Connect with us

News

Tesla courted with $1 Billion incentive for Cybertruck Gigafactory in Missouri

Tesla Cybertruck and Tesla Semi with Elon Musk for Jay Leno's Garage (Credit: teslacybertruck/Instagram)

Published

on

Recent reports from Missouri reveal that Joplin is offering a $1 billion package to Tesla if the electric car maker decides to build its upcoming Cybertruck Gigafactory in the city. The $1 billion package includes a massive 1,042-acre plot of land at a 50% discount, a 100% tax break for 12 years, and generous state incentives. Considering that the city is located at the heart of America’s pickup truck industry, Joplin’s pitch may very well be compelling for the electric car maker.

In a briefing on Monday, president of the chamber Toby Teeter mentioned that a formal proposal outlining the city’s offer has already been submitted to Tesla Corporate about a week ago. This places Joplin in the running against cities like Austin, TX, which is rumored to be the frontrunner in Tesla’s Cybertruck Gigafactory race, and Tulsa, OK, which has offered a massive 1500-acre plot of land for the upcoming electric pickup factory.

“Tesla is looking for a new location somewhere in the Midwest for a Gigafactory. Approximately a week ago, the city of Joplin and the Chamber of Commerce put a formal bid together and submitted it to Tesla corporate,” he said, as noted in a Joplin Globe report.

The 1,042-acre site will be located near west 20th Street and JJ Highway, within the Wildwood Ranch development west of Joplin. If Tesla’s previous facilities are any indication, the Cybertruck Gigafactory could employ up to 7,000 people from the area, making it a valuable contributor to the state’s economy.

Advertisement

Commenting further, Teeter stated that Joplin’s workforce amounts to 193,000 people within a 20-mile radius and 279,000 within a 30-mile radius. About 150 dedicated battery engineers and over 500 licensed engineers are also present within a 60-mile radius. But perhaps most importantly, the president of the chamber stated Joplin is located right at the heart of America’s pickup truck industry, making it the perfect location for the Cybertruck Gigafactory.

“We’re also the trucking capital of America. That gives Tesla front-row access to its next market with four of the largest trucking companies in the nation within a 60-mile radius,” Teeter said.

Joplin Mayor Gary Shaw, for his part, stated that the Gigafactory would be an opportunity for the city. Considering Tesla’s reputation for being a next-generation carmaker, the presence of a Cybertruck factory in Joplin would likely make the city more attractive to professionals, both in the automotive and the tech industry.

“I think it would be a great opportunity to get ready if we weren’t. I think it just opens some doors. One of the things Toby and we, as a city, saw with our two major medical centers and the KCU medical school coming here is that we need to attract people to come to our community. It would be using a lot of our workers, but I believe it would be a very big attraction for people to come from the rest of the state or from other areas of the country” to live and work here,” Shaw said.

Advertisement

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has mentioned that the Cybertruck is seeing a lot of demand from consumers. Designed unlike anything else on the road today, the Cybertruck has the potential to disrupt the extremely popular and lucrative pickup market. If successful, the Cybertruck may do to pickups what the Model 3 did to high-performance midsize sedans. Tesla would just have to be ready to meet the demand for the all-electric truck.

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.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

SpaceXAI just launched into your kitchen with their new app

SpaceXAI just powered its first consumer app and it predicts what you want to buy.

Published

on

By

SpaceXAI just made its first move into consumer AI, and it involves your grocery cart. On June 3, 2026, Gopuff and SpaceXAI announced the launch of Go, a Grok-powered shopping assistant built directly into the Gopuff app that predicts what you need before you even start searching for it.

Gopuff is an instant delivery platform that operates more than 400 micro-fulfillment centers across the U.S., delivering everyday essentials, snacks, drinks, and household items in as little as 15 minutes. It is not a restaurant delivery app or a marketplace. It owns its inventory, controls its warehouses, and handles its own logistics, which means it has built one of the most detailed consumer behavior datasets in retail over its 13-year history.

Go combines SpaceXAI’s advanced reasoning, voice, and image generation models with Gopuff’s dataset of hundreds of millions of orders and real-time cultural signals from X to prepare a suggested cart the moment a customer opens the app. It learns each shopper’s habits and automatically builds a personalized cart based on time of day, location, order history, and real-time indicators. Returning customers can check out with a single tap.


Rather than searching for specific items, users can describe a situation like a game-day party or the desire for a healthy breakfast and Go will assemble a cart automatically. It can also predict when shoppers are running low on items like coffee or paper towels and have them packed and delivered in under 15 minutes. Grok voice integration lets users talk to the app in plain conversational language and check out completely hands-free.

Gopuff co-founder and co-CEO Yakir Gola said: “Today, we believe the greatest friction left in commerce is not delivery or instantaneous access to the essentials customers need. It’s the moment before: the thinking, the deciding, the remembering. We’re combining Gopuff’s demand intelligence with xAI’s frontier reasoning to create an everyday shopping experience that feels like a true extension of you.”

Why SpaceX just made a $60 billion bet on AI coding ahead of historic IPO

The timing carries context beyond the product launch. SpaceXAI was formed after SpaceX completed an all-stock merger with Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year, folding one of the most advanced AI labs in the world into the same corporate structure as the company preparing what could be the largest IPO in history. SpaceXAI is dipping into consumer-focused AI just as it prepares for its public debut, and while Musk has openly discussed building an everything app, this launch uses Grok to power another company’s product rather than launching a standalone consumer platform. Every consumer-facing deployment of Grok ahead of the IPO roadshow adds tangible evidence that SpaceXAI is not just an infrastructure play but a direct competitor in the AI application layer where OpenAI and Google are already fighting for dominance.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla piggybacks recent Supercharger feature with update that takes it further

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has introduced an enhanced visualization in its Supercharger navigation system, building directly on the Site Maps feature rolled out a few months ago.

This latest software update adds detailed 3D icons that represent specific vehicle models parked at charging stalls, offering drivers a more precise view of site occupancy and layout.

The Site Maps debuted in Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update, providing 3D overviews of select Supercharger locations with real-time stall availability.

Tesla supplements Holiday Update by sneaking in new Full Self-Driving version

Drivers could see which spots were open, occupied, or out of service when navigating to supported stations.

Now, the system takes this capability further by rendering accurate representations of Tesla vehicles, including distinctions between models such as the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck. These icons appear as lifelike 3D renderings, complete with recognizable shapes and proportions that match the actual cars charging at the site:

This refinement improves the user experience during road trips and daily charging stops. As drivers approach a Supercharger, the navigation display now shows not just generic occupied markers but identifiable vehicle types plugged into each stall.

Blue indicators highlight active charging sessions, while other visual cues denote availability or maintenance status. The feature integrates seamlessly with the existing map interface, allowing quick assessment of the best available spot based on vehicle size and positioning.

Tesla continues to expand the availability of these detailed Site Maps across its global network. Initially piloted at a limited number of locations, the rollout has progressed steadily, with more stations gaining support in recent software versions.

Owners benefit from better planning, as the system helps identify compatible stalls and reduces uncertainty upon arrival. The update reflects Tesla’s ongoing commitment to refining its navigation and charging ecosystem through iterative software improvements.

In addition to model-specific icons, the enhanced maps maintain all prior functionalities, such as integration with nearby amenities and energy usage predictions. This ensures a comprehensive tool for efficient Supercharging.

As Tesla’s fleet grows and the network scales, such features play a key role in optimizing the overall ownership experience. Future updates may extend similar visualizations to additional sites and incorporate even more data points for drivers.

With this piggyback enhancement, Tesla demonstrates how small but thoughtful additions can elevate an already useful tool, making Supercharger visits smoother and more informed for its customers. The company is expected to broaden the feature’s reach in upcoming releases, further solidifying its leadership in EV charging infrastructure.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.3 driver monitoring: We tested it

Published

on

Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.3 driver monitoring was reportedly scaled back in recent releases, but a new version that was released in the early hours of June 3 aimed to do a better job of keeping those in control of their cars honest, according to release notes.

The release notes for FSD v14.3.3, via Software Version 2026.14.6.7 added:

“Improved driver monitoring system sensitivity with better eye gaze tracking, eye wear handling, and higher accuracy in variable lighting conditions.”
However, Tesla said this was already enabled in the first rollout of FSD v14.3.3 in late May. We tested it anyway, especially as the Standard Speed Profile seemed less-than-worried about what you were doing during operation.

I decided to try out the Hurry and Mad Max Speed Profiles for this test, and it gave me results that I would have expected. Tesla has evidently ramped up driver monitoring based on the Speed Profile you are using to travel.

The more aggressive the Speed Profile, the more on the hook you will be for taking your attention away from the road. Our testing showed that Mad Max was less likely to allow you to do normal things like change music or adjust navigation without getting an on-screen warning or nag from the driver monitoring system.

Hurry Mode Results

On Hurry, the driver monitoring system on FSD v14.3.3, via Software Version 2026.14.6.7, was more restrictive than Standard but less restrictive than Mad Max. I found that I could scroll through music options for a considerable amount of time, more than 30 seconds:

Standard gave me about 80 seconds of phone scrolling with absolutely no nags or warnings in a previous test. It is worth noting that this was a previous branch of v14.3.3, but Standard is such a goodie-two-shoes on the road that it is my impression it would not change much.

Mad Max Results

I spent the majority of the drive on Mad Max to see how it truly reacted to the driver having their attention elsewhere. While I did do a short phone test, I am aiming to steer away from those and use the center screen. I think it is a valid criticism that the phone test is dangerous and, not to mention, illegal in Pennsylvania. Changing the navigation and music is a more reasonable, more responsible, and safer test.

With Mad Max being the fastest and most aggressive Speed Profile, I anticipated this being the quickest mode to give me an alert that I needed to look at the road. That was the case with music:

As well as adjusting Navigation, when I received two nags:

These nags were more than reasonable, and I think it’s probably good that Tesla is ramping up the driver monitoring. I do believe that it should be relatively strict across all of the Speed Profiles, especially with phone use. When using the center screen, the nag intervals should be based on the speed profile you are utilizing at the time.

These driver monitoring adjustments are a great thing to have while FSD is still under its “Supervised” moniker, but I expect Tesla to continue pushing the limits on what it will allow, especially considering CEO Elon Musk has hinted that phone use is capable with the more recent versions.

You can watch the full drive on YouTube below:

 

Continue Reading