the grand event donning a cowboy hat and black sunglasses in Tesla's original vehicle, a Roadster from 2008, before hopping out to Dr. Dre's "Still D.R.E" in what was dubbed the "Cyber Rodeo."
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One guest took to TikTok to show a time-lapse video of the event, which boasts an array of neon-colored lights, decked out Tesla vehicles and no shortage of robotics.
@realmeetkevin Timelapse of Cyber Rodeo | Giga Texas #tsla #tesla #gigatexas #cyberrodeo ♬ The Motto - Tiësto & Ava Max
In a follow-up video, the same user @RealMeetKevin showed guests waiting in an estimated 40-minute-long line to buy merchandise from the event, which included a $75 gigafactory belt buckle, $90 pullover hoodies and a $50 Tesla branding iron.
@realmeetkevin Why are so many people in line at #Tesla Austin #gigafactory #cyberrodeo ♬ original sound - Meet Kevin
Another guest took to Twitter to show a giant Dogecoin doge plastered in lights across the sky at the opening, the crowd roaring as the meme made its debut.
CROWD GOES CRAZY as Elon Musk makes GIANT Dogecoin dog in the sky during Cyber Rodeo at Giga Texas! pic.twitter.com/5g9SGctK6Q
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) April 8, 2022
Musk himself took to the main stage to speak to the crowd of thousands around 10 p.m., promising the crowd and customers a rollout of fully automated self-driving vehicles that he claims will be 10 times safer than human-operated vehicles.
"The car will be able to take you anywhere you want … It's going to just completely revolutionize the world," Musk told the crowd. "This is one of those things that comes along very rarely."
He also explained that 2022 would be a year of "scaling up" for the company before 2023's "massive wave of new products" which include a robotaxi that will look "quite futuristic" and the Tesla Cybertruck.
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"It's been an intense couple years, but we're gonna have this for you next year, and it's gonna be great," Musk promised of the vehicle.
He even showed a prototype for a hominid robot named Optimus that he said could potentially roll out next year.
"Everything humans don't want to do, Optimus will do it," Musk said. "No Terminator stuff or that kind of thing."
Musk closed out by telling the crowd to "get the party started" before driving off, a massive display of fireworks taking over the night sky as he exited.
"I love you guys," Musk said.
Tesla was up over 50% year over year as of Friday morning.
