A former Tesla software engineer is among those recently chosen by Elon Musk for federal positions related to the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and it’s being reported that he is currently looking into the use of AI to identify potential budget cuts.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has appointed Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla software engineer of seven years, as the Director of the Technology Transformation Services (TTS) group at the General Services Administration (via The New York Times).
The group includes around 700 engineering professionals picked by Musk, and Shedd has recently told staffers that AI would play a crucial role in cost-reduction efforts, according to four people who spoke to the Times. He has also said he hopes to create a database of every government contract, though the legality of privacy related to doing so isn’t yet clear.
With @DOGE now operating, U.S. President Trump shares his thoughts on Elon Musk:
“I think Elon’s doing a good job. He’s a big cost-cutter. Sometimes, we won’t agree…it will not go where he wants to go. But I think he’s doing a great job,” Trump said.pic.twitter.com/fyP4HzmWtg
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 3, 2025
READ MORE ON DOGE: Predator drone maker urges Elon Musk’s DOGE to reform Pentagon contracting system
Shedd also described any such privacy laws as a “roadblock,” saying that the agency would still work to see what’s possible in that regard, according to a report from Wired.
At the time of writing, Shedd has not responded to Teslarati’s request for comment on his federal role. On his LinkedIn page, Shedd writes that his role at Tesla focused on “software, cameras and teams that run the vehicle and battery factories.”
Musk’s use of former engineering talent in his new federal role comes as the Trump administration has emphasized hopes to utilize more AI across the government, as well as to commit to significant budget-reduction efforts with help from the Tesla CEO.
Over the weekend, Musk also gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with several senior staff members reportedly being placed on administrative leave.
“USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk wrote in a post on X on Sunday. “Time for it to die.”
He also said over the weekend that the agency was being overseen by “a bunch of radical lunatics,” calling it a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
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Elon Musk
Grok coming to Tesla vehicles next week “at the latest:” Elon Musk
Grok’s rollout to Tesla vehicles is expected to begin next week at the latest.

Elon Musk announced on Thursday that Grok, the large language model developed by his startup xAI, will soon be available in Tesla vehicles. Grok’s rollout to Tesla vehicles is expected to begin next week at the latest, further deepening the ties between the two Elon Musk-led companies.
Tesla–xAI synergy
Musk confirmed the news on X shortly after livestreaming the release of Grok 4, xAI’s latest large language model. “Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon. Next week at the latest,” Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X.
During the livestream, Musk and several members of the xAI team highlighted several upgrades to Grok 4’s voice capabilities and performance metrics, positioning the LLM as competitive with top-tier models from OpenAI and Google.
The in-vehicle integration of Grok marks a new chapter in Tesla’s AI development. While Tesla has long relied on in-house systems for autonomous driving and energy optimization, Grok’s integration would introduce conversational AI directly into its vehicles’ user experience. This integration could potentially improve customer interaction inside Tesla vehicles.
xAI and Tesla’s collaborative footprint
Grok’s upcoming rollout to Tesla vehicles adds to a growing business relationship between Tesla and xAI. Earlier this year, Tesla disclosed that it generated $198.3 million in revenue from commercial, consulting, and support agreements with xAI, as noted in a report from Bloomberg News. A large portion of that amount, however, came from the sale of Megapack energy storage systems to the artificial intelligence startup.
In July 2023, Musk polled X users about whether Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI. While no formal investment has been made so far, 68% of poll participants voted yes, and Musk has since stated that the idea would be discussed with Tesla’s board.
Elon Musk
xAI launches Grok 4 with new $300/month SuperGrok Heavy subscription
xAI also introduced SuperGrok Heavy, which is priced at $300 per month.

xAI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, has officially launched its latest flagship models, Grok 4 and Grok 4 Heavy. Alongside the release, the company introduced its most premium subscription tier to date, SuperGrok Heavy, which is priced at $300 per month and targeted at power users and developers.
Grok 4 is designed to compete with top-tier AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. As per xAI, Grok 4 demonstrates frontier-level performance across several benchmark evaluations.
On Humanity’s Last Exam, an extensive test designed to evaluate general knowledge, Grok 4 scored 25.4% without using external tools, outperforming OpenAI’s o3 (high), which scored 21%, and Gemini 2.5 Pro, which scored 21.6%.
When equipped with tools, Grok 4 Heavy scored 44.4%, making it the top-performing model in that category. For context, Gemini 2.5 Pro with tools scored 26.9%, as noted in a TechCrunch report.
xAI also highlighted Grok 4 Heavy’s “multi-agent” system, which enables multiple instances of the model to solve a problem in parallel and compare answers, similar to a study group. This collaborative approach is intended to improve both reasoning and accuracy in complex tasks.
The company also shared results from the ARC-AGI-2 benchmark, where Grok (Thinking) achieved new state of the art (SOTA) score on the test with 15.9%. As per Arc Prize in a post on X, this score is “nearly double(s) the previous commercial SOTA and tops the current Kaggle competition SOTA.”
The $300/month SuperGrok Heavy plan grants users early access to Grok 4 Heavy, as well as upcoming product features. Upcoming capabilities that are planned for release in the coming months include an AI coding model in August, a multi-modal agent in September, and a video generation system in October.
Grok 4 and Grok 4 Heavy are available via API as part of xAI’s push to engage developers and enterprise users. The company’s enterprise platform, which launched just two months ago, will also expand via partnerships with cloud hyperscalers to bring Grok models to broader infrastructure environments.
Elon Musk
Linda Yaccarino steps down as X CEO
Yaccarino highlighted the work that the X team has done over the past two years under her leadership.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has announced that she is stepping down as the social media platform’s chief executive. She shared her update in a post on X.
In her post, Yaccarino highlighted the work that the X team has done over the past two years under her leadership. As per the executive, the company has made significant strides towards its goal of becoming the Everything App. She also highlighted the company’s work in prioritizing the safety of its users, particularly children.
Following is Yaccarino’s statement:
After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏.
When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.
I’m incredibly proud of the X team – the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.
We started with the critical early work necessary to prioritize the safety of our users—especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence. This team has worked relentlessly from groundbreaking innovations like Community Notes, and, soon, X Money to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform. Now, the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai.
X is truly a digital town square for all voices and the world’s most powerful culture signal. We couldn’t have achieved that without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world.
I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world.
As always, I’ll see you on 𝕏.
Elon Musk has issued a response to Yaccarino’s decision to step down as X’s CEO. In a reply, Musk thanked the executive for her work on the social media platform for the past two years.
“Thank you for your contributions,” Musk wrote.
Under Yaccarino’s leadership, X traversed rocky waters and reestablished itself as a town square where the world’s most notable people are within reach of everyday users across the globe. She also helped lead the company through its acquisition by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI. At the time, the deal valued X at $33 billion, lower than the $44 billion paid by Elon Musk for Twitter but notably higher than estimates from firms like Fidelity, which valued the social media platform at below $10 billion in late 2024.
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