Tesla’s AI Day last year was an incredible learning experience for me when I attended in person. Tesla will be holding its second AI Day event at the end of this month and we have a lot to look forward to. Loup Ventures seems to agree and published an article titled AI Day Primer.
Loup Ventures gives a brief takeaway and shared thoughts on where Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) is today. The company also noted that AI Day is a chance for Tesla to address FSD critics such as the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, Ralph Nader, and the Dawn Project whose founder is the CEO of Green Hills Software, a competitor of Tesla’s FSD software.
Loup Ventures wrote,
“AI Day II is already a win for Tesla. As investors, we believe that AI Day will be a combination of hard-to-understand technical jargon along with optimistic comments from Elon regarding the timeline of FSD. In the end, many—potentially including ourselves—may leave the event thinking there was little new added to the story. That takeaway misses the point: Autonomy is coming, and no other automaker has made the progress that Tesla has in advancing its potential. Eventually, Tesla will get it right and FSD will ship. And, once again, the company will be years ahead of its competition.”
Loup Ventures estimates that there are around 100,000 FSD betas on the road since the launch in 2020 and the beta testers are a part of its estimated 400,000 FSD owners total. The company noted that 75% of the beta testers are based in the U.S. with about a 20% adoption rate life to date.
Loup Ventures also explained what Tesla meant by collecting data.
“It means it’s capturing gateway log files (seatbelt, AP, cruise-control, speed settings, brake usage, steering input), stored in the vehicle’s event data recorder (EDR), and data records of FSD/AP enabled vehicles. Video is submitted to Tesla when a corner case is observed. The data is stored on a small 8GB chip, according to Spectrum IEEE, and sent back to Tesla over mobile data.”
You can read the full post by Loup Ventures here.
Note: Johnna is a Tesla shareholder and supports its mission.
Your feedback is important. If you have any comments, or concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @JohnnaCrider1
News
Tesla gets another NHTSA probe, this time related to door handles
“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them.”

Tesla is facing another investigation into its vehicles by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this time related to an issue with its door handles.
In a new Open Investigation named “Electronic door handles become inoperative,” the NHTSA says that it has received nine complaints from owners of the 2021 Tesla Model Y stemming from “an inability to open doors.”
These issues were reported after “parents exited their vehicle after a drive cycle in order to remove a child from the pack seat or placing a child in the back seat before starting a drive cycle.” Parents said they were “unable to reopen a door to regain access to the vehicle.”
Tesla door handles become unlikely hero as they stump road rager
Four of the nine complaints ended with having to break a window to regain access to the cabin.
🚨 Model Year 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles are under a preliminary investigation by the NHTSA due to a potential issue with door handles, with nine owners reporting an inability to open doors from the outside
“The most commonly reported scenarios involved parents exiting the… pic.twitter.com/u0qBBiu9LT
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 16, 2025
The NHTSA goes on to explain that, while Teslas do have a manual door release inside the cabin, a child may not be able to access it:
“Although Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside of the cabin, in these situations, a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them. As a result, in these instances, an occupant who remains inside a vehicle in this condition may be unable to be rapidly retrieved by persons outside of the vehicle.”
It appears that the agency is attributing the issue to a low voltage in the vehicle’s 12V DC battery. This would mean there needs to be some sort of notification to the driver that the battery is running low on power and should be replaced to avoid this issue.
The NHTSA estimates that 174,290 vehicles are potentially impacted by this issue. It plans to assess the scope and severity of the condition, the agency says. The NHTSA also wants to see what approach Tesla uses to supply power to door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies.
News
Tesla won’t implement strange Grok character as Musk dispels rumor
It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it.

Tesla is not going to implement a strange character as a Grok assistant in its vehicles, as CEO Elon Musk dispelled the rumor, which seemed to truly invoke some quite polarizing reactions.
Yesterday, there was some controversy within the Tesla community as rumors of a Grok assistant, named Mūn (pronounced like Moon), being implemented into the vehicles started to circulate.
It had some legitimacy. It was initially posted by an employee, and it appeared to be a relatively confirmed development.
However, it really did rub some people the wrong way. Mūn was an Anime-style female dressed in promiscuous clothing, so it was not everyone’s style, and I’m sure not everyone’s significant other’s cup of tea. It seemed a very strange decision to add it, especially considering that, at the time, there was no confirmation to dispel the arrival of the Grok assistant.
That was until Tesla CEO Elon Musk stepped in to put the speculation to bed once and for all.
🚨 Elon has confirmed the Grok assistant rumor with the character Mūn is untrue https://t.co/EC7absBZSj pic.twitter.com/1Skhvy9USQ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) September 16, 2025
It was somewhat strange that this type of issue arose in the first place, but given that it was initially released by an employee, the entire situation is self-explanatory.
It is nice to see that Tesla is not forcing this kind of character upon owners of their vehicles, especially considering that many people had a real problem with it. Many owners did not shy away from the fact that they would like the option to opt out:
I want something family friendly…like an Optimus avatar or something.
— FSD (Unsupervised) Test Pilot (@j32pmxr) September 16, 2025
For now, Grok remains a part of Tesla vehicles, and personally, it is very nice to have in my Model Y to answer some quick questions I might have or even to entertain some people in the car.
Nevertheless, I am relieved I won’t have this character forced upon me in my vehicle.
News
U.S. Judge dismisses lawsuit against SpaceX Starship Boca Chica launch site
The ruling found that the FAA had met its obligations in reviewing the potential environmental effects of Starship launches.

A U.S. district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by conservation groups challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of SpaceX’s expanded rocket launch operations in Boca Chica, Texas.
The ruling, issued Monday, found that the FAA had met its obligations in reviewing the potential environmental effects of Starship launches.
FAA review withstands legal challenge
The lawsuit centered on whether the FAA properly assessed the impact of SpaceX’s operations on endangered wildlife, including ocelots, jaguarundis, and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, as noted in a report from The Guardian. The plaintiffs argued that noise, light pollution, and construction activity degraded the surrounding habitat, which also serves as nesting grounds for threatened shorebirds.
The lawsuit cited SpaceX’s April 2023 Starship test, which destroyed its launchpad and scattered debris across a large area. The blast reportedly ignited a grassfire and damaged wildlife habitats, including a bobwhite quail nest.
Judge Carl Nichols, for his part, ruled that the FAA had satisfied its obligation“to take a hard look at the effects of light on nearby wildlife.” The decision effectively cleared a regulatory hurdle for SpaceX, which has been working to expand Starship launch activity at its Boca Chica facility.
A continued ramp
SpaceX continues to scale its operations nationwide. Beyond Starship, the company is also seeking approval to nearly double Falcon rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, from 50 annually to 95.
Former President Trump has also shared his intention to increase U.S. launch capacity, setting a target for substantial growth by 2030. Considering that SpaceX is by far the world’s dominant launch provider, Trump’s support for more launches will likely benefit the private space company.
For now, at least, the ruling should allow continued expansion at a time when Starship remains central to long-term goals such as Mars missions and NASA’s Artemis program.
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