Tesla is nearing completion of a massive cafeteria for its workers at Giga Texas. In keeping with the theme at Tesla these days, the cafeteria is dubbed the ‘Cyber Cafeteria’ in permitting documents.
According to documents posted to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TLDR), the project has an estimated cost of $10.5 million. With that Tesla is building a 22,639 square foot Cyber Cafe. The document is not a building permit however. TLDR is the agency that will give the final approval for Tesla to open the cafeteria, so the ‘start date’ of October 24, 2023 and the ‘completion date’ of April 30, 2024 listed in these documents are the dates by which the agency will start and complete their review and issue the approval.
This indicates the cafeteria is likely already complete, or very close to it, according to Giga Texas aficionado and drone pilot Joe Tegtmeyer.
BREAKING!! Tesla has filed permits for a 22K+ SF Cyber Cafe at Giga Texas!! Thanks to our friend @linkedglenn and his awesome app Construct Intel for the heads up. @SawyerMerritt #CyberCafe #Tesla pic.twitter.com/xU5nHLPN9Y
— Anuarbek Imanbaev (@anuarbekiman) September 26, 2023
Twenty-two thousand square feet sounds like a lot, but Giga Texas is a big place with a large workforce that is only going to get bigger. As of the last official count from Tesla at the end of 2022, Giga Texas had over 12,000 employees, but in the nine months since then that has already grown to over 20,000.
But according to a recent update from Jason Shawhan, Tesla’s director of manufacturing at Giga Texas, that workforce will triple to 60,000 once production of the Cybertruck ramps up.
While the cafeteria will only be for employees, you may be able to get a glimpse of it if you are lucky enough to get a factory tour. Tesla recently allowed owners to redeem referral credits for a tour of Giga Texas, but the option has since been removed from the mobile app. Unfortunately no photography will be allowed on these tours, so we will have to rely on description from tour guests.
