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Elon Musk’s SpaceX lab school principles now molding young innovators around the world
The advent of COVID has brought about a myriad of problems in the world to the forefront, including hard-to-swallow realizations about the systems that surround, forge, and often dictate human society. Education was among these systems affected by the global pandemic.
As students moved their learning experiences from the classroom into their living rooms, it became evident that the traditional education system was not equipped to mold young minds in the middle of a pandemic. At the same time, however, the coronavirus’s effect on schools and learning highlighted some issues that have been plaguing the educational sector for some time.
Some parents, teachers, and other advocates of learning have taken the time the pandemic has afforded us to try and fix some of the fundamental issues that have surfaced in traditional education systems across the globe throughout the years, prior to COVID.
Synthesis School has taken a different route.
Led by Josh Dahn (Cofounder & Creative Director), Chrisman Frank (Cofounder & CEO), and Ana Fabrega (Chief Evangelist), Synthesis School seems to get to the root of learning and education by teaching kids and young adults fundamental problem-solving skills through a medium that comes naturally to them: games.
“Synthesis school has taken the games that were played at Ad Astra campus, at the lab school of SpaceX. We’ve taken those games and we’ve scaled them up to offer to kids all around the world. The particular focus of them has to do with teaching bigger concepts like game theory, collaboration, Network Effect. What it’s like to work in a teams, strategy…,” Jessica Bogart, a Synthesis School facilitator, told Teslarati.
Bogart left the entertainment industry after two decades to join Synthesis School as a facilitator. She sat down with Teslarati and explained the schematics of each class and how it helped enrich and cultivate young minds to face the everyday problems that life will throw at them.
Elon Musk’s educational principles from Ad Astra – the SpaceX lab school he created for his sons with the help of Josh Dahn—make up the core of Synthesis School. Musk described the two core principles of Ad Astra years ago as: 1) Ditch the assembly line model, no grade levels and 2) Problem-focused, not tool-focused.
At Synthesis, about 18-20 kids are put into groups called cohorts. Each group has one facilitator. Bogart explained that facilitators don’t lecture to their cohorts, like teachers do in a classroom.
A typical meeting starts with the cohorts logging into one of Synthesis School’s games and a Zoom call. The facilitator does not give them instructions about the game. Each cohort is given time to explore and learn the schematics of the game on their own.
After they have explored, the cohorts talk to each other to learn information that others might have found about the game. Then the cohorts are broken down into several groups and must navigate the game together to complete a given objective.
“There’s no wrong answers and there’s no grades. It’s all about seeing how you think,” Bogart said. She explained that Synthesis didn’t teach kids through rote memorization or focus on grades and teaching to the test. It focused more on critical thinking, problem-solving, and teaching kids how to find or learn about the tools they need to solve complex issues.
“In regular school, an example would be, here are 50 different screwdrivers and you’re going to memorize the size and shape and handles and where they go on the board,” Bogart explained.
“The way that [it was being taught at Ad Astra] at the time was here’s the engine that’s broken and we need to fix it, but what do we do to get the casing off? Well, we use a screwdriver. And now you’ve made that connection.”
In Jessica Bogart’s cohort missions, she has been able to teach her kids concepts like the Network Effect or the Stag Hunt game theory. Right before her interview with Teslarati, Bogart taught her cohorts offensive and defensive strategies based on The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
Synthesis School already has cohorts from around the world, including Australia, England, India, Bahrain, and the United States. The enrichment club offers weekly classes for $180 a month and has plans to add more classes in the future.
It is a growing community dedicated to teaching children and young adults fundamental skills they will need to learn and thrive in life through games like Constellation. In Jessica Bogart’s words, Synthesis School helps kids “embrace the chaos.”
Given the global landscape of today, embracing the chaos of the world and having the ability to work through it, may just be what the doctor ordered.
For more information on Synthesis School, click here.
If you have a story share related to Elon Musk, Tesla, or any of his companies, we’d like to hear from you. Email us at tips@teslarati.com or reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com.
News
Tesla VP explains latest updates in trade secret theft case
Tesla reportedly caught Matthews copying the tech into machines that were sold to competitors, claiming they lied about doing so for three years, and continued to ship it. That is when Tesla chose to sue Matthews in July 2024 in Federal court, demanding over $1 billion in damages due to trade secret theft.
Tesla Vice President Bonne Eggleston explained the latest updates in a trade secret theft case the company has against a former manufacturing equipment supplier, Matthews International.
Back in 2024, Tesla had filed a lawsuit against Matthews International, alleging that the firm stole trade secrets about battery manufacturing and shared those details with some of Tesla’s competitors.
Early last year, a U.S. District Court Judge denied Tesla’s request to block Matthews International from selling its dry battery electrode (DBE) technology across the world. The judge, Edward Davila, said that the patent for the tech was due to Matthews’ “extensive research and development.”
The two companies’ relationship began back in 2019, as Tesla hired Matthews to help build the equipment for its 4680 battery cell. Tesla shared confidential software, designs, and know-how under strict secrecy rules.
Fast forward a few years, and Tesla reportedly caught Matthews copying the tech into machines that were sold to competitors, claiming they lied about doing so for three years, and continued to ship it. That is when Tesla chose to sue Matthews in July 2024 in Federal court, demanding over $1 billion in damages due to trade secret theft.
Now, the latest twist, as this month, a Judge issued a permanent injunction—a court order banning Matthews from using certain stolen Tesla parts or designs in their machines. Matthews is also officially “liable” for damages. The exact amount would still to be calculated later.
Bonne Eggleston, a VP for Tesla, said on X today that Matthews is a supplier who “exploited customer IP through theft or deception,” and has no place in Tesla’s ecosystem:
Buyer beware: Matthews International stole Tesla’s DBE technology and is now subject to an injunction and liable for damages.
During our work with Matthews, we caught them red-handed copying our technology—including proprietary software and sensitive mechanical designs—into… https://t.co/Toc8ilakeM
— Bonne Eggleston (@BonneEggleston) March 10, 2026
Tesla calls this a big win and warns other companies: “Buyer beware—don’t buy from thieves.”
Matthews hit back with a press release claiming victory. They say an arbitrator ruled they can keep selling their own DBE equipment to anyone and rejected Tesla’s request for a total sales ban. They call Tesla’s claims “nonsense” and insist their 20-year-old tech is independent. Both sides are spinning the same narrow ruling: Matthews can sell their version, but they’re blocked from using Tesla’s specific secrets.
What are Tesla’s Current Legal Options
The case isn’t over—it’s moving to the damages phase. Tesla can:
- Push forward in court or arbitration to calculate and collect huge financial penalties (potentially $1 billion+ if willful theft is proven).
- Enforce the permanent injunction with contempt charges, fines, or even jail time if Matthews violates it.
- Challenge Matthews’ new patents that allegedly copy Tesla’s work, asking courts to invalidate them or add Tesla as co-inventor.
- Seek extra damages, lawyer fees, and possibly punitive awards under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and California law.
Tesla could also refer evidence to federal prosecutors for possible criminal trade-secret charges (rare but serious). Settlement is always possible, but Tesla’s fiery public response suggests they want full accountability.
This isn’t just corporate drama. It shows why trade secrets matter even when Tesla open-sources some patents, confidential know-how shared in trust must stay protected. For the EV industry, it’s a reminder: steal from your biggest customer, and you risk losing everything.
News
Tesla Cybercab includes this small but significant feature
The Cybercab is Tesla’s big plan to introduce fully autonomous ride-sharing in a seamless fashion. In fact, the Full Self-Driving suite was geared toward alleviating the need to manually drive vehicles.
Tesla Cybercab manufacturing is strikingly close, as the company is still aiming for an April start date. But small and significant features are still being identified for the first time as production units appear all over the country for testing and for regulatory events, like one yesterday in Washington, D.C.
The Cybercab is Tesla’s big plan to introduce fully autonomous ride-sharing in a seamless fashion. In fact, the Full Self-Driving suite was geared toward alleviating the need to manually drive vehicles.
This was for everyone, including the disabled, who are widely reliant on ride-sharing platforms, family members, and medical shuttles for transportation of any kind. Cybercab aims to change that, and Tesla evidently put a focus on those riders while developing the vehicle, evident in a small but significant feature revealed during its appearance in the Nation’s Capital.
Tesla Cybercab display highlights interior wizardry in the small two-seater
Tesla has implemented Braille within the Cybercab to make it easier for blind passengers to utilize the vehicle. On both the ‘Stop/Hazard Lights’ button and the Door Releases, Tesla has placed Braille so that blind passengers can navigate their way through the vehicle:
The hazard lights button will be used as an emergency stop. Smart pic.twitter.com/vkYBioqmKm
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) March 10, 2026
We have braille on the interior door releases as well
— Eric (@EricETesla) March 11, 2026
This is a great addition to the Cybercab, especially as Full Self-Driving has been partially pointed at as a solution for those with disabilities that would keep them from driving themselves from place to place.
It truly is a great addition and just another way that Tesla is showing they are making this massive product inclusive for everyone out there, including those who have not been able to drive due to not having vision.
The Cybercab is set to enter mass production sometime in April, and it will be responsible for launching Tesla’s massive plans for an autonomous ride-sharing program.
Elon Musk
Tesla and xAI team up on massive new project
It is the latest move by a Musk company to automate, streamline, and reduce the manual, monotonous, and tedious work currently performed by humans through AI and robotics development. Digital Optimus will be capable of processing and actioning the past five seconds of a real-time computer screen video and keyboard and mouse actions.
Elon Musk teased a massive new project, to be developed jointly by Tesla and xAI, called “Digital Optimus” or “Macrohard,” the first development under Tesla’s investment agreement with xAI.
Musk announced on X that Digital Optimus will “be capable of emulating the function of entire companies.”
Macrohard or Digital Optimus is a joint xAI-Tesla project, coming as part of Tesla’s investment agreement with xAI.
Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2026
It is the latest move by a Musk company to automate, streamline, and reduce the manual, monotonous, and tedious work currently performed by humans through AI and robotics development. Digital Optimus will be capable of processing and actioning the past five seconds of a real-time computer screen video and keyboard and mouse actions.
Essentially, it will be an AI version of a desk worker in many capacities, including accounting, HR tasks, and others.
Musk said:
“Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse actions. Grok is like a much more advanced and sophisticated version of turn-by-turn navigation software. You can think of it as Digital Optimus AI being System 1 (instinctive part of the mind) and Grok being System 2. (thinking part of the mind).”
Its key applications would be used for enterprise automation, simulating entire companies, high-volume repetitive tasks, and potentially, future hybrid use with the Optimus robot, which would handle physical tasks, while Digital Optimus would handle the clerical work.
The creation of a digital AI suite like Digital Optimus would help companies save time and money, as well as become more efficient in their operations through massive scalability. However, there will undoubtedly be concerns from people who are skeptical of a fully-integrated AI workhorse like this one.
From an energy consumption perspective and just a general concern for the human workforce, these types of AI projects are polarizing in nature.
However, Digital Optimus would be a great digital counterpart to Tesla’s physical Optimus robot, as it would be a hyper-efficient addition to any company that is looking for more production for less cost.
Musk maintains that there is no other company on Earth that will be able to do this.
Tesla VP explains latest updates in trade secret theft case
Tesla Cybercab includes this small but significant feature
