The U.S. government has once again turned to Elon Musk. The Federal Railroad Administration has approached The Boring Company (TBC), the tunneling firm owned by the tech billionaire, to collaborate on a multi-billion-dollar railway project by Amtrak. This is not the first time Musk has been involved in large-scale government projects. In fact, government contracts and subsidies have played a key role in the rise of his companies.
Officials from the Department of Transportation, which oversees the national railway company, have held discussions with TBC employees. The company has been enlisted to explore whether it can assist with the costly railway project. The so-called Amtrak route includes the construction of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel, connecting Baltimore with Washington and Virginia. Initially estimated at $6 billion, Amtrak now expects costs to rise to $8.5 billion.
Concerns have been raised about Musk's conflicts of interest, as he leads or owns at least six companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, while also overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), responsible for reducing government spending.