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Apple TV’s show and Elon Musk’s Boring Co. share suspiciously similar logo design

The Boring Company's latest innovations on display in test ride video. | Image: Steve Jurvetson/YouTube

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Elon Musk can be credited for inspiring several industries, but The Boring Company’s graphic design is perhaps a bit surprising as a candidate, especially when the inspired company is well known for its graphics-focused hardware, software, and product packaging.

Apple TV+ has a new series coming this fall that stars some top talent, but the production’s logo doesn’t look so new. It’s titled “The Morning Show,” and it looks like Boring’s giant black dot in its name design found its way into Apple’s new show logo. The layout of the show’s logo is also the same as Boring’s logo.

https://twitter.com/brentcas/status/1160952287860264964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

(Image: Apple TV+)
(Image: The Boring Company)

Perhaps minimalism is the culprit. After all, The Boring Company has a simple design that was created even quicker than the digging venture itself manifested from a tweet, and Apple is big on minimalism even at the expense of headphone jacks. Or perhaps both companies used the same logo generator or logo bidding company. Obviously, it’s not clear what happened, and just as unclear is how Apple TV+ would green light a logo that is so strikingly similar to a prominent logo for a company that’s not exactly underground in terms of social media presence.

Trademarks have their own legal conditions, of course, which might give Apple all the room it needs to use their logo no matter how much it looks like The Boring Company’s logo. They’re in different classes of goods, meaning their customer bases are separate and therefore shouldn’t cause confusion, more or less. The Morning Show logo was filed for audio and video recordings, broadcasting, and ongoing TV drama series as well as related entertainment services. The Boring Company’s logo was filed for research, development, design, testing, and consulting services in the field of high speed transportation of passengers and goods.

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The Boring Company’s logo is on all matters of merchandise and equipment.

Notably, neither entity has a registered trademark yet, although The Boring Company’s word mark should be registered soon and the graphic mark should be ready for registration soon, according to records at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The Morning Show’s trademark, on the other hand, has encountered an Examiner that thinks it’s too descriptive of a mark for registration. The trademark application filed is also just for the words, not the graphic logo that’s being used in the show. It’s all pretty boring legalese, but the overall similarities between the two projects is interesting overall.

Unless Boring is planning on starting some sort of reality series soon, the two companies will probably only ever share a big dot in common. The Morning Show doesn’t sound like anything related to transportation or heavy machinery, either. That is, unless the characters ironically cover a Boring Company news story for some reason.

“The news is only half the story. The Morning Show stars Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon, Emmy winner Jennifer Aniston and Golden Globe winner Steve Carell in a high-stakes drama that pulls back the curtain on the morning news,” the show’s summary reads on Apple TV’s YouTube channel.

Regardless of what happened or what will happen with the marks, we’ve all learned that big dots are all the rage apparently.

If you’re curious, you can watch The Morning Show’s trailer below:

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Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

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Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

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When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.

The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.

Here’s what they look like in action:

As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.

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There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:

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According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.

Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.

Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.

This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.

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xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.

Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.

Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations. 

The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards. 

Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD. 

Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible. 

The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.

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