GoKawiil
Tech News
Reports have surfaced of passengers having sex in autonomous vehicles, including rides from GM's now-shuttered Cruise service, according to interviews by The San Francisco Standard. A workshop called 'Love in Traffic' held in Sweden in late September brought together academic and industry researchers to discuss how vehicle design might address this behavior.
A year after Elon Musk unveiled Tesla's fourth 'Master Plan' promising an era of 'amazing abundance' through robots, robotaxis and AI, the company still hasn't offered concrete details on what that abundance actually entails. Musk has made sweeping statements—everyone getting a penthouse, robots performing surgery, people having 'anything they can think of'—but has not addressed practical questions like housing supply or implementation. Tesla and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.
Tesla announced new financing arrangements totaling $30 billion: a $20 billion three-year delayed-draw term loan from Citibank, plus an $8 billion five-year revolving credit facility and a $2 billion 364-day revolving facility from Wells Fargo. In a regulatory filing, Tesla said it does not intend to draw on these facilities during 2025, and the company already projects at least $25 billion in capital expenditures for 2026.
President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson hosted a lunch at the White House with leading technology executives to discuss artificial intelligence. A seating chart shared by Trump showed Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Elon Musk seated beside the president, with Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai nearby, while Jeff Bezos sat opposite alongside Vice President JD Vance. Palantir CEO Alex Karp told reporters outside that tech leaders must take responsibility for known AI risks and that Americans don't want separate rules for the industry versus the public.
A viral X video showed a Tesla Model Y driving itself using Comma AI's open-source Comma Four hardware running a Sunnypilot fork, after the owner's Tesla FSD subscription lapsed. The post highlighted that aftermarket kits from Comma AI, costing around $1,000, let users retrofit vehicles with autonomous-driving sensors and cameras outside of automakers' proprietary systems.
Atomic, a Boston-based startup founded by former Tesla employees, closed a $12.5 million Series A round led by Klass Capital and Madrona Venture Group, bringing total funding to over $15 million. The company builds AI software that simulates inventory scenarios and recommends or automates supply chain decisions, with customers including DoorDash and HelloFresh. Atomic also named longtime Tesla planning director Jeff Goodrich as CTO and third co-founder.
Tesla has rescheduled the unveiling of its second-generation Roadster from October 1 to October 15, citing forecasts of severe weather in Waco, Texas. The company said the event must be held outdoors, and cited close monitoring with local meteorologists in deciding to delay.
According to The Information, Tesla has been struggling for over a year to build reliable, durable hands for its Optimus humanoid robot, prompting engineers to develop a swappable 'sensing glove' instead of embedded touch sensors. Most Optimus units built so far are used for internal testing rather than sold to customers, and remain limited to simple repetitive tasks despite extensive training data.
Tesla held an invite-only launch event at its Sparks, Nevada factory to mark the start of high-volume production of the Tesla Semi, nearly eight years after it was first unveiled. Vehicle Engineering VP Lars Moravy confirmed the long-range version will travel about 500 miles per charge, with a standard version rated at roughly 325 miles, and fleet operators who had placed orders were recognized on stage. Elon Musk did not attend, appearing instead in a pre-recorded video while attending a White House state dinner.
Wired spoke with tech employees, including workers at Palantir and Tesla, who described dates reacting negatively once they learned where they worked. One Palantir employee said dates questioned his morals and some stopped talking to him, while a Tesla employee said people assume he shares Elon Musk's politics.
According to The Information, Tesla has converted its Fremont factory—no longer building the Model S or Model X—to Optimus humanoid robot production, shifting line workers and engineers onto the project. The report describes manufacturing difficulties with the Optimus V3, including trouble precisely aligning components and limits on production line speed, with output currently at hundreds of units weekly against a stated goal of over 1,000 per week by the end of 2026.
Tesla has started delivering its first all-electric Semi trucks to customers, nearly ten years after unveiling the vehicle in 2017. The trucks are being built at a new factory next to Tesla's Reno Gigafactory, which the company says can produce up to 50,000 units a year and will create 3,000 local jobs. The top-range Semi is expected to travel 500-plus miles per charge and cost just under $300,000 before incentives.