Electric vehicle maker Tesla is planning to enter the data business with the launch of a “1st of its kind” data center as the company searches for ways to manage the massive amounts of information collected from its self-driving software.
Tesla revealed the project through a job posting announced last week. The new data center senior engineering program manager “will lead the end-to-end design and engineering of Tesla’s 1st of its kind Data Center and will be a key member of the factory engineering team,” the description reads. Other roles mentioned in the post include developing and engineering the new data centers “from concept to launch” and creating teams to design the facilities. The electric vehicle company has yet to specify what will make its new centers the “1st” of their kind.
The car manufacturer has relied on a variety of data management resources over the last 12 months. After declining to renew its lease with a center based in Sacramento in late 2022, ostensibly due to CEO Elon Musk’s belief that the region was “possibly the worst place to have a data center,” Tesla purchased the same facility, along with additional space, this June. The automaker is dealing with an influx of information as it looks to strengthen its self-driving algorithms using data transmitted from vehicles on the road. It is also looking to acquire data centers from Twitter, formally known as X, purchased by Musk last year.
However, the social media platform is facing its own data-related crisis. Since taking over the company, Musk has refused to pay contractors, landlords and other partners for a variety of services, including Amazon Web Services. Although it eventually agreed to pay the e-commerce giant after it threatened to pull advertising, the business’s other data partners, including Redis and Google Cloud, remain uncompensated. Although much of the criticism directed towards Musk has remained focused on his Twitter purchase, controversy is also taking shape over his leadership at Tesla. The electric vehicle brand is facing profit margin pressures as it cuts prices in an attempt to drive sales volumes. Industry insiders have also expressed concerns that the company’s aging product lineup may soon become obsolete once legacy automakers introduce their own electrified products in the coming years. Earlier this year, a group of Tesla shareholders wrote a letter to the automaker’s board of directors, urging them to reign in Musk’s behavior.
