The Porsche Taycan is an uncompromising electric sports sedan. Built on a platform designed specifically for EVs and tapping into electric motor tech that powered past flagship vehicles like the 918 Spyder, the Taycan represents the best of what Porsche can offer today, in an unapologetically electric package.
It is then unsurprising to see that with the Taycan’s arrival, the long-debunked narrative of the “Tesla Killer” was reborn. American online auto information resource Edmunds, for one, proudly declared in a tweet that after experiencing the Taycan that its team “got out with a singular thought: This is a Tesla Killer.” The company then proceeded to state that the Taycan has a “driving ability that no Tesla can match,” especially considering that its track-capable and its optimal 0-60 mph launches could be repeated “endlessly.”
While statements such as these foster both healthy and unhealthy debates among the EV and auto community, it is pertinent to highlight the simple fact that the Taycan is NOT a “Tesla Killer.” Instead, it could very well be the first genuine attempt from an experienced premium automaker to design and release an electric vehicle that is, in more ways than one, a potential “killer” of the internal combustion engine. This makes the Taycan the strongest vehicle yet that could accompany Tesla in Elon Musk’s overall plan to transition the transportation sector away from fossil fuels.
The Taycan, particularly the Turbo S variant, is an honest-to-goodness driver’s car. The German automaker made it clear that when it was designing the vehicle, it made sure that the “soul” that is so valued among the traditional car community is present in the electric four-door sedan. This is evident in the way the company tuned the driving dynamics of the car, which was tuned in the Nurburgring. The Taycan is just like any other Porsche: it’s the type of car that you take up to the mountains on a weekend drive. It just happens to be electric.
During its Annual Press Conference earlier this year, Porsche emphasized how the Taycan is the start of its own transition to a full embrace of electric mobility. The company’s executives acknowledged that more electric vehicles are coming, and it is transitioning its fleet as much as possible to do so. Porsche is serious enough in this initiative that it quite literally changed the face of its historic Zuffenhausen factory to make way for the Taycan and its other upcoming electric cars.
Perhaps what really makes the Taycan a compelling vehicle is the fact that unlike other EVs from veteran carmakers that have come before it, the four-door is not an exercise in compromise. It represents a real effort by an experienced automaker to release an EV that is superior to some of its own ICE-powered creations. A look at the vehicle’s specs shows that apart from its range, which is still far from Tesla’s level, the Taycan is a solid electric car. It could even be stated that with the Taycan’s arrival, it would be pretty silly to choose an equally-priced high-performance car with an internal combustion engine.
Elon Musk has always stated that Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the transition of the auto industry towards sustainability. The company has so far been able to accomplish this by introducing vehicles like the Model S and Model 3, both of which are simply better than the available competition. Yet Musk has also been honest about his belief that Tesla could not push the auto industry towards sustainability alone. It needs other automakers to join the fray by offering excellent electric vehicles that beat out gas cars in key metrics. The Taycan could very well be the first in this list.
Tesla has long been a polarizing company, and it will likely continue to be polarizing for years to come. Regardless of how successful the company gets, or how well vehicles like the Model 3 and Model S perform on the market, there will always be car buyers that will refuse to purchase one of its vehicles based on one reason or another. Accelerating the world’s transition to sustainability is a mass effort, and the auto industry would need a lot more vehicles like the Porsche Taycan to accomplish this.
Overall, could the Taycan potentially steal some customers from Tesla’s higher-priced vehicles like the 345-mile, ~$100,000 Model S Performance? Perhaps, if buyers are in the market for a ~$150,000 car that drives like a classic Porsche, and if they are more open to a high-performance EV with 279 miles of range (under the WLTP standard) and less interior space. But will the Taycan affect the Model 3 in any way? Absolutely not.
Elon Musk
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.
Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards.
Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD.
Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible.
The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Elon Musk has pushed back on claims that Starlink’s recent price reductions are tied to Amazon’s Kuiper project.
In a post on X, Musk responded directly to a report suggesting that Starlink was cutting prices and offering free hardware to partners ahead of a planned IPO and increased competition from Kuiper.
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “The lower the cost, the more Starlink can be used by people who don’t have much money, especially in the developing world.”
The speculation originated from a post summarizing a report from The Information, which ran with the headline “SpaceX’s Starlink Makes Land Grab as Amazon Threat Looms.” The report stated that SpaceX is aggressively cutting prices and giving free hardware to distribution partners, which was interpreted as a reaction to Amazon’s Kuiper’s upcoming rollout and possible IPO.
In a way, Musk’s comments could be quite accurate considering Starlink’s current scale. The constellation currently has more than 9,700 satellites in operation today, making it by far the largest satellite broadband network in operation. It has also managed to grow its user base to 10 million active customers across more than 150 countries worldwide.
Amazon’s Kuiper, by comparison, has launched approximately 211 satellites to date, as per data from SatelliteMap.Space, some of which were launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Starlink surpassed that number in early January 2020, during the early buildout of its first-generation network.
Lower pricing also aligns with Starlink’s broader expansion strategy. SpaceX continues to deploy satellites at a rapid pace using Falcon 9, and future launches aboard Starship are expected to significantly accelerate the constellation’s growth. A larger network improves capacity and global coverage, which can support a broader customer base.
In that context, price reductions can be viewed as a way to match expanding supply with growing demand. Musk’s companies have historically used aggressive pricing strategies to drive adoption at scale, particularly when vertical integration allows costs to decline over time.
News
Tesla Giga Berlin makes a statement of solidarity amid IG Metall conflict
The display comes as tensions between Tesla and IG Metall continue to escalate.
Tesla Giga Berlin is sending a strong message of solidarity amid its ongoing legal dispute with German union IG Metall.
In a post on social media platform X, Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig shared an image of the facility’s lobby covered with a large banner that reads: “Progress. Innovation. Success.” He added that the slogan reflects what the facility has stood for since Day One.
“Our lobby at Giga Berlin covered in a huge banner these days. Progress. Innovation. Success – this is what we stand for since we started production in 2022 and how we will go into our future!” Thierig wrote in his post on X.
The display comes as tensions between Tesla and IG Metall continue to escalate.
The dispute began after Tesla accused a union representative of secretly recording a works council meeting at Giga Berlin. Tesla stated that it filed a criminal complaint after the alleged incident. Police later confirmed they had seized a computer belonging to an IG Metall member as part of their investigation.
“What has happened today at Giga Berlin is truly beyond words! An external union representative from IG Metall attended a works council meeting. For unknown reasons he recorded the internal meeting and was caught in action! We obviously called police and filed a criminal complaint!” Thierig wrote on X at the time.
IG Metall denied the accusation and characterized Tesla’s move as an election tactic ahead of upcoming works council elections. The union subsequently filed a defamation complaint against Thierig. Authorities later confirmed that an investigation had been opened in connection with the matter.
Giga Berlin began production in 2022 and has since become one of Tesla’s key European manufacturing hubs, producing the Model Y, the company’s best-selling vehicle. The facility has expanded capacity over the past years despite environmental protests, labor disputes, and regulatory scrutiny.
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper
