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Tesla asked by NHTSA to furnish Autopilot data logs [Updated]

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The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has sent Tesla Motors a 9 page letter asking for specifics about any modifications to the Autopilot system including software changes that Tesla has made since Autopilot was first rolled out in the fall of 2015.

Updated: We received a copy of the 9-page letter sent by the NHTSA to Tesla outlining details on the type of information Tesla must hand over.

At issue is how the system detects and reacts to cross traffic. The probe is related specifically to the crash that killed Joshua Brown on a Florida highway on May 7. His car was operating on Autopilot when it struck the side of a tractor trailer that was crossing the road in front of it. Tesla says the cameras on Brown’s Model S failed to distinguish the white side of the tractor trailer from a brightly lit sky. As a result, the car did not brake automatically.

According to ABC News, the letter is asking for information about how Autopilot reacts when proceeding through intersections where there is cross traffic. Its request also asks the company to describe how the system determines if the input from cameras and other sensors is “compromised or degraded” in any way, and how the problems are communicated to the driver.

Lastly, the NHTSA has given Tesla an August 26  deadline to turnover details of all known crashes, consumer complaints, and lawsuits filed or settled because the Autopilot system didn’t brake as expected. Agency spokesperson Bryan Thomas says the information requested is a routine part of an investigation and the agency has not yet determined whether Autopilot constitutes a safety risk.

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Elon Musk told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that Tesla has no plans to disable its Autopilot feature in the wake of the fatal crash in Florida. Musk responded by saying that the company is planning an explanatory blog post to educate customers on how Autopilot works. “A lot of people don’t understand what it is and how you turn it on,” he said. Musk is a fierce supporter of the Autopilot system and claims it has already proven to be safer than a human driver.

All of this comes as more details are emerging about a crash in Montana involving a Model X that reportedly veered off a country road. The driver told the Montana state police he had initiated Autopilot, but Tesla says the vehicle log shows only auto steer was activated. The car’s computer detected no force on the steering wheel for more than two minutes. If there’s no force on the wheel or a sharp turn is detected, the vehicle is programmed to gradually reduce speed, stop, and turn on the emergency lights, Tesla said in a statement.

The company said the Model X alerted the driver to put his hands on the wheel, but he didn’t do it. “As road conditions became increasingly uncertain, the vehicle again alerted the driver to put his hands on the wheel. He did not do so and shortly thereafter the vehicle collided with a post on the edge of the roadway,” the statement said. It isn’t clear whether the Model X had made a decision to stop at the time of the crash.

The car traveled around a right hand curve, then went off the road. It traveled about 200 feet on the narrow shoulder, taking out 13 posts, said trooper Jade Shope. No citation was issued to the drivers because the trooper believed any citation would be void if the car was operating on Autopilot as claimed by the driver. That is a fairly curious position for a law enforcement officer to take, since there is no way for authorities to determine at the scene of an accident whether Autopilot actually was or was not activated.

The National Transportation Safety Board has also opened an investigation of the Florida crash. It is entirely possible that some new regulations regarding autonomous driving systems in general will result from the combined NHTSA/NTSB review.

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SpaceX is preparing to launch Starship V2 one final time

The mission will test reentry dynamics, new landing burn configurations, and heat-shield upgrades.

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Credit: SpaceX/X

SpaceX is preparing to launch its final Starship V2 rocket on October 13, 2025. The launch closes the curtain on Starship V2 and marks the start of the ambitious spacecraft’s V3 era. 

Liftoff for Flight 11 is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET from Starbase in South Texas, with a 75-minute launch window. The mission will test reentry dynamics, new landing burn configurations, and heat-shield upgrades ahead of the transition to the next-generation Starship V3.

Starship V3 and beyond

Elon Musk confirmed on X that Starship V3 is already in production and could be “built & tested” and perhaps even flown before the end of 2025. The new version is expected to feature major performance and scale improvements, with Musk stating that Starship V3, provided that things go well, might be capable of reaching Mars, though V4 is more likely to perform a full-scale mission to the red planet. 

“Only one more V2 left to launch,” Musk wrote back in August following Starship’s successful Flight 10 mission. In another post, Musk stated that “Starship V3 is a massive upgrade from the current V2 and should be through production and testing by end of year, with heavy flight activity next year.”

Starship V2’s final mission

Flight 11 is designed to push the limits of Starship V2. SpaceX engineers have intentionally removed heat-shield tiles in vulnerable areas to analyze how the vehicle handles atmospheric reentry under stress, as noted in a Space.com report. The test will also refine subsonic guidance algorithms and new landing burn sequences for the Super Heavy booster that would be used for Starship V3.

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“Super Heavy will ignite 13 engines at the start of the landing burn and then transition to a new configuration with five engines running for the divert phase. Previously done with three engines, the planned baseline for V3 Super Heavy will use five engines during the section of the burn responsible for fine-tuning the booster’s path, adding additional redundancy for spontaneous engine shutdowns. 

“The booster will then transition to its three center engines for the end of the landing burn, entering a full hover while still above the ocean surface, followed by shutdown and dropping into the Gulf of America,” SpaceX wrote in a post on its official website.

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xAI’s new facility will save Memphis 5 billion gallons of water annually

The project was described as a long-needed solution for the region as it will be capable of recycling up to 13 million gallons of greywater daily.

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Credit: xAI Memphis/X

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has officially broken ground on its $80 million wastewater treatment facility in Memphis, Tennessee. The project aims to reduce strain on the Memphis aquifer by 9% and repurpose 20% of wastewater from the nearby Memphis T.E. Maxson wastewater facility that would otherwise flow back into the Mississippi River.

A major step towards sustainability

City officials, including Councilman J. Ford Canale and Memphis Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Ted Townsend, joined xAI staff at the October 10 ceremony. The project was described as a long-needed solution for the region as it will have a treatment capacity of 13 million gallons daily, which would then be used for industrial cooling use xAI and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). 

This means that the facility will help conserve 5 billion gallons of potable water annually, easing demand on Memphis’ primary water system. At these levels, xAI Memphis noted that its wastewater treatment facility will feature the largest ceramic membrane MBR in the world, using 13,000 membrane modules that collectively span over 900,000 square feet, roughly the size of 16 football fields. 

Construction permits have been secured for the pump station, while the main operations permit from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation remains under review.

A privately funded push

The wastewater treatment facility represents a rare privately funded water reclamation initiative, with xAI covering construction costs, as noted in a Yahoo News report. The company filed preliminary plans through its affiliate CTC Property LLC in 2024, hinting at the startup’s long-term commitment to sustainable infrastructure around its growing Memphis operations. TVA CEO and President Don Moul shared his excitement for the project.

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“This is a big day for Memphis, Tennessee. This initiative not only reduces our need to purchase water from MLGW for our nearby Allen Combined Cycle Plant, but it also eases demand on the region’s potable water system. By recycling water for cooling purposes, we’re helping to preserve drinking water for the community and advancing a solution that benefits both the environment and the Greater Memphis area,” he said.

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Japan paves the way for Tesla Full Self-Driving domestic rollout

Tesla’s vehicles are allowed to be retrofitted with a software update that could enable the activation of self-driving features.

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Credit: Tesla AI/X

Japan seems to be taking some serious steps to pave the way for the domestic rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in the country. 

This was hinted at by a decision from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

FSD update

As noted in a report from Nikkei, Tesla’s artificial intelligence-powered vehicles are allowed to be retrofitted with a software update that could enable the activation of their self-driving features. These features would be rolled out through an over-the-air (OTA) software update for vehicles that have already been sold to consumers.

Previous reports have indicated that Tesla Japan has started the testing of FSD technology on public roads. At the time, reports indicated that Tesla Japan employees have been conducting the tests, and the company is planning to release its FSD software to consumers in the near future, at least pending compliance with safety standards and guidelines. 

New guidelines

In a comment on X, former Tesla Board Member Hiro Mizuno explained that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry’s decision is no small matter, as it could pave the way for the smooth rollout of features like FSD to Tesla consumers in Japan. 

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“The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s decision to allow retrofitting of autonomous driving through software updates is significant. Currently, Tesla is the only manufacturer actively pursuing this, but I had thought that if actual autonomous driving were to begin, it would be impossible to keep up if the approval process had to be repeated for every software update. As a result, this decision will make it easier for all manufacturers to introduce autonomous driving in Japan,” he wrote in a post on X.

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