Elon Musk Takes Swipe At Gavin Newsom, Says Boring Could Build LA-SF Tunnel At Less Than 5% Cost

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has touted that his tunneling startup, The Boring Company, can build a tunnel from Los Angeles to San Francisco that can exceed high-speed rail. Technological Marvel On Wednesday, Musk took to the social media platform X to express his criticism of Governor Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) High Speed Rail project from Los Angeles to San Francisco. “The @BoringCompany could build a Hyperloop tunnel from downtown SF to downtown LA for <5% of this [$120 billion] cost,” Musk said, quoting a post that claimed the same money could be used to fund free flights between the cities for 200 years. He added that the Hyperloop tunnel dug by The Boring Co. would “be a technological marvel exceeding any high speed rail on Earth.” The @BoringCompany could build a Hyperloop tunnel from downtown SF to downtown LA for <5% of this cost and it would be a technological marvel exceeding any high speed rail on Earth https://t.co/2WwQuDVIAV— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2026 Elon Musk Alleges California High-Speed Rail Fraud Musk had earlier alleged that the project was riddled with fraud, after California’s Transportation Secretary Adetokunbo "Toks" Omishakin shared that the undertaking would require additional funds of over $126 billion. “It’s all going to fraud and bureaucracy,” Musk had said in his earlier criticism of the project. Gavin Newsom Touts Jobs Amid Criticism From Republicans Newsom, on the other hand, reaffirmed his stance that the project was necessary for the state. He shared that over 463 miles of the 494 mile-project were ready for construction and touted over 16,000 jobs created by the project. Defending the project against financial irregularities, the Governor also confirmed that it had passed all auditing checks. Meanwhile, the President Donald Trump administration had earlier withdrawn over $4 billion in funding for the project. The withdrawal was challenged in a California court, but was upheld. Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also criticized the project, slamming its "monstrous $135 BILLION price tag," and sharing that over $16 billion of the funding came from the American taxpayers. Vegas Loop Moves 82,000 Passengers The Boring Co.’s Las Vegas underground loop was in the headlines recently as the company claimed the loop helped passengers get to and from expos in the city, moving over 82,000 passengers during the CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show early last month. Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link. Photo courtesy: Frederic Legrand – COMEO from Shutterstock