Tesla to open headquarters in Palo Alto after high-profile exit from California

English

Tesla Motors is taking on HP’s former Palo Alto headquarters as its new global engineering headquarters.

Musk, who spends a lot of time in the Bay Area due to his recent Twitter purchase, made the announcement next to California Gov. Gavin Newsom in front of a building at 1501 Page Mill Road.

“It’s a poetic transition from the company that founded Silicon Valley to Tesla,” Musk said, noting that Newsom was one of the first people to buy a Tesla Roadster.

Newsom touted California’s status as a leading manufacturing state and arguably the world’s fourth largest economy, as well as the state’s role in helping Tesla transform the auto industry.

“I acknowledge that the world we have invented competes with us in many ways and you cannot rest on your laurels; you need to step up your game and you need to invest in your engines of growth,” Newsom said.

Tesla was based in Palo Alto for most of its history until a decision in late 2021 to move its central office to Austin following Musk’s departure to Texas. The move follows months of disputes between Musk and the state over Covid restrictions.

The automaker still maintains a presence in California, at its former headquarters in Palo Alto.

Tesla is also continuing to expand operations at its Fremont plant, which Musk says is the most productive auto plant in North America, with about 600,000 vehicles expected to roll off the assembly line this year.

The governor hailed the state’s regulation as a factor in helping speed up investment, which Musk was looking at.

“The world headquarters of engineers, AI pushing the boundaries, is here in California. We have more scientists, engineers, researchers, Nobel laureates, patents and even more venture capital than any other state in the country,” Newsom said.

A workforce analysis by Terrain Analytics shows that engineering talent continues to be concentrated in the Bay Area. The Bay Area added more than 20,000 new software and Internet jobs last year, compared to about 7,000 in the Austin metro area. The Bay Area continues to outperform Austin in both software and traditional engineering talent, according to Terrain’s analysis.

Terrain estimates that Tesla has about 17,000 employees in the Bay Area, compared to 4,000 in Austin, although the company is adding to Texas headcount at a faster pace.

English