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LIVE BLOG: Tesla Cybertruck first delivery event

Credit: Ryan McCaffrey/X

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The Tesla Cybertruck is here. It took four years since the vehicle’s initial unveiling, but here we are. The first batch of owners are receiving their Tesla Cybertrucks today, and the world’s roads will never be the same. 

It took a lot to get to this point. When the Cybertruck was initially unveiled, Giga Texas has not even started its construction yet. The Cybertruck seemed like a pipe dream then, especially since the vehicle was designed so differently that critics were all but sure that the all-electric pickup truck would never be produced. 

But Tesla is Tesla, and it is a company that makes the impossible feel late. And so, one global pandemic and one new Gigafactory later, the Cybertruck is finally ready to be delivered to its first batch of customers.

Considering how important this day is, we at Teslarati will not miss the chance to cover it with a Live Blog. We’ll be updating this article over the course of the event, so please refresh the page for our latest updates. 

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14:48 CT – Looks like that’s a wrap. Tesla delivered quite a number of Cybertrucks to consumers during this event. I gotta admit, while the event is short, it is quite enjoyable. Thank you so much for staying with us for this live blog. Until the next time!

Here’s the full livestream of the Tesla Cybertruck delivery event on X.

14:42 CT – And with that, the vehicle’s first deliveries have begun. Musk comments that actual customers of the vehicle are receiving the vehicle. Musk could be heard chatting briefly with the new Cybertruck owners before they drove away in their new vehicle.

14:42 CT – Musk’s discussion now moves to the vehicle’s performance. He discusses the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system, which gives the Cybertruck great agility. Musk noted that the Cybertruck has a turning radius that’s smaller than a Model S.

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Tesla now shows the Cybertruck racing against a Porsche 911 that’s fresh from the dealer. The pickup truck beat the 911 — while towing another Porsche 911. The Cybertruck’s 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds. Musk noted that the Cybertruck is “faster than a 911 while towing a 911.”

14:37 CT – The Tesla CEO’s discussion on the Cybertruck now moves to the vehicle’s utility. As noted by Musk, the Cybertruck features 2,500 payload capacity, an 11,000-pound towing capacity. The bed is also 6 feet long and 4 feet wide.

Tesla now demonstrates how the Cybertruck stacks up against other pickup trucks in a pulling demo. The vehicle beat the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and the Ford F-350 in the event.

“You have a truck that’s bullet tough, and can out-pull an F-350… It’s not just a grandstanding showpiece like me. It’s actually very useful,” Musk said.

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14:31 CT – Elon shows off some of the Cybertruck’s crash tests. As noted by the CEO, the Cybertruck does not roll over. Tesla also shows off how the Cybertrucks’ body panels survived being shot at by a gun.

14:28 CT – Elon Musk opens the Cybertruck’s discussion with the vehicle’s toughness. He notes that Tesla had to develop the stainless steel used for the Cybertruck. “It has more torsional stiffness than a McLaren P1,” Musk said. “It’s a big deal.”

He also joked that four years ago, Tesla tried a demo that didn’t really go as planned. Franz steps up and throws a ball at the Cybertruck’s window. And it didn’t break this time. “The glass is tough, is basically what we’re saying,” Musk joked.

14:28 CT – Elon notes that experts said that the Cybertruck was impossible, that it would never be made. “I think it’s our best product. Finally, the future will look like the future,” Musk said.

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Kimbal also told Elon to keep himself on the light. The audience laughs.

14:26 CT – And the event is starting! Elon Musk is holding the event from the bed of the Cybertruck. The lighting could be better. Little X was a little overwhelmed, too, it seems.

14:24 CT – Alright, something is definitely happening. A promotional video for the production Cybertruck! It’s pretty epic. The video shows the all-electric pickup truck driving and ripping through every terrain imaginable. Nuts.

Also, how do you show that the Cybertruck can do “real” work? Show it being used by workers at a literal rocket factory!

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14:23 CT – Okay, I jumped the gun there. We’re up to 23 minutes and Elon hasn’t appeared yet. Really pushing the excitement for this event, Tesla.

14:18 CT – Looks like it’s about to start. The livestream is still the same, though.

14:12 CT – Elon Musk is now 12 minutes late. Elon time it is! That said, the graphics of the Cybertruck’s 4680 cells looks pretty darn sick.

14:05 CT – Looks like we’re really just waiting for other Tesla executives to make their entrance. Meanwhile, the livestream is serenading us with some futuristic music.

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14:05 CT – Footage posted on X shows that Tesla board member Kimbal Musk is now interacting with some of the event’s attendees. He looks hyped.

14:02 CT – Images from attendees show that the livestream has also started in Giga Texas. We’re all now waiting for Tesla executives to start the event.

14:00 CT – The livestream has started. We see a graphic of the Tesla Cybertruck’s interior and its parts floating. This totally gives sci-fi vibes, so it’s pretty nutty that this actual product will be delivered to customers later today.

13:59 CT – And we’re down to one minute before the event!

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13:55 CT – Less than five minutes before the Cybertruck’s first delivery event starts its broadcast. Ah, this is very exciting. More exciting than the quarterly earnings calls, for sure.

13:50 CT – And we’re live! The countdown timer on Tesla’s official Cybertruck page is now down to its last 10 minutes. Will it start on time or is it Elon time again? We’ll find out soon. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads-up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla intertwines FSD with in-house Insurance for attractive incentive

Every mile logged under FSD now carries a documented financial value—lower risk, lower cost—based on Tesla’s internal driving data rather than external crash statistics alone.

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tesla interior operating on full self driving
Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla intertwined its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite with its in-house Insurance initiative in an effort to offer an attractive incentive to drivers.

Tesla announced that its new Safety Score 3.0 will automatically have a perfect score of 100 with every mile driven with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) enabled.

The change is designed to boost customers’ average safety scores and deliver noticeably lower monthly premiums.

The move marks the clearest link yet between Tesla’s autonomous driving technology and its proprietary insurance product. Tesla Insurance already relies on real-time vehicle data—such as acceleration, braking, following distance, and speed—to calculate a Safety Score between 0 and 100. Higher scores have long translated into cheaper rates.

Under the previous system, however, even brief manual interventions could drag down the average, frustrating owners who rely heavily on FSD. Version 3.0 eliminates that penalty for supervised autonomous miles, effectively treating FSD-driven segments as the safest possible driving behavior.

The incentive is immediate and financial. Drivers who keep FSD engaged for the majority of their trips will see their overall score rise, potentially shaving hundreds of dollars off annual premiums.

Tesla framed the update as a direct response to customer feedback, many of whom had complained that the old scoring model punished the very behavior it was meant to encourage.

For now, the program applies only to new policies in six states: Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Virginia, and Illinois.

Existing policyholders are not yet included, a point that drew swift questions from the Tesla community. Many owners in other states, including California and Georgia, expressed hope that the benefit would expand nationwide soon.

The announcement arrives as Tesla continues to roll out FSD Supervised updates and push for regulatory approval of more advanced autonomy. By tying insurance savings directly to FSD usage, the company is putting its own actuarial weight behind the technology’s safety claims.

Every mile logged under FSD now carries a documented financial value—lower risk, lower cost—based on Tesla’s internal driving data rather than external crash statistics alone.

Tesla has not disclosed exact premium reductions or the full rollout timeline beyond the six launch states.

Still, the message is clear: the more drivers trust FSD Supervised, the more Tesla Insurance will reward them. In an era when legacy insurers remain cautious about autonomous tech, Tesla is betting that its own data will prove the safest miles are the ones driven hands-free.

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Elon Musk

Tesla finalizes AI5 chip design, Elon Musk makes bold claim on capability

The Tesla CEO’s words mark a strategic shift. Tesla has long emphasized software-hardware co-design, squeezing maximum performance from every transistor. Musk previously described AI5 as optimized for edge inference in both Robotaxi and Optimus.

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

Tesla has finalized its chip design for AI5, as Elon Musk confirmed today that the new chip has reached the tape-out stage, the final step before mass production.

But in a brief reply on X, Musk clarified Tesla’s AI hardware roadmap, essentially confirming that the new chip will not be utilized for being “enough to achieve much better than human safety for FSD.”

He said that AI4 is enough to do that.

Instead, the AI5 chip will be focused on Tesla’s big-time projects for the future: Optimus and supercomputer clusters.

Musk thanked TSMC and Samsung for production support, noting that AI5 could become “one of the most produced AI chips ever.” Yet, the key pivot came in his direct answer: vehicles no longer need the bleeding-edge silicon.

Existing AI4 hardware, which is already deployed in hundreds of thousands of HW4-equipped Teslas, delivers safety metrics superior to human drivers for Full Self-Driving. AI5 will instead accelerate Optimus robot development and massive Dojo-style training clusters.

The Tesla CEO’s words mark a strategic shift. Tesla has long emphasized software-hardware co-design, squeezing maximum performance from every transistor. Musk previously described AI5 as optimized for edge inference in both Robotaxi and Optimus.

Now, with AI4 proving sufficient, the company avoids costly retrofits across its fleet while redirecting next-generation compute toward higher-value applications: dexterous robots and exponential training scale.

But is it reasonable to assume AI4 enables unsupervised self-driving? Yes, but with important caveats.

On the hardware side, the claim is credible. Tesla’s FSD stack runs end-to-end neural networks trained on billions of miles of real-world data. Internal safety data reportedly shows AI4-equipped vehicles already outperforming average human drivers by a significant margin in controlled metrics (collision avoidance, reaction time, edge-case handling).

Dual-redundant AI4 chips provide ample headroom for the driving task, leaving bandwidth for future model improvements without new silicon. Musk’s assertion aligns with Tesla’s pattern of over-provisioning compute early, then optimizing ruthlessly, exactly as HW3 once sufficed before HW4 scaled further.

Unsupervised autonomy, meaning Level 4 or higher, is not solely a compute problem. Regulatory approval remains the primary gate.

Even if AI4 achieves “much better than human” safety statistically, agencies like the NHTSA demand exhaustive validation, liability frameworks, and public trust.

Tesla’s supervised FSD has shown rapid gains in recent versions, yet real-world edge cases, like construction zones, emergency vehicles, and adverse weather, still require driver intervention in many jurisdictions. Competitors like Waymo operate limited unsupervised fleets, but only in geofenced areas with extensive mapping. Tesla’s vision-only, fleet-scale approach is more ambitious—and harder to certify globally.

In short, Musk’s post is both pragmatic and bullish. AI4 is likely capable of unsupervised FSD from a technical standpoint. Whether regulators and consumers agree, and how quickly, will determine if Tesla’s bet pays off.

The company’s capital-efficient path keeps existing cars relevant while pouring future compute into robots. If the safety data holds, unsupervised autonomy could arrive sooner than many expect.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk signals expansion of Tesla’s unique side business

Long envisioning the Tesla Diner as more than a charging stop, Musk has clearly adopted the idea that the Supercharger and Restaurant combo is a good thing for the company to have. It’s a blend of classic American drive-in culture with futuristic Tesla flair, complete with a 1950s-inspired design, movie screens, and on-site dining.

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tesla diner
Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk has signaled an expansion of Tesla’s unique side business, something that really has nothing to do with cars or spaceships, but fans of the company have truly adopted it as just another one of its awesome ventures.

Musk confirmed on Wednesday that Tesla would build a new Diner location in Palo Alto, Northern California. After hinting last October that it “probably makes sense to open one near our Giga Texas HQ in Austin and engineering HQ in Palo Alto,” it seems one of those locations is being set into motion.

Long envisioning the Tesla Diner as more than a charging stop, Musk has clearly adopted the idea that the Supercharger and Restaurant combo is a good thing for the company to have. It’s a blend of classic American drive-in culture with futuristic Tesla flair, complete with a 1950s-inspired design, movie screens, and on-site dining.

He first floated broader expansion plans shortly after the LA opening in July 2025, noting that if the prototype succeeded, Tesla would roll out similar venues in major cities worldwide and along long-distance Supercharger routes.

Earlier hints included a confirmed second site at Starbase in Texas, tied to SpaceX operations, underscoring the Diner’s role in enhancing Tesla’s ecosystem behind vehicles.

The Los Angeles location on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood has served as a high-profile test case. Opened in July 2025 at 7001 Santa Monica Blvd., it features the world’s largest urban Supercharging station with 80 V4 stalls open to all NACS-compatible EVs, over 250 dining seats, rooftop views, and 24/7 service.

The retro-futuristic building replaced a former Shakey’s and quickly became a destination. Tesla reported selling 50,000 burgers in the first 72 days—an average of over 700 daily—drawing crowds with Cybertruck-shaped packaging, breakfast extensions until 2 p.m., and movie screenings.

Palo Alto stands out as a logical next step for several reasons. As Tesla’s longstanding engineering headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley, the city is home to thousands of Tesla employees, engineers, and executives who could benefit from a convenient, branded gathering spot.

The area boasts high EV adoption rates, dense tech talent, and heavy traffic along key corridors, making a large Supercharger-diner an ideal fit for both daily commuters and long-haul travelers.

Proximity to Stanford University and the innovation ecosystem would amplify its appeal, potentially serving as a showcase for Tesla’s vision of integrated mobility and lifestyle experiences. It could be a great way for Tesla to recruit new talent from one of the country’s best universities.

If Tesla and Musk decide to move forward with a Palo Alto diner, it would build directly on the LA prototype’s momentum while addressing Musk’s earlier calls for expansion near core Tesla hubs.

Whether it materializes as a full confirmation or evolves from these hints remains to be seen, but the pattern is clear: Tesla is testing ways to make charging stops memorable. For EV drivers and enthusiasts alike, a Silicon Valley outpost could blend cutting-edge tech with nostalgic comfort, further embedding Tesla into everyday culture. As Musk’s comments suggest, the future of the Diner looks promising.

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