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Elon Musk’s OpenAI bots crush veteran DOTA 2 players ahead of International tournament

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OpenAI’s team of AI-powered Dota 2 bots have reached yet another impressive milestone — it was able to beat the five veteran players in a 3-on-3 match, dominating two rounds before being defeated narrowly in the third match. The OpenAI Five are now headed to The International, a worldwide event later this month where the world’s best Dota 2 players will battle it out for the chance to be crowned 2018’s Dota 2 champions.

The OpenAI Five clashed with popular Dota 2 personalities such as Ben “Merlini” Wu, William “Blitz” Lee, Ioannis “Fogged” Lucas, David “MoonMeander” Tan, and Austin “Capitalist” Walsh. The bots completely overpowered Team Human in the first game, with the players unable to destroy any of the of the bots’ towers before the end of the match. The Dota 2 pros fought harder in the second round and managed to destroy one of the OpenAI Five’s towers, but they ultimately had to admit defeat to the bots.

Team Human did squeeze out a win in the third match, but not without some strings attached. The characters Open AI played were selected by Twitch users, giving Team Human a slight advantage. The team of bots calculated a 2.9% chance of winning before the start of the game based on its heroes’ lineup. The bots nevertheless fought a hard battle, at one point predicting a 17% win probability before succumbing to Team Human’s assault 35:47 into the game.

OpenAI’s initiatives with Dota 2 began in March last year. The first bot the nonprofit created started training with simple tasks and self-play. On August 7, 2017, the bot started an impressive winning streak after it defeated Blitz, a well-known player in the Dota 2 community. Later, the bot managed to win against two other high-ranking players. It continued with its winning streak defeating well-respected Dota 2 player Arteezy the day after. The Open AI bot went on to best other notable players including, SumaiL, and former world champion, Dendi.

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This year’s team of bots involved a serious amount of hardware and training. The nonprofit research lab employed a scaled-up version of Proximal Policy Optimization running on 256 GPUs and 128,000 cores, a similar setup used in last year’s bot which dominated in 1-vs-1 Dota 2 matches. The OpenAI Five also played roughly 180 years worth of gameplay every day through reinforcement learning, which allowed the bots to develop advanced skills for the game.

OpenAI Five’s latest win against its most formidable adversaries yet ultimately demonstrates the immense progress the bots have made over the past few months. The bots were losing to amateur players in May, but by June, it had matured enough to beat casual gamers. Now, the bots have shown that they are good enough to defeat gamers that have been playing Dota 2 for years. Nevertheless, it is still up for question if OpenAI Five can beat the best players in the game at The International later this month.

Watch OpenAI Five dominate Team Human in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7_mnrxFmo0

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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 Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal

The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.

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Credit: Tesla

After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.

The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.

The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.

The NHTSA document states:

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“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”

Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.

Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.

Tesla brings closure to head-scratching Cybertruck trim

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For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.

Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.

Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.

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Cybertruck RWD Recall by Joey Klender

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Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move

The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially launched Semi production at what will be a mind-boggling rate of approximately 50,000 units per year.

The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.

The company finally announced on April 29 that the first Tesla Semi truck has rolled off its new high-volume production line at the factory. This marks the transition from limited pilot builds to scaled manufacturing for the Class 8 all-electric heavy-duty truck, nearly nine years after its dramatic 2017 unveiling.

Tesla initially promised high-volume deliveries by 2019–2020, but battery supply constraints and prioritization for passenger vehicles delayed progress. The new 1.7-million-square-foot factory, purpose-built next to Gigafactory Nevada’s 4680 cell production lines, resolves those bottlenecks through deep vertical integration.

The Semi uses Tesla’s structural battery packs with cylindrical 4680 cells manufactured on-site. This integration enables efficient supply, reduced logistics costs, and the potential for high output. The factory is designed for an eventual annual capacity of approximately 50,000 trucks, positioning Tesla to address growing demand in long-haul freight electrification.

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Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges

Operating economics favor the Semi through dramatically lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to traditional diesel rigs, and companies involved in a pilot program for the Semi with Tesla have shown that.

Electricity is far cheaper than diesel on a per-mile basis, while the electric powertrain features fewer moving parts, reducing service intervals and lifetime expenses. Early deployments with customers like PepsiCo and others have validated these advantages in real-world service.

The Nevada factory’s ramp-up is targeted for full volume output before the end of June 2026, aligning with broader Tesla production goals for 2026. This includes parallel efforts on other new vehicles while expanding the Megacharger infrastructure to support widespread adoption.

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By localizing battery and truck production, Tesla gains advantages in cost, quality control, and scalability that many competitors sourcing cells externally lack. The start of high-volume Semi production represents a pivotal step in Tesla’s strategy to electrify heavy transportation, potentially accelerating the shift toward zero-emission freight across North America and beyond.

As output increases, the Semi could reshape long-haul logistics with its combination of performance, efficiency, and sustainability.

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Tesla gives HW3 owners another massive update

It was an “at last” moment for HW 3 owners, who have waited for an update on the capabilities of their vehicles for some time. After CEO Elon Musk finally admitted last week that the HW3 vehicles would not be capable of unsupervised FSD, it appears Tesla is bringing a new, more transparent tone to those owners.

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Credit: Tesla Asia/Twitter

Tesla is giving Hardware 3 vehicle owners another massive update, the second major communication the company has given to those drivers after what seemed like years of being left out to dry.

The company, which plans to launch a Full Self-Driving version 14 iteration that is compatible with these cars, which have older chips, is now planning to expand the rollout of the v14 Lite offering to other markets, it said on X.

Tesla said:

“Following future rollout of FSD V14 Lite for HW3 vehicles in the US, we plan on expanding V14 Lite to additional international markets. This update ensures that HW3 vehicle owners will continue to benefit from ongoing software updates. Since international rollout is subject to several factors (completion of technical verification, regional adaptation & relevant regulatory approvals), we can’t provide definitive dates at the moment, but will provide updates on a rolling basis.”

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This announcement comes at a critical time for HW3 owners, many of whom purchased Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability years ago with promises of ongoing support and future-proofing.

HW3, introduced in 2019, powers vehicles from roughly 2019 to early 2023 models. While newer AI4 hardware has advanced rapidly, HW3 owners have felt increasingly left behind, with their last major update stuck around version 12.6 since early 2025.

It was an “at last” moment for HW 3 owners, who have waited for an update on the capabilities of their vehicles for some time. After CEO Elon Musk finally admitted last week that the HW3 vehicles would not be capable of unsupervised FSD, it appears Tesla is bringing a new, more transparent tone to those owners.

V14 Lite represents a significant optimization effort. Tesla has confirmed it will bring many core features of the full V14 release, currently running on more powerful hardware, to the more constrained HW3 platform.

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Expected capabilities include improved handling of complex urban scenarios, better reverse driving, enhanced parking features, and smoother overall autonomy, albeit in a “lite” form tailored to HW3’s compute limits. Tesla’s head of Autopilot, Ashok Elluswamy, noted during the Q1 2026 earnings call that the update is targeted for late June in the U.S.

Tesla is releasing a modified version of FSD v14 for Hardware 3 owners: here’s when

The international expansion is particularly meaningful for owners in Europe, Asia, Australia, and other regions where FSD rollout has lagged due to regulatory hurdles.

Tesla emphasized that timing remains fluid, dependent on “technical verification, regional adaptation & relevant regulatory approvals.” No firm dates were provided, but the company pledged rolling updates as milestones are achieved.

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This move addresses growing concerns that Tesla might abandon legacy hardware. With the recent admission that its capabilities are limited and not capable of Tesla’s grand autonomy ambitions, owners are finally in the light of truth, with more honesty being put forth as the company navigates this chapter.

For Tesla, keeping HW3 relevant strengthens customer loyalty and protects the value of older vehicles. It also buys time as the company pushes toward broader regulatory approvals and unsupervised autonomy on newer platforms.

While V14 Lite isn’t the full unsupervised experience once promised, it delivers tangible improvements and signals that HW3 owners are not being forgotten.

As Tesla continues its rapid AI and autonomy evolution, this update underscores a key principle: software can breathe new life into existing hardware. For tens of thousands of HW3 drivers worldwide, V14 Lite could mark the beginning of a renewed era of confidence in their vehicles.

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