Tesla’s manager for Mobile Robotics, Chris Walti, recently invited skilled engineers and technicians to apply at Tesla and get the opportunity to work on the company’s humanoid robot program.
Tesla announced its plans to produce the Tesla Bot during AI Day. The company isn’t wasting any time making the Tesla Bot prototype based on its recent hiring ramp. A week or so ago, Tesla posted a few jobs related to the Tesla Bot. Teslarati reported that Tesla was looking for two mechanical engineers and two senior robotics architects for its humanoid robot.
A recent search through Tesla’s Careers page shows that there are now many more jobs relating to the Tesla Bot, several of which were highlighted by the executive on LinkedIn. A quick skim through the available Tesla Bot jobs hint that the company isn’t just thinking about the prototype it plans to unveil in 2022. There are a couple positions available relating to the manufacturing process of the Tesla Bot as well.
For instance, Tesla is looking for a controls engineer for the Tesla Bot, which falls under the manufacturing category. The responsibilities of a controls engineers are listed below.
Controls Engineer – Tesla Bot Responsibilities
- Research, design, simulate, specify, implement, debug, and test control and estimation algorithms for various electrical, mechanical, and thermal systems
- Work on using high level controls and modeling analytic tools to inform product development in terms of actuator, sensor and kinematic design.
- Work collaboratively with responsible electrical, mechanical, and firmware engineers to define sensing requirements, establish control system capabilities, and set targets
- Advance Tesla IP in control systems for new products
Another position that falls under the manufacturing category is engineering technician for the Tesla Bot. The engineering technician’s responsibilities are listed below.
Engineering Technician – Tesla Bot Responsibilities
- Work with engineers to fabricate, assemble, and integrate mobile robot prototypes, including mechanical assemblies, electrical systems, wire harnesses, etc.
- Develop test plans and test systems, including building of assembly jigs and test/validation systems
- Collaborate with engineering teams to root cause and resolve mechanical and electrical issues
- Provide detailed written & verbal test status updates to key stakeholders
- Support engineering teams in instrumentation and data acquisition setup and logging
- Maintain a lab, ensuring that it is well-stocked with the tools and materials needed to make prototype wire harnesses
- Supporting bench-top electrical system builds and testing, including obtaining and tracking
- Support low volume prototype part builds and testing, including obtaining and tracking
- Interface components from other Engineering and Purchasing groups within Tesla
The new job posts also show that Tesla plans to work on the Tesla Bot in California and Texas. The majority of jobs open for the Tesla Bot are located in Palo Alto, California. However, there is one located in Austin, Texas.
Tesla is looking for a test engineer for the Tesla Bot project in Texas. The responsibilities of a test engineer are listed below.
Test Engineer – Tesla Bot Responsibilities
- Participate in initial cross-functional product development and carefully balance product specifications, process requirements, manufacturing complexity, cost, and lead-time limits.
- Define and implement efficient plans for testing, automating and improving focusing on time/cost reduction and low complexity.
- Own and drive hardware validation efforts for electrical and mechanical systems. Your job is to figure out how these products could fail and to collaborate with design partners to drive changes.
- Write and maintain test software to automate test execution, data collection and data analysis
- Manage tests from setup through execution and reporting, including test planning, development, execution, inspections, root cause analysis, data processing, documenting, and failure analysis.
- Develop and maintain validation schedules, coordinate test resources, and communicate status/blockers to program managers
- Actively participate in design reviews and DFMEAs to shape product towards reliability and deepen understanding of product risks
- Organize cross functional teams (internal + external)
- Document, organize, and track testing progress and provide updates to the team and upper management.
More Tesla Bot jobs may open in Texas as the company gets closer to unveiling the prototype and producing the humanoid robot. The Tesla Bot will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting projects Tesla will be working on over the next few years.
Link to Tesla Bot jobs, here.
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Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
Tesla briefly offered this Robotaxi part for your personal car
