News
SpaceX wins almost $1B to bring Starlink internet to half a million US homes, businesses
In a competition against hundreds of providers, many established, SpaceX’s Starlink constellation has come out of left field to win almost $1B from the FCC – funds that will help bring high-quality internet to hundreds of thousands of rural Americans.
Just 13 months after Starlink v1.0 flights began, SpaceX has successfully delivered almost 900 operational Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) over the course of 15 dedicated Falcon 9 launches. At least 700 of those ~265 kg (~580 lb) spacecraft have completed orbit raising maneuvers with krypton-fueled electric thrusters and are truly operational, serving an ever-growing number of Starlink internet beta customers across the northern US and southern Canda.
Out of 180 winning FCC auction bidders, SpaceX appears to be just one of two space-based internet providers despite the entrenched and monopolistic nature of existing rural satellite internet companies like Viasat and HughesNet – the latter of which did secure about $1.25 million to subsidize services at ~3700 locations. The main reason: designed to operate in LEO to ensure extremely low latencies, only SpaceX’s Starlink constellation was deemed eligible to compete for the majority of Auction 904, which prioritized high speeds and low latency (ping).
All told, SpaceX appears to be second only to one other competitor – a Charter Communications subsidiary – for the number of service locations it won during the FCC’s latest rural broadband auction. Based on a brief scan and analysis of official spreadsheets released by the regulatory agency, Charter won around $1.22 billion to subsidize service for 1.05 million rural American “locations” (i.e. homes, businesses, community centers, etc.), followed by SpaceX ($885 million for ~643,000 locations), and the Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium ($1.1 billion for ~618,500 locations).
LTD Broadband took home the biggest monetary prize, winning $1.32 billion to subsidize service at ~528,000 locations. While it’s difficult to compare on a level playing field due to the varying degrees of subsidy determined necessary by the FCC on a roughly case-by-case basis, SpaceX appears to be as cost-efficient or cheaper than the other two-dozen or so competitors that secured 100,000+ locations, averaging around $138 per site per year. For the entire auction, the average annual subsidy will be $176 per location.
According to the FCC, the funds will be evenly dispersed over the next 10 years, hopefully ensuring high-quality internet access for 5.2 million unserved rural homes and businesses and positively impacting the lives and communities of at least 10-20 million rural Americans.
Additionally, thanks to a very competitive auction, the FCC wound up committing only $9.2 billion of a total $16 billion available for this “Phase I” rural auction. Combined with funds reserved for future auctions, the FCC says it will be able to commit at least $11.2 billion to an upcoming Phase II auction, which will focus on underserved (“partially-served”) areas to complement Phase I’s focus on unserved locations.
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To be clear, the ~$88 million SpaceX will receive annually for the next decade will go directly towards lowering the barrier to entry and cost of service for hundreds of thousands of Americans that currently have little to no reliable internet access. The company will be required to regularly hit buildout milestones, proving to the FCC that it’s on track to serve all ~543,000 awarded locations within six years of the first payment – but the faster, the better.
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Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
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Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk and James Cameron find middle ground in space and AI despite political differences
Musk responded with some positive words for the director on X.
Avatar director James Cameron has stated that he can still agree with Elon Musk on space exploration and AI safety despite their stark political differences.
In an interview with Puck’s The Town podcast, the liberal director praised Musk’s SpaceX achievements and said higher priorities must unite them, such as space travel and artificial intelligence. Musk responded with some positive words for the director on X.
A longtime mutual respect
Cameron and Musk have bonded over technology for years. As far back as 2011, Cameron told NBC News that “Elon is making very strong strides. I think he’s the likeliest person to step into the shoes of the shuttle program and actually provide human access to low Earth orbit. So… go, Elon.” Cameron was right, as SpaceX would go on to become the dominant force in spaceflight over the years.
Even after Musk’s embrace of conservative politics and his roles as senior advisor and former DOGE head, Cameron refused to cancel his relationship with the CEO. “I can separate a person and their politics from the things that they want to accomplish if they’re aligned with what I think are good goals,” Cameron said. Musk appreciated the director’s comments, stating that “Jim understands physics, which is rare in Hollywood.”
Shared AI warnings
Both men have stated that artificial intelligence could be an existential threat to humanity, though Musk has noted that Tesla’s products such as Optimus could usher in an era of sustainable abundance. Musk recently predicted that money and jobs could become irrelevant with advancing AI, while Cameron warned of a deeper crisis, as noted in a Fox News report.
-->“Because the overall risk of AI in general… is that we lose purpose as people. We lose jobs. We lose a sense of, ‘Well, what are we here for?’” Cameron said. “We are these flawed biological machines, and a computer can be theoretically more precise, more correct, faster, all of those things. And that’s going to be a threshold existential issue.”
He concluded: “I just think it’s important for us as a human civilization to prioritize. We’ve got to make this Earth our spaceship. That’s really what we need to be thinking.”
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
