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Underground transportation in Nashville outpaces Vegas tunnels

Two tunnel-boring machines are digging The Boring Company’s Music City Loop under Nashville, and the company still has not said how far they have gone or when a passenger can board. The project is a private, all-electric shuttle: Tesla vehicles in twin one-way tunnels, meant to run from the airport and downtown out toward West End without stopping at every station in between. On the company’s own project page, marked last updated Aug. 14, 2026, tunneling is underway. That page does not give a first-ride date.

The date has already moved. When the state and The Boring Company announced the idea on July 28, 2025, the company’s release said the first segment could be operating as soon as spring 2026. A line at the top of that same release said initial legs could be operating as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026. On Feb. 25, 2026, after the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration approved a lease and grading permit for state right-of-way, Gov. Bill Lee’s office said the first segment was expected by the end of 2026. Associated Press, reporting the Metro Council vote on March 4, said the first section was supposed to be operational in the first quarter of 2027. The Aug. 14 company page, the latest passenger-facing description opened for this story, drops the date entirely.

The route has grown on paper. The July 2025 company announcement described an initial phase of about 10 miles, downtown and the convention center to Nashville International Airport, with a stated trip of about 8 minutes, under state roads, at no cost to taxpayers. AP later described an initial 13-mile airport-to-downtown stretch that was expanded to about 25 miles, including a second leg west of downtown. The current company page says the system spans almost 25 miles and would take about 10 minutes from the airport to Lower Broadway. The airport alignment, as the company draws it, starts at a launch site called Lot 16 near the state Capitol, runs south and then out Murfreesboro Pike and Donelson Pike, and ends within 100 feet of the airport. The Broadway alignment runs from Lower Broadway along West End Avenue, past Centennial Park and Vanderbilt University, and stops near Interstate 440. The Feb. 25 state approval, the company wrote on Aug. 1, authorized 25 miles of tunnel inside TDOT right-of-way. That is permitted length, not tunnel already dug.

What is in the ground is narrower than the map. The company’s Aug. 1 construction note says Prufrock-MB1 and Prufrock-MB2 were both tunneling from Lot 16, and that a third machine, Prufrock-MB3, was on track to arrive in Nashville in September. It also said core samples were showing rock at about 14,000 pounds per square inch, which the company called excellent tunneling rock, and that more than 40 stations were in some stage of planning or design. LOOP Nashville, writing Sept. 11 after reading the company’s April, June, and August notes and its Sept. 9 financing announcement, said those materials still did not give a cumulative footage or mileage for either machine. As of that Sept. 9 announcement, LOOP Nashville wrote, the third machine was still in final assembly in Bastrop, Texas, for shipment, not yet described as digging. The 25-mile figure should not be read as miles finished.

On Sept. 9, 2026, The Boring Company announced a $3 billion Series D led by the United Arab Emirates and affiliated entities, at a stated valuation of $23 billion, according to Tunneling Online, which said it was quoting a release then posted on the company site. The trade magazine said the round was also tied to a much larger tunnel buildout in the UAE, separate from the Dubai Loop contract, and that the company described Music City Loop as its first hard-rock project, with two machines mining in Nashville by August. The company’s public “series-d” web address returned a not-found page when checked for this story, so those figures are from the trade account of the release, not from a live company page opened here. Tunneling Online did not report a Nashville share of the $3 billion, or a new opening date.

Stations that have been named are still mostly agreements, not open platforms. The Aug. 1 company note says the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority voted 8–0 for a connection and a station, with design and permitting still underway, and that the Music City Convention Center Authority voted 8–0 for a tunnel easement. WKRN reported May 6 that the company had a first residential deal for three Church Street buildings, Alcove, Prime, and Paramount: residents would take an elevator to a station, then a Tesla, with the company putting the airport about nine minutes away and Lower Broadway about two. The Aug. 1 note adds that the company and the JW Marriott had agreed to terms for a station for hotel guests. AP, in March, said more than 30 stations were being designed. Those reports describe agreements and design work, not stations that are open.

Riders, if the system opens as described, would not be on a train. The company says the vehicles will be a dedicated Tesla fleet, initially Model Ys and Model Xs, driven at first by trained “Loop drivers,” with autonomy something it may explore later. Passengers would go to one chosen station and skip the ones in between. Tickets would be bought in an app or with a QR code. Fares are not set. The company says they are expected to be lower than other options, “as in Las Vegas.” The National, writing March 12, 2026, reported Vegas Loop prices of $4.25 for an ordinary one-way ride, $7 for a round trip that does not start at the airport, $12.50 for a day pass, and $12 from an airport station. The company says Nashville tunnels are aimed at about 30 feet down, with a 12-foot internal diameter, and that the project cost is expected to be a few hundred million dollars, paid by the company, not by taxpayers. AP’s March account matches the “no taxpayer bill” claim and adds a limit on it: the state was providing free use of some land near the Capitol.

Nashville’s elected council does not control the dig. On March 3, 2026, Metro Council voted 20–15, with two abstentions, for a nonbinding resolution opposing the Music City Loop. AP said the resolution cannot make the company stop, stall, or change the plan. Sponsor Delishia Porterfield told colleagues that “public land needs to be for public good.” The resolution, as WSMV quoted it, says residents were not meaningfully consulted about a project on public land with environmental, geological, and safety consequences, and it condemns what the council called a lack of transparency and troubling labor and safety practices. Council member John Rutherford, who voted no, said it would be easy to support the resolution, “but sometimes to do what is best for Nashville, we have to do what is hard,” because the project was going ahead anyway. WSMV reported that tunneling was announced the same day as the state’s Feb. 25 permit. The Nashville Banner reported that a company vice president, David Buss, had told a Bordeaux community meeting the machine was then running only “intermittently.”

The legislature later moved jurisdiction up to the state. Senate Bill 2205, the Subterranean Transportation Infrastructure Coordination Act, passed the Senate 26–5 and the House 69–23 on April 13, 2026, with one House member present and not voting. Gov. Lee signed it April 27. It became Public Chapter 854 on May 5. For most purposes it took effect July 1, 2026. The act defines a covered “transit project” as a tunnel or tunnel system, deep enough to avoid interfering with surface uses, for moving passengers or goods inside the state by electric, autonomous, or low-emission vehicles, and not a highway or a conventional mass-transit line in a state highway right-of-way. It gives the state exclusive jurisdiction over subsurface construction of those projects, including state fire marshal permits, and it creates a state authority that can hear appeals when a city or a utility says no. Cities keep authority over ordinary surface construction. They do not, under the act, regulate the tunnels, the stations, the portals, or the ventilation and electrical systems that belong to the project. A city also may not adopt a rule that effectively bans the project.

Lee’s Feb. 25 statement welcomed that state role. “Tennessee continues to lead the nation in finding innovative solutions to accommodate growth, and in partnership with The Boring Company, we are exploring possibilities we couldn’t achieve on our own,” he said. He credited TDOT with an approach that “will define the future of transportation in our state and beyond.” Steve Davis, identified by the governor’s office as president of The Boring Company, said agencies had brought the project “to a shovel-ready point,” and called Music City Loop “a safe, fast, and fun public transportation system.” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in the same release, called the lease a step toward less congestion. The release does not say the loop is months from opening. As of the records opened for this story, two machines are digging, a third had not been confirmed on site in the September notes reviewed, more than 40 stations are still in design, and no published count of finished tunnel sits next to the 25-mile plan.

Sources

Tip (not a news source) — Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov, “Elon Musk's Underground Plan is Months From Completion,” published 5:09 PM PT on Oct. 1, 2026 (YouTube upload date Oct. 2, 2026; 8 minutes 17 seconds): https://youtu.be/bH00Zxpv7cY
Associated Press — Jonathan Mattise and Kristin M. Hall, “Elon Musk's proposed Tesla tunnel loop met with opposition by Nashville metro council,” March 4, 2026, as carried by the New Haven Register (the AP page itself returned an error when fetched): https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/elon-musk-s-proposed-tesla-tunnel-loop-met-with-21955273.php
Office of Gov. Bill Lee — lease and permit announcement, Feb. 25, 2026: https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2026/2/25/gov--lee-announces-approval-of-lease-and-permit-for-the-boring-company-s-use-of-state-right-of-way.html
The Boring Company — Music City Loop project page, FAQ last updated Aug. 14, 2026 (company page, not an independent outlet): https://www.boringcompany.com/projects/music-city-loop
The Boring Company — Music City Loop construction note, Aug. 1, 2026 (company page): https://www.boringcompany.com/blogaugust2026
The Boring Company — July 28, 2025 announcement (company page): https://www.boringcompany.com/music-city-loop-initial-annoucement
Tennessee General Assembly — SB 2205, Subterranean Transportation Infrastructure Coordination Act, Public Chapter 854: https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB2205&ga=114
WSMV — Chasity Maynard, “As tunneling begins for Music City Loop, Nashville council votes to oppose project,” March 4, 2026: https://www.wsmv.com/2026/03/04/tunneling-begins-music-city-loop-nashville-council-votes-oppose-project/
Nashville Banner — Stephen Elliott, “Metro Council Narrowly Votes to Oppose Music City Loop,” March 4, 2026: https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/03/04/metro-council-boring-company-east-bank-buchanan-street/
WKRN — Aubriella Jackson, first residential Music City Loop stations, May 6, 2026: https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/music-city-loop-stations-apartments/
The National — Vegas Loop fares, in “Lessons Dubai can take away from our Las Vegas Loop trip review,” March 12, 2026: https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/technology/2026/03/12/dubai-loop-las-vegas-trip-review/
Tunneling Online (TBM) — “The Boring Company Announces Series D Funding,” Sept. 15, 2026: https://tunnelingonline.com/the-boring-company-announces-series-d-funding/
LOOP Nashville — “Two Prufrocks are tunneling in Nashville. The public still does not know how far,” Sept. 11, 2026: https://loopnashville.com/music-city-loop-nashville-tunnel-distance-mb1-mb2

News / USA - 10/03/2026

Humanoid robots are closer than you think

A YouTube video published Oct. 2, 2026, argues that humanoid robots and what its host calls “physical” artificial intelligence will matter more than doomsday AI headlines. Farzad Mesbahi, on the channel Farzad, points to Tesla’s Cybercab in Austin, Tesla’s Optimus robot, and a Chinese automaker’s humanoid walking off a production line. Independent reporting confirms a limited steering-wheel-free Cybercab service and a real shift of Fremont factory space from the Model S and Model X to Optimus. It does not confirm that general-purpose humanoid labor is already here, or that anyone can fly into Austin and hail a cheaper-than-Uber Cybercab.

The video is about 17 minutes. Mesbahi says AI-lab warnings that “we’re all going to die,” government efforts to ban AI, and a U.S.–China race are a distraction. “We’re not all going to die,” he says. He tells viewers the shift is early, that he is not giving financial advice, and that people could respond by buying a robot, trying not to be displaced by one, or investing in companies and supply chains building the hardware. His channel description says he worked at Tesla from 2017 through 2021 in distribution and supply chain, has owned Tesla stock since 2012, and also holds SpaceX, NVIDIA, Meta, and Lemonade shares. The description says nothing he says is investment advice. The video includes a paid Bolt.new sponsorship.

He plays a clip he attributes to All-In podcast host Jason Calacanis. In the auto-captions, Calacanis says he has seen the latest Optimus videos, that Elon Musk is “not publishing publicly,” that he asked whether a clip was “CGI or … real,” and that Musk said, “No, this is real.” The clip ends with Calacanis saying, “Optimus will be the bestselling, I think, product of all time.” This draft did not independently transcribe that All-In segment. The name is spelled “Calcanis” in YouTube’s automatic captions.

On Tesla, Mesbahi says the Cybercab “was released in Austin a couple weeks ago as of the date of this recording,” has no steering wheel or pedals, and is the same kind of real-world AI he expects humanoids to use. He says he thinks Tesla has “harvested … over 14 billion miles” of customer driving and that “literally anybody” can fly into Austin, use Tesla’s robotaxi app, and hail a Cybercab for “a little bit less than an Uber,” though he adds that demand has pushed prices up and there are not enough Cybercabs.

Associated Press reporting matches the core vehicle claim and not the open-access fare claim. AP reported that on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, Tesla put dozens of gold Cybercabs without steering wheels or brake pedals on Austin streets. Passengers have no way to take control in an emergency. AP described an invitation-only launch event that day and said it was unclear how soon a broad Cybercab service would roll out. Austin already had a Tesla robotaxi service using cars that still have steering wheels and pedals, dating to June 2025. AP, citing the monitoring site RobotaxiTracker, reported Tesla had more than 200 “unsupervised” robotaxis across Austin and five other cities in Texas and Florida, compared with more than 4,000 Waymo vehicles in 14 cities. A Pew Research Center survey in February, AP reported, found seven in 10 U.S. adults were “not too” or “not at all” comfortable riding in a driverless car.

The Verge later reported that paid Cybercab rides were underway inside a geofenced area of Austin, in a two-seater with no steering wheel or pedals. It described long waits, butterfly-door issues, and awkward drop-offs, and said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit query after paid rides began, examining how Tesla certified a car without a steering wheel or pedals under federal safety standards. Tesla did not seek the kind of exemption Zoox pursued, The Verge reported. CBS Austin likewise reported a Sept. 3 deployment through Tesla’s Robotaxi app, two seats and no wheel or pedals, and a following NHTSA audit query rather than a recall. Texas DMV data available to CBS Austin that day showed 45 Cybercabs registered in Texas.

Mesbahi’s “over 14 billion miles” line is his figure (“I think”), and the video treats that driving data as the reason cars no longer need a wheel or pedals. Tesla’s own materials still label Full Self-Driving as supervised driver assistance. This draft did not treat a fan mileage tracker as a source, and it did not find the 14 billion figure stated on the Tesla safety-report page it reviewed. The Austin Cybercab is a separate, limited robotaxi deployment, not proof that customer FSD miles have already produced a general self-driving system.

The video’s other automaker example is XPeng, which the automatic captions render as “Xbang,” “Xpang,” and similar. Mesbahi says the company showed a humanoid that was built and “just walked out of the factory.” XPeng announced on Sept. 7, 2026, that it had commissioned a humanoid production line in Guangzhou and that its IRON robot autonomously walked off the line after assembly. The company said more than 80 percent of core processes are automated, that mass production is scheduled by the end of 2026, that first uses would be its own stores and campuses, and that market launch and deliveries in China and overseas are planned for 2027. Engadget, writing Sept. 22, reported that claim and noted XPeng did not disclose current output, how much testing preceded the walk, a price, or U.S. availability. A robot leaving a line on camera is not the same as a shift of commercial work.

Mesbahi calls Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant the clearest signal. He says Tesla is tearing out the Model S and Model X lines, now discontinued, and using that space for humanoid production, and that XPeng may add robot lines rather than remove car lines. Electrek reported Sept. 25, 2026, citing The Information, that Tesla ended Model S and Model X production in early May and put the Fremont line to work on Optimus, and that output had risen from a few dozen robots a week in small-batch testing in the second quarter to several hundred a week in August. Managers were reportedly aiming for more than 1,000 a week by year-end. Electrek also reported the limits: most units were for internal testing, training, and data collection; factory robots were in tightly controlled areas and programmed for specific tasks; the current V3 robots are not the version Tesla plans to commercialize; hands are still largely hand-assembled; and people familiar with the system told The Information that Optimus still takes days to learn basic tasks and cannot reliably generalize. Electrek wrote that Musk had said in January 2025 that Tesla would build about 10,000 Optimus robots that year and that “several thousand” would be doing useful work by year-end, and that he later said none were doing useful work at Tesla. A promised V3 reveal by mid-2026 still had not happened as of that Sept. 25 story.

The rest of the video is Mesbahi’s economics, not a reported product price. He says batteries, chips, motors, actuators, and cameras already exist in the electric-vehicle supply chain, that new humanoid actuators will start expensive, and that “most financial analysts” expect humanoids under $30,000 within three to five years, less than the average new U.S. car. He then divides a roughly $30,000 robot by working hours, power, maintenance, repairs, and insurance and says labor might cost no more than about $4 an hour in a worst case and closer to $2 an hour on average, if the robot can do what a person can. He says that capability “is just going to happen.” Those dollar figures are his estimates. This draft did not find an independent analyst consensus, published this week, that pins a sub-$30,000 humanoid or a $2-an-hour wage.

He also says Musk has talked about a warehouse of 10,000 humanoid robots learning by trial and error — folding laundry, building a chair — with one robot’s lesson copied in software to the whole fleet. He suggests Tesla should live-stream it. This draft did not find a contemporaneous news report confirming that specific 10,000-robot training warehouse. It should not be confused with the separate “about 10,000 Optimus robots in 2025” production remark Electrek attributed to Musk.

Mesbahi says the short and medium term will bring “massive job disruption,” including college graduates losing work to software agents, and that a later economy will create jobs that do not exist yet, comparing the change to railroads, electricity, and the internet. He says someone among “8 billion people” will build this regardless of any one country’s rules, and he points viewers to two books he says he wrote, “Master Plan” and “Abundance or Collapse.” Those labor and timeline claims are his forecast. He does tell viewers to stay “hesitant and very vigilant” about downsides.

Sources