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Elon Musk’s OpenAI increases hiring efforts in push to build safe AI
OpenAI, the non-profit artificial intelligence research firm co-chaired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Y Combinator president Sam Altman, appears to be preparing for an expansion. In a recent post on Twitter, the research company announced that it is actively looking for a full-time Recruiting Coordinator who will be based in San Francisco, CA. The person that would be hired will aid OpenAI in growing the company’s team, from hiring to the onboarding process for new employees.
The artificial intelligence company’s announcement follows a long silence on Twitter. Prior to the recent job posting, OpenAI’s official account in the microblogging platform posted its last update back in early December 2017. What is rather interesting, however, is that signs of OpenAI’s impending ramp-up could be seen on its social media page since last year, with the firm announcing an opening for a Machine Learning Fellow post last November. Considering that the company is now looking for a recruitment officer, it seems safe to infer that OpenAI is preparing to start expanding its reach.
Want to help grow the OpenAI team? We're hiring a recruiting coordinator: https://t.co/bqQcn4CHk4. Passion about beneficial AI and attention to detail more important than experience.
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 11, 2018
The artificial intelligence company was founded in 2015 on the principles of developing AI that is innately friendly to human development, as well as smart technologies that would benefit humanity as a whole. Since OpenAI’s conception, its patents and research have been open to the public, which Musk and his partners in the project hope would help usher in the era of a peaceful human-A.I. existence.
Musk has been pretty vocal about his reservations on the emergence of hyper-intelligent A.I. technologies. Taking a similar stance as world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, Musk described A.I. as humanity’s most significant existential threat and a possible cause for the end of human civilization as a whole.
In a lot of ways, Musk’s views on artificial intelligence are well-founded. Efforts in the A.I. industry over the past few years, after all, have proven that intelligent technologies tend to act and evolve in a rather unpredictable manner. Microsoft’s previous attempt at introducing an A.I.-powered chatbot on social media, for one, ended in a well-publicized failure. Back in 2016, the Redmond-based tech giant launched Tay, an A.I.-powered chatbot on Twitter, and within 24 hours, the bot learned how to spew out aggressive, anti-semitic statements. Tay was promptly retired.
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Over the past couple of years, OpenAI has managed to gain a lot of ground in the artificial intelligence scene. Just last year, the research firm was able to develop bots that are capable of creating their own language. Not long after that, the company was able to create a bot that ultimately defeated a world-class DOTA 2 player. The research firm was also able to develop and release a couple of valuable platforms for A.I. initiatives — OpenAI Gym, which is aimed at reinforcement learning, and Universe, a training algorithm for intelligent technologies.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
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Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
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Elon Musk continues to tease the unveiling event for the Tesla Roadster, a continuing trend that has grown into a bigger game of “When” for fans who have been waiting years for the car to finally enter production.
A video shared on X of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Musk appeared on last year, teasing the Roadster unveiling, was shared once again on the social media platform. The poster said the Roadster event will be “unforgettable.”
Musk agreed:
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The timing is interesting because just yesterday, Musk said that we will be getting flying cars, and for years, Tesla has hinted that it could develop a SpaceX cold gas thruster package that would help the car float or fly for a short period of time.
It would be reasonable to assume Tesla’s major delays with this unveiling event are likely caused by the company’s need to break the rules and push the envelope on nearly everything. Last July, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said:
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“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind blowing. We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on and he got a little excited.”
The latest updates that Tesla has given us are that the Roadster is in design development, and it did have several potential dates for an unveiling event this year, including April. It was then pushed to August.
However, there are no clues as to when Tesla will be ready, and fans are certainly getting frustrated with the delays.
For what it is worth, Franz von Holzhausen told Jay Leno this week that the event would be “very soon.”
We sure hope.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Tesla launches Powerwall Lease for affordable home backup
Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again
