Public transcript

Elon Musk: The future we're building -- and boring | TED

By: TED
Length: 41 min
Language: English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 27 September 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

Elon Musk talks with TED's Chris Anderson about his tunneling venture, The Boring Company, Tesla's electric cars, solar roofs, the Gigafactory, and SpaceX's Mars plans. He argues that a 3D tunnel network can solve urban congestion if tunneling costs drop tenfold, and that autonomous electric cars will increase driving. He also explains why becoming a multiplanet species is not inevitable and must be actively pursued.

Key points

Musk proposes a 3D network of tunnels under LA with elevator entrances using just two parking spaces, with skates traveling at 200 kilometers per hour.
Cutting tunnel diameter in half and enabling continuous tunneling and reinforcing could improve tunneling costs by an order of magnitude or more.
Musk believes flying cars would be too noisy and anxiety-inducing, making underground tunnels a better solution.
Tesla aims to demonstrate a fully autonomous drive from a California parking lot to a New York parking lot by November or December 2017, using cameras and GPS without LIDAR.
Musk predicts a shared autonomy fleet where owners can let their cars earn money like an Uber service, and estimates hands-off, sleep-safe autonomy is about two years away.
The Tesla Semi is a heavy-duty, long-range electric truck that Musk says can out-torque any diesel semi, and he has already driven a prototype.
Solar glass roofs will cost less than a normal roof plus electricity, and Musk expects almost all houses to have solar roofs within 40 or 50 years.
About a hundred Gigafactories are needed to transition the world to sustainable energy, and Tesla will announce locations for two to four more later this year.
SpaceX has reflown an orbital booster for the first time, and its Mars rocket design has about four times the thrust of the Saturn V.
Musk argues sustainable energy is inevitable but becoming a multiplanet species is not, since technology only improves when people work hard to make it better.

Questions it answers

00:12Tunnels under LA

Why is Elon Musk digging tunnels, and how would a 3D tunnel network work?

Musk is digging a hole under LA to start a 3D tunnel network that alleviates congestion, which he calls soul-destroying. Entrances integrate into the city via an elevator car skate using two parking spaces, and skates would run at 200 kilometers an hour, getting from Westwood to LAX in five or six minutes.

There is no real limit to the number of tunnel levels underground.
Traffic is horrible in every part of the world, especially LA.

03:14Cutting tunneling costs

How can tunneling become ten times cheaper?

Cutting the tunnel diameter from 26–28 feet to 12 feet reduces cross-sectional area by a factor of four, and designing machines for continuous tunneling and reinforcing adds a factor of two. Increasing machine power could add a factor of two to five, exceeding an order-of-magnitude improvement.

The LA subway extension cost roughly a billion dollars a mile.
The Boring Company's target is to beat Gary the snail, currently 14 times faster than a tunnel-boring machine.

05:35Flying cars vs. tunnels

Why doesn't Musk favor flying cars over tunnels?

Flying cars would be quite noisy and generate very high wind force, and having them flying overhead would not be anxiety-reducing. Musk likes flying things, given his rockets, but sees tunnels as the better urban solution.

Flying cars raise safety anxieties like parts falling off.

07:00Hyperloop tie-in

Could these tunnels be used for Hyperloop?

Yes. A tunnel designed to resist the water table at five or six atmospheres is automatically capable of holding near-vacuum, so Hyperloop could run in tunnels of any length, like DC to New York entirely underground. Tunnels more than three or four diameters deep are undetectable from the surface.

SpaceX's student test track is the biggest vacuum chamber in the world after the Large Hadron Collider.
Musk hopes the pusher car beats the world's fastest bullet train on a .8-mile stretch.

10:31The Boring Company

How much of Musk's time does the tunneling company take?

About two or three percent. It is basically interns and part-time people using second-hand machinery, but it is making good progress.

Musk calls it a hobby.

11:28Autonomy and traffic

Will autonomous cars reduce congestion?

No. With shared autonomy, car travel will cost less than a bus ticket, so the amount of driving will be much greater and traffic will get far worse, which motivates the tunneling project.

Almost every automaker has an electric vehicle program, varying in seriousness.
Some are still pursuing fuel cells, which Musk thinks won't last.

14:01Model 3 and self-driving

When will Teslas drive themselves?

Musk says a fully autonomous drive from a California parking lot to a New York parking lot should happen by November or December 2017, using only cameras and GPS with no LIDAR. Sleep-safe autonomy is about two years away, targeting a crash likelihood of one in a hundred or a thousand lifetimes.

Musk believes you can be superhuman with just cameras.
A shared autonomy fleet where cars earn money for owners is "100 percent what will occur."

18:58Tesla Semi

What is the Tesla Semi truck?

A heavy-duty, long-range semitruck to be announced in September that Musk says can out-torque any diesel semi and tug one uphill. He has already driven a prototype in a parking lot, finding it nimble like a sports car with a single-speed, flat torque curve.

People today think an electric truck lacks power or range; Musk wants to prove otherwise.

Notes

Tunnels and The Boring Company

Musk is digging a hole under LA as the start of a hoped-for 3D tunnel network to alleviate congestion, which he calls one of the most soul-destroying things in the world.
Entrances and exits integrate into the city via an elevator "car skate" occupying two parking spaces; skates are designed for 200 kilometers an hour, so Westwood to LAX could take five or six minutes.
There is no real limit to tunnel levels, since the deepest mines are much deeper than the tallest buildings are tall.
The LA subway extension cost roughly a billion dollars a mile, so Musk wants at least a tenfold improvement in cost per mile.
Cutting the tunnel diameter from 26–28 feet to 12 feet reduces cross-sectional area by a factor of four; continuous tunneling and reinforcing gives another factor of two, and more power to the machines could add a factor of two to five.
The Boring Company takes 2–3 percent of Musk's time and is run by interns and part-timers with second-hand machinery; the target is to beat their pet snail Gary, currently 14 times faster than a tunnel-boring machine.

Why not flying cars

Flying cars would be noisy, generate high wind force, and create anxiety, unlike tunnels.

Hyperloop

SpaceX built a student-competition test track that is the biggest vacuum chamber in the world after the Large Hadron Collider; Musk plans to see how fast the pusher car can go on the .8-mile stretch, hoping to beat the world's fastest bullet train.
A tunnel sealed against the water table is automatically capable of holding vacuum, so Hyperloop could run in tunnels with no real length limit, e.g., DC to New York entirely underground.
Tunnels deeper than three or four diameters beneath a house are undetectable because earth absorbs vibrations.

Autonomy and traffic

Shared autonomy will make car travel cheaper than a bus ticket, so driving will increase and traffic will get far worse.
Tesla's autonomy uses only cameras and GPS, no LIDAR; Musk believes you can be superhuman with just cameras.
He expects a fully autonomous LA-to-New York demonstration by November or December 2017, and sleep-safe autonomy in about two years, aiming for crash likelihood of one in a hundred or a thousand lifetimes.
A shared autonomy fleet is "100 percent what will occur": owners can restrict use to friends and family, five-star drivers, or share it for income.

Tesla Semi

A heavy-duty, long-range semitruck to be announced in September; Musk says it can out-torque any diesel semi and tug one uphill, and he has driven a prototype in a parking lot.

Solar roofs and the Gigafactory

Solar glass tiles look uniform from street level thanks to microlouvers; roof plus electricity will cost less than a normal roof plus electricity.
Two roofing types roll out initially, two more early next year; almost all houses could have solar roofs over 40–50 years.
The Gigafactory will produce a hundred gigawatt hours of batteries a year or more; about a hundred Gigafactories are needed for a sustainable-energy future, and Tesla will announce locations for two to four more later this year.

Politics

Musk sits on two advisory councils and has used meetings to argue in favor of immigration and climate change.

SpaceX and Mars

SpaceX has landed boosters eight or nine times and reflown an orbital booster for the first time; reusability only matters if it is rapid and complete.
The Mars rocket has about four times the thrust of the Saturn V, equivalent to 120 747s, and could take a fully loaded 747 as cargo.
Musk hopes for an eight- to ten-year time frame for the Interplanetary Transport System.
Sustainable energy is inevitable, but a space-faring civilization is not; technology does not automatically improve, as shown by Egypt forgetting how to build pyramids and Rome forgetting its aqueducts.
Musk: "I'm just trying to think about the future and not be sad."

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.