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Elon Musk says Apple offering $250,000 signing bonus to poach Tesla employees

The talent pool in Silicon Valley is filled with sharks. Google, Apple, Oracle, eBay, Amazon, Nvidia, Adobe, HP and Electronic Arts all draw from the finite workforce of northern California, so unsurprisingly, competition for new hires is extremely fierce. Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors, offers proof of that, claiming that Silicon Valley stalwart Apple has offered his employees whopping $250,000 signing bonuses and 60-percent pay increases. But don't worry, Tesla is just as guilty of poaching Apple's employees. Bloomberg has the interesting story that focuses not so much on the inter-hiring between the two companies, but on their similarities, which includes drawing parallels between their mercurial – some may say iconoclastic – founders. It all makes for fascinating reading, giving insight into the games played between top employers in one of the country's most competitive job markets. Head over and have a look. Related Video:

California working to land second Tesla Gigafactory [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The story's been updated to include a response from Tesla. California's film industry has long been big on sequels. Now, the state's government is hoping for a bit of a re-do when it comes to Tesla Motors' future battery production. Whether it happens and if it'll be a big-budget affair remains to be seen. California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy. Some of the state's Congressional leaders have gotten together to contact Elon Musk about being first in line for the site of a potential second Gigafactory, which would likely bring thousands of jobs and substantial economic impact to Tesla's home state, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reports. The leaders are touting the state's skilled workforce and quality of life to Musk. According to a letter from Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) posted on Scribd, California can supply a "highly-educated" labor force as well as abundant green energy, which plays big with the environmentally-minded Musk. "Our focus is on the Gigafactory in Nevada," Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. "However, we continue to consider development of future Gigafactory sites in other states to begin at a later date." Earlier this month, Tesla announced that Nevada won the proverbial sweepstakes for the first Gigafactory, in part by providing about $1.3 billion in various financial incentives. Nevada beat out Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and, of course, California, for the factory. Maybe the Golden State will be able to strike back with number two.

Hack a Tesla, win $10,000

In the world of computers, competitions that challenge so-called "white hat" hackers are fairly common. Break into this system in X minutes and we'll give you Y dollars. Rarely, though, does this world cross over with the realm of automobiles.
At the 2014 SyScan Conference, which runs from July 16 to 17 in Beijing, hackers have the chance to win $10,000, provided they can break into the systems of a Tesla Model S. According to BidnessETC, in order to win, a successful hack will need to remotely access the 17-inch touchscreen display (shown above) that dominates the Model S cabin in order to surf the Internet and access the vehicle's controls.
While we're not computer experts, it seems like a tall order. The Model S may maintain a constant data signal via its driver's cellphone, but it seems unlikely that Tesla hasn't installed a comprehensive security system to prevent electronic tampering. Tesla, for what it's worth, has no part in the competition.