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Rivian Halloween update full notes & photos

(Credit: Rivian)

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Rivian’s Halloween update launched over the weekend, and it’s packed with some super “Make it Spooky” easter eggs. 

Teslarati received a brief overview of the Halloween update from Rivian. Previously, we reported on the update’s fun visualizations, which turned pedestrians into zombies and witches counting down to All Hallow’s Eve. 

Rivian filled us in on the other fantastic Halloween treats it packed into the update, starting with the company’s yeti transforming into a vampire. The transformation signals the R1 driver that the Halloween update is available through their in-vehicle screen.

To access Rivian’s Halloween easter eggs, Rivian R1 owners must go to their mobile app and click the “Halloween” tab under “Settings” on the in-vehicle screen. Toggle the “Make it Spooky” option. Once it is turned on, the accent light on Rivian R1 vehicles will turn green, reminiscent of the swamp monster. 

Meanwhile, a pumpkin will roll out in the ADAS view when the door, gear, tunnel, front, trunk, or R1S liftgate are opened. As mentioned earlier, pedestrians turn into zombies and witches with the update. The same transformation applies to cyclists and motorcyclists. The last Halloween treat applies when R1 vehicles are locked and unlocked. The R1S and R1T emit the famous organ sound associated with Halloween when it is locked and unlocked. 

“This feature is a fun, topical illustration of an industry-wide shift towards ‘software-defined vehicles’– vehicles that continuously evolve, managing their operations, adding functionalities, and enabling new features primarily through software.

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“And the Halloween-themed update is just one example. Through our regular over-the-air updates, we consistently enhance core driving capabilities and introduce new features to Rivian vehicles, driven by feedback from the Rivian community,” noted Rivian. 

Rivian’s Halloween update comes with the 2023.38.0 over-the-air update. Besides making it spooky for Halloween, v.2023.28.0 rolled out towing improvements and revamped the Drive Modes app in R1 vehicles. 

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via X @Writer_01001101.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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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.

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Credit: Tesla China

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.

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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.

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Tesla Robotaxi to expand Austin coverage, Bay Area launch targeted in coming months

Tesla is looking at the San Francisco Bay Area as the next location for its Robotaxi service.

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Credit: @AdanGuajardo/X

Tesla is preparing to expand its Robotaxi pilot program in Austin, Texas, with the self-driving service set to cover a larger portion of the city this weekend. The CEO shared the update in a post on social media platform X, where he also noted that the company is currently looking at the San Francisco Bay Area as the location for Tesla’s next Robotaxi pilot.

Tesla’s growing Robotaxi pilot

Tesla’s Robotaxi service first launched in Austin last month as a test program. While the vehicles operate without a human in the driver’s seat, a Tesla employee currently rides in the front passenger seat to monitor vehicle performance. Responses to Tesla’s Robotaxi pilot are quite positive, with some users praising the vehicles for their smooth and comfortable rides.

In a later post on X, Musk also stated that Tesla is in the process of seeking regulatory approval to begin operating robotaxis in the Bay Area, adding that a launch there could happen within “a month or two.” The California expansion would be a notable milestone for Tesla, considering its roots in the state.

Robotaxi is key to Tesla’s long-term growth

Autonomous driving remains central to Tesla’s long-term vision. Musk has consistently framed Robotaxis as a future driver of profitability and growth, particularly as EV sales face headwinds across multiple regions. In a way, the expansion of Tesla’s autonomous fleet is expected to play a critical role in differentiating the company’s offerings in a crowded electric vehicle market.

Tesla has yet to specify when the Robotaxi service will transition out of its testing phase or how it plans to monetize the platform, as the company is only charging a flat fee of $4.20 per ride in its Austin pilot program today. However, its growing geographic footprint suggests the company is steadily progressing toward wider deployment.

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xAI launches Grok 4 with new $300/month SuperGrok Heavy subscription

xAI also introduced SuperGrok Heavy, which is priced at $300 per month.

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Credit: xAI/X

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.

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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.

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