Billionaire Elon Musk made headlines in 2021 when he announced that Tesla would be moving its headquarters out of California.

Yet in a surprising turn of events, Musk announced this week that the electric vehicle company is setting up a new engineering in the Golden State. 

The facility will occupy the former Hewlett Packard building

According to Breitbart, Tesla has acquired office space in Palo Alto, California that formerly belonged to computer giant Hewlett Packard.

"We're excited to announce that Tesla's global engineering headquarters will be right here, at the former headquarters of Hewlett Packard," USA Today quoted Musk as saying.

"This is a poetic transition from the company (HPE) that founded Silicon Valley to Tesla. And we're very excited to make this our global engineering headquarters in California," he continued, adding that Tesla is "looking forward to an exciting partnership with California."

Meanwhile, USA Today noted that California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the move, calling it  "another proof point of the renewable energy vibrancy that is California."

The move may be an attempt to shore up ties with California

Newsom went on to stress that he "couldn't be more proud of California's commitment to supporting Tesla over the course of the last few decades."

However, Tesla also put out a tweet on Thursday explaining that its global headquarters are going to remain in Austin, Texas.

Our global HQ remains in Austin.

Our new Engineering HQ in Palo Alto will serve as the main location for Tesla Engineering.

— Tesla (@Tesla) February 23, 2023

Breitbart speculated that the decision to open a facility in California could be a sign the company is "attempting to improve its ties with" the state.

Musk began voting Republican after moving to Texas

MSNBC reported in 2021 that Musk cited concerns like the cost of living and available space when he announced Tesla's move to Texas.

"To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California," Musk said then. "Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it’s jammed."

Still, he pointed out that it is "tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away," adding, "There’s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area."

Musk revealed last year that he voted Republican for the first time in his life after relocating to the Lone Star State and encouraged his followers on Twitter to do the same.