News
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos: The Rivalry of the Century (that we are all benefitting from)
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have shared an extremely public rivalry throughout the past few years, aiming to one-up each other in space exploration and self-driving cars. The two men, who own the top two positions on Forbes’ Billionaires List, are chomping at the bit to get ahead of one another, and the competition that lies within the Tesla and Amazon CEOs gives the people of Earth all something to benefit from: longevity and innovation.
The two most powerful men in the world in their respective sectors, Bezos being at the helm of the most dominating company in the e-commerce world, and Musk surging forward the acceleration to sustainable energy with Tesla. There is a lot of money, a lot of power, and a lot of reputation at stake, and the rivalry between the two men is mostly comprised of healthy competition to out-do the other. However, the two men share a similarity in their strategy to help humankind move forward, and it lies within their aerospace companies: Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin. But it isn’t a competition that has always been healthy and in good spirits. It has often resulted in name-calling and Twitter contradictions, showing that even the two richest men in the world can share a very public rivalry while benefitting the rest of us.
In past years, Musk has been the more successful entrepreneur in the space exploration and self-driving vehicle front, of course. His two companies being Tesla, the largest car company in the world in terms of market cap, and SpaceX, which has been launching satellites for global internet service with Starlink and sending astronauts to the International Space Station on several missions. It is no secret that Musk has an astounding lead over Bezos in those sectors, and he doesn’t have any intention of selling consumer goods, even though he would encourage competition in that market after calling Amazon a monopoly.
Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2020
But Musk’s lead must leave a small portion of Bezos feeling left out. Musk undoubtedly receives more recognition and more kudos for his work, and he should. He’s made legacy automakers change their strategies moving forward, forcing them to work on all-electric powertrains, and SpaceX has made the possibility of human space travel possible again. Bezos, being the extremely successful person that he is, must thrive off of competition and the work that it takes to make things more efficient and better than anyone else.
In the early 2000s, both Musk and Bezos were struggling entrepreneurs who worked to grow their entities into the world’s biggest and most successful companies. Bezos, who once held an office in a shady part of Seattle above a Chinese food restaurant, had a desk that wasn’t level, and an uneven canvas on the wall that said “amazon.com” in blue spraypaint. He drove a run-of-the-mill sedan and shared an incredible joy for his work, which was then just an online bookstore.
Jeff Bezos reveals Rivian’s plans to produce electric vans for Amazon
Meanwhile, Musk was fresh out of his sizeable sale of PayPal. He reinvested his money into Tesla, and he was sleeping on the floor of his office building. Showering at the YMCA in Los Angeles, Musk and his brother Kimbal were also subjected to startup life’s genuine struggle: long hours, less-than-luxurious living conditions, and minimal pay.
Fast forward a few years, and the two men are among the most powerful people on Earth thanks to their influence on their respective sectors. But what is really driving things forward between the two men is the competition they share with one another. The constant need to outperform the other person is evident, and the two men’s based opinions constantly encourage the other one to work a little harder.
In the end, the personal rivalry has benefitted us all. SpaceX and Blue Origin are both doing things to accelerate the possibility of normalized space travel. Amazon is making consumer goods easy to obtain, and Tesla is making electric cars fun, fast, and affordable.
News
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla is gamifying its Supercharging experience by offering a new “Charging Passport,” hoping to add a new layer to the ownership experience.
While it is not part of the Holiday Update, it is rolling out around the same time and offers a handful of cool new features.
Tesla’s Charging Passport will be available within the smartphone app and will give a yearly summary of your charging experience, helping encapsulate your travel for that year.
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla has just introduced “Charging Passport,” a new yearly summary of your charging.
• Charging badges: Iconic Charging badge (for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc), Explorer badge, green saver badge, etc.
• Total unique Superchargers visited
•… pic.twitter.com/c1DHTWXpj7— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 8, 2025
Tesla will include the following metrics within the new Charging Passport option within the Tesla app:
- Charging badges: Iconic charging badges for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc., Explorer Badge, and more
- Total Unique Superchargers Visited
- Total Charging Sessions
- Total Miles Added during Charging Sessions
- Top Charging Day
- Longest Trip
- Favorite Charging Locations
This will give people a unique way to see their travels throughout the year, and although it is not necessarily something that is needed or adds any genuine value, it is something that many owners will like to look back on. After all, things like Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have been a great way for people to see what music they listened to throughout the year.
This is essentially Tesla’s version of that.
With a handful of unique Superchargers already active, Tesla is also building some new ones, like a UFO-inspired location in New Mexico, near Roswell.
Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country
News
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
News
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
Tesla has expanded Robotaxi app access once again, but this time, it’s on a much broader scale as the company is offering the opportunity for those outside of North America to download the app.
Tesla Robotaxi is the company’s early-stage ride-hailing platform that is active in Texas, California, and Arizona, with more expansion within the United States planned for the near future.
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
The platform has massive potential, and Tesla is leaning on it to be a major contributor to even more disruption in the passenger transportation industry. So far, it has driven over 550,000 miles in total, with the vast majority of this coming from the Bay Area and Austin.
First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more
However, Tesla is focusing primarily on rapid expansion, but most of this is reliant on the company’s ability to gain regulatory permission to operate the platform in various regions. The expansion plans go well outside of the U.S., as the company expanded the ability to download the app to more regions this past weekend.
So far, these are the areas it is available to download in:
- Japan
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- South Korea
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Macau
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- U.S.
- Canada
Right now, while Tesla is focusing primarily on expansion, it is also working on other goals that have to do with making it more widely available to customers who want to grab a ride from a driverless vehicle.
One of the biggest goals it has is to eliminate safety monitors from its vehicles, which it currently utilizes in Austin in the passenger’s seat and in the driver’s seat in the Bay Area.
A few weeks ago, Tesla started implementing a new in-cabin data-sharing system, which will help support teams assist riders without anyone in the front of the car.
Tesla takes a step towards removal of Robotaxi service’s safety drivers
As Robotaxi expands into more regions, Tesla stands to gain tremendously through the deployment of the Full Self-Driving suite for personal cars, as well as driverless Robotaxis for those who are just hailing rides.
Things have gone well for Tesla in the early stages of the Robotaxi program, but expansion will truly be the test of how things operate going forward. Navigating local traffic laws and gaining approval from a regulatory standpoint will be the biggest hurdle to jump.
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
