Elon Musk's electric auto outfit Tesla appears to be building new datacenters.

A recently posted [1]job ad seeks a "Sr. Engineering Program Manager, Data Centers," to be based in Austin, Texas, and "lead the end-to-end design and engineering of Tesla's 1st of its kind Data Centers."

The role is billed as "Responsible for leading the full design & engineering of Tesla Data Centers from concept to launch."

[2]

Tesla wants candidates who can "conduct technical deep dives into layout designs, infrastructure system and distribution selections, and ensure data center development is adhering to Tesla's core principles." Whoever gets the gig will "need to build trust and consensus amongst cross functional teams to achieve objectives under high stakes while maintaining a positive team environment," at the same time "toggling between understanding program objectives and dependencies, deep diving into complex topics and issues, and influencing a wide range of experienced and technically skilled staff members."

[3]

[4]

Candidates holding a bachelor of science in architecture, mechanical, process/chemical, structural, or electrical engineering are highly preferred. Experience working with regulators to get building projects happening is also on Tesla's list of desired experience. So is "Experience designing Data Center or related mission critical facilities."

The ad doesn't explain why Tesla plans to build its own bit barns. The org is known to be [5]working on a supercomputer to help develop its autonomous driving software and to already operate a [6]5,760-GPU machine for the same task.

[7]

Another obvious reason Tesla needs bit barns is that its vehicles are chock full of computers, some of which upload telemetry data that needs to be crunched. The automaker also offers online services.

It's also conceivable that Musk's [8]humanoid robot needs plenty of off-prem processing power.

[9]Google Street View car careens into creek after 100mph cop chase

[10]Tesla hackers turn to voltage glitching to unlock paywalled features

[11]X-rated auction sells last vestiges of pre-Musk Twitter

[12]Tesla steering problems attract regulator eyes for second time this year

Tesla has also [13]reportedly occupied datacenters that X (formerly Twitter)'s shrunken footprint have made surplus to requirements – suggesting it is hungry for datacenter space.

The heavy use of GPUs offers another clue to the somewhat hyperbolic ad, as those accelerators run hot and consume plenty of power. Conventional datacenter designs aren't always able to host dense GPU deployments, so a "1st of its kind" could allow Tesla to use less server-centric machines.

Meanwhile, in China

Tesla datacenters have also made news in China, thanks to the [14]Sentry Mode built into its cars that contacts owners if a "severe threat" such as someone breaking a window is detected by onboard cameras.

Sentry Mode even records video of such incidents, allowing owners to retrieve footage by plugging a USB drive into their cars.

That feature has recently become controversial in China, where owners feared that Sentry Mode footage could be widely viewed.

[15]

Tesla China yesterday used its Weibo account to [16]explain that any data used in Sentry Mode is stored in its Chinese datacenter – a facility it [17]promised to build in 2021 to comply with data sovereignty laws. Tesla China said it had completed work on that facility just five months later and has since said it is compliant with those laws. Yesterday's Weibo post confirms it's delivered on that promise. ®

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[1] https://www.tesla.com/careers/search/job/sr-engineering-program-manager-data-center-207368

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZNtMzOsgD62FgKj@g2Lh7gAAAkc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZNtMzOsgD62FgKj@g2Lh7gAAAkc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZNtMzOsgD62FgKj@g2Lh7gAAAkc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/21/tesla_dojo_spending/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/27/in_brief_ai/

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZNtMzOsgD62FgKj@g2Lh7gAAAkc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/03/tesla_optimus_prototype/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/03/google_maps_driver_arrested/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/07/black_hat_tesla_hackers/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/14/twitter_x_auction/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/02/tesla_steering_problems/

[13] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/after-elon-musk-bashes-sacramento-data-centers-tesla-gets-one

[14] https://www.tesla.com/en_au/blog/sentry-mode-guarding-your-tesla

[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZNtMzOsgD62FgKj@g2Lh7gAAAkc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[16] https://weibo.com/3615027564/NeyGlw2ds

[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/27/tesla_announced_china_data_center/

[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/