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SpaceX upgrading Starship noses and domes for easier assembly
While a separate team closes in on the completion of a new and improved Starship nosecone, SpaceX also appears to have begun assembling upgraded ‘tank domes’ that feature a similar underlying design change.
On the nose front, SpaceX has been working on a new and improved version of Starship’s nosecone for at least a year and assembling pathfinders and prototypes of varying fidelity since mid-2020 – around the same time when Starship SN15 became the first (and only) prototype to successfully launch and land. Further down the rocket, hints of Starship dome upgrades are a much more recent development.
Excluding Starship Mk1, which never had its far flimsier nose fully installed, the Starship nose design has been extremely consistent ever since SpaceX began building the first prototypes in mid-2020. Early prototypes were inevitably scrapped as SpaceX quickly iterated on the nose design and assembly process, culminating in Starship SN8, which became the first prototype to have its basic structure (tank section, nose, and flaps) fully assembled.
Though improvements and changes have almost certainly been made in the last ~18 months, the early unflown prototypes and the noses of Starships SN8, SN9, SN10, SN11, SN15, SN16, S20, and S22 have all been constructed in roughly the same way. SpaceX would first produce a series of thin, stamped sheets (gores) of steel. Once aligned on custom-built jigs, each of those gores would be welded together to form a slightly conical ring. Five total ‘rings’ would be assembled, each narrower and more conical than the last. The five sections would then be stacked one by one and welded together along their circumferences.
Altogether, something like 120 complex vertical welds would be needed just to assemble the most basic structure of a nose, followed by four or five no less complex circumferential welds to turn those sections into one cone. SpaceX’s upgraded design seeks to simplify that process mainly by increasing the size of the gores. Aside from modestly reducing the number of longitudinal sections needed to form the cone, SpaceX has also reduced the number of stacked sections from five to two, slashing the total number of gores needed by at least a factor of two or three. While not quite as substantial, the same simplification also reduces the length of vertical and circumferential welds needed to assemble a nosecone.
The spirit behind SpaceX’s new dome design appears to be very similar. Presumably doubling down on the stretch-forming production method developed for nosecone gores, SpaceX appears to have also decided to increase the size of dome gores and reduce the number of stacked sections required for dome assembly – albeit from three to two instead of five to two.
Collectively, this behavior is mostly predictable. With increasing confidence in the current design of Starship and Super Heavy, SpaceX now appears to be looking for ways to streamline and simplify manufacturing while simultaneously optimizing Starship’s design. Regardless of whether one is dealing with a highly advanced rocket factory or a smartphone assembly line, part count reduction is a very common and desirable way to reduce both cost and complexity. Additionally, drastically reducing the number of individual welds – and, to a slightly lesser degree, the total length of welds – required should also reduce the number of possible points of failure and the time needed for weld inspection and repair.
Having already scrapped a number of new nose pathfinders, it appears that Starship S24 will be the first to feature the new design. The process of stacking the ship has already begun. For domes, SpaceX appears to have only just begun assembling the first prototypes. If past dome changes are indicative of future behavior, one or several new ‘test tanks’ will likely be built to ensure that the new dome design performs as well as present-day hardware. It’s also unclear if SpaceX aims to replace all domes with a more spherical design or if, say, current Starship and Super Heavy thrust domes will remain the same for the time being.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI brings 1GW Colossus 2 AI training cluster online
Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.
xAI has brought its Colossus 2 supercomputer online, making it the first gigawatt-scale AI training cluster in the world, and it’s about to get even bigger in a few months.
Elon Musk shared his update in a recent post on social media platform X.
Colossus 2 goes live
The Colossus 2 supercomputer, together with its predecessor, Colossus 1, are used by xAI to primarily train and refine the company’s Grok large language model. In a post on X, Musk stated that Colossus 2 is already operational, making it the first gigawatt training cluster in the world.
But what’s even more remarkable is that it would be upgraded to 1.5 GW of power in April. Even in its current iteration, however, the Colossus 2 supercomputer already exceeds the peak demand of San Francisco.
Commentary from users of the social media platform highlighted the speed of execution behind the project. Colossus 1 went from site preparation to full operation in 122 days, while Colossus 2 went live by crossing the 1-GW barrier and is targeting a total capacity of roughly 2 GW. This far exceeds the speed of xAI’s primary rivals.
Funding fuels rapid expansion
xAI’s Colossus 2 launch follows xAI’s recently closed, upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, which exceeded its initial $15 billion target. The company said the capital will be used to accelerate infrastructure scaling and AI product development.
The round attracted a broad group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco also continued their support, helping xAI build what it describes as the world’s largest GPU clusters.
xAI said the funding will accelerate its infrastructure buildout, enable rapid deployment of AI products to billions of users, and support research tied to its mission of understanding the universe. The company noted that its Colossus 1 and 2 systems now represent more than one million H100 GPU equivalents, alongside recent releases including the Grok 4 series, Grok Voice, and Grok Imagine. Training is also already underway for its next flagship model, Grok 5.
Elon Musk
Tesla AI5 chip nears completion, Elon Musk teases 9-month development cadence
The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.
Tesla’s next-generation AI5 chip is nearly complete, and work on its successor is already underway, as per a recent update from Elon Musk.
The Tesla CEO shared his recent insights in a post on social media platform X.
Musk details AI chip roadmap
In his post, Elon Musk stated that Tesla’s AI5 chip design is “almost done,” while AI6 has already entered early development. Musk added that Tesla plans to continue iterating rapidly, with AI7, AI8, AI9, and future generations targeting a nine-month design cycle.
He also noted that Tesla’s in-house chips could become the highest-volume AI processors in the world. Musk framed his update as a recruiting message, encouraging engineers to join Tesla’s AI and chip development teams.
Tesla community member Herbert Ong highlighted the strategic importance of the timeline, noting that faster chip cycles enable quicker learning, faster iteration, and a compounding advantage in AI and autonomy that becomes increasingly difficult for competitors to close.
AI5 manufacturing takes shape
Musk’s comments align with earlier reporting on AI5’s production plans. In December, it was reported that Samsung is preparing to manufacture Tesla’s AI5 chip, accelerating hiring for experienced engineers to support U.S. production and address complex foundry challenges.
Samsung is one of two suppliers selected for AI5, alongside TSMC. The companies are expected to produce different versions of the AI5 chip, with TSMC reportedly using a 3nm process and Samsung using a 2nm process.
Musk has previously stated that while different foundries translate chip designs into physical silicon in different ways, the goal is for both versions of the Tesla AI5 chip to operate identically. AI5 will succeed Tesla’s current AI4 hardware, formerly known as Hardware 4, and is expected to support the company’s Full Self-Driving system as well as other AI-driven efforts, including Optimus.
News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.
This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
Elon Musk’s xAI brings 1GW Colossus 2 AI training cluster online
Tesla AI5 chip nears completion, Elon Musk teases 9-month development cadence
