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Tesla 3D labeling is the next big leap for Autopilot
Tesla’s 3D labeling efforts are integral to the development of its Full Self-Driving suite. Using over 2.2 billion miles of real-world driving data from its electric vehicle fleet, the electric car maker has a treasure trove of information about how human drivers behave.
Elon Musk recently confirmed that Tesla is finishing work on Autopilot core foundation code and 3D labeling, and once these are done, users can expect the electric carmaker to roll out more functionalities in a potentially more efficient manner. More advanced features such as Reverse Summon will also be rolled out.
Tesla 3D Labeling: The Next Big Thing
The Tesla CEO has tagged 3D labeling as the next big thing for the company’s efforts to achieve full self-driving. “In terms of labeling, labeling with video in all eight cameras simultaneously. This is a really, I mean in terms of labeling efficiency, arguably like a three order of magnitude improvement in labeling efficiency where Tesla vehicles use all of its eight cameras simultaneously, and that the company has improved significantly in terms of labeling efficiency,” Musk said during the Q4 2019 earnings call.
During Autonomy Day last year, Tesla’s AI head Andrej Karpathy gave the electric vehicle community an idea of how labeling is done. He said annotating data is a very expensive process that initially involved people processing data, but Tesla has also been using information from its fleet to automate the process of labeling using different mechanisms.
For example, in predicting cut-ins, Tesla taps into its fleet for data on such incidents. This information is then automatically annotated and used to train the neural network, which in turn learns from recognizable patterns. This information is then spun until the neural network is trained enough. Improvements in the neural network can then be rolled out as an update for Autopilot.
The same is true according to Karpathy when it comes to object detection. Tesla sources data from its fleet to learn more about different objects and anomalies on the road. With automated 3D labeling, the neural network can more efficiently process the information and learn even about the rarest things one can encounter on the road.
Karpathy and Musk explained how annotations from its fleet help with path prediction. Using trajectories collected from the real-world, the neural network can improve its driving behavior, say while approaching a corner that it doesn’t actively see. This smarter neural network is perfectly demonstrated by an older Model X with early-gen Autopilot negotiating a muddy rural backroad recently, after a storm in the United Kingdom.
All of these things form part of the equation to achieve Full Self-Driving capabilities. Likely through 3D labeling improvements in the past year or so, Tesla has immensely improved driving visualizations in vehicles equipped with Hardware 3, which now identify traffic lights, garbage cans, and detailed road markings, among others. Thus, Elon Musk’s explanation about rewriting the Autopilot foundational code and 3D labeling could be a way of emphasizing that Tesla owners’ investment in the company’s Full Self-Driving suite would be proven worth it and more soon.
Tesla’s FSD computer and autonomy software will transform how humans travel. The company’s vehicles will be smart enough to drive like humans and eventually make the roads a few times safer for everyone. This may also pave the way for Robotaxis and help achieve Musk’s vision of Teslas earning for their owners while they are busy with work or even while relaxing at home. Tesla Robotaxis would be an attractive form of transportation as they will be more cost-efficient compared to driving personal cars, as predicted by ARK Invest.
Autonomy As Key To Profitability
Autonomy will spell profits for Tesla, as Elon Musk explained during the company’s Q4 2019 earnings call. In order to achieve sustained profitability, Tesla needs to produce high volume units with high margins. Musk appears to consider autonomy as key to Tesla’s high margins as well.
“As we’re close to Full Self-Driving, that is just going to become more and more compelling. So that’s for our financial standpoint, that’s the real mind-blowing situation is high-volume, high-margin because of autonomy,” Musk said.
With FSD capabilities, Tesla adds more value proposition that can help sway even more customers to purchase its electric vehicles from the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, or the Cybertruck. Depending on regulations in specific regions, Tesla can tap into most of its earnings potential, which bodes well since the company has current plans to expand its presence worldwide with Gigafactories in multiple regions.
Tesla’s path to autonomy is only one of the aspects that make it the leader in the electric vehicle industry. Add to that its advancements on car connectivity and battery technology and one will complete the equation why legacy carmakers with the deepest of pockets can only watch in amazement as a relatively young electric car maker dominates the emerging EV industry.
Investor's Corner
SpaceX is launching a secret spacecraft that could change how things are made in space
SpaceX’s secret disk-shaped Starfall capsule is targeting a market no reentry vehicle has cracked.
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, June 23 for the first flight of Starfall, a reentry capsule the company has developed almost entirely in private. The Falcon 9 launch window opens at 6:43 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with a backup window available the same time on June 24. SpaceX has made no public announcement about the vehicle, only providing launch details. Everything known about it has come through FAA and FCC regulatory filings.
What makes Starfall different starts with its shape. Rather than the traditional cone used by Dragon and every other cargo return capsule in operation, Starfall is a flat disk that measures roughly 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) wide and just 2.5 feet (0.75 meters) tall, and weighing 4,630 pounds (2,100 kg) and capable of returning up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of payload from orbit. The disk geometry maximizes structural efficiency and payload volume relative to mass, and the heat shield mechanically jettisons just before splashdown, allowing recovery teams to retrieve both the capsule and the shield separately from the Pacific Ocean.
The difference with Starfall from existing competitors, such as Varda Space Industries, which has largely built the orbital manufacturing market and returns heavy payloads per flight is that Starfall’s specification is roughly 30 times more per mission, and is designed to be mass-produced and launched on either Falcon 9 or Starship. That combination of volume and launch access is something no standalone startup can replicate, and it puts SpaceX in direct competition with the companies that currently pay it to reach orbit.
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The intended market is orbital manufacturing: pharmaceuticals, protein crystals, semiconductors, and advanced optical fiber that physically cannot be produced in the presence of gravity. FAA documents describe Starfall’s long-term purpose as building a “self-sustaining commercial in-space manufacturing market” and as a potential successor to the industrial capabilities of the International Space Station, which is set to retire in the late 2020s. Military rapid global cargo delivery is a parallel application under active discussion with the Pentagon.
The reason some industries seek manufacturing in space comes down to gravity. On Earth, gravity causes materials to settle, separate, and deform during production. In microgravity, those constraints disappear.
SpaceX’s already controls launch access, which means it currently functions as the landlord for every competitor in the orbital manufacturing return space. Starfall converts that landlord position into vertical ownership, and it would no longer just carry other companies’ capsules to orbit, but rather operate the capsule, own the return logistics, and capture the service revenue directly. Viewed alongside Starlink, Colossus, and the xAI merger, Starfall fits a consistent pattern: SpaceX identifying infrastructure layers that others depend on and moving to own them outright. Orbital manufacturing return is the next layer on that list.
If Tuesday’s reentry, parachute sequence, and recovery demonstration goes as planned, the second FAA-approved test flight follows. A successful pair of demos would position SpaceX to begin offering Starfall as a commercial service, likely first to pharmaceutical and materials science customers before scaling toward the military and broader manufacturing segments.
The Tesla Semi was spotted mounted with ground truth validation equipment as the company nears its looming launch. The Semi is Tesla’s Class 8 all-electric truck, and has been utilized in its earlier stages by many companies like PepsiCo. and Frito-Lay, who have been using it in a pilot program.
The Semi was spotted in Sunnyvale, California, and sports a typical ground truth validation unit that Tesla routinely uses on its vehicles. Ground truth validation is essentially the process of training supervised algorithms to ensure they can perform reliably. Tesla typically performs this on vehicles that are being released soon:
Spotted the new semi adorned with ground truthing equipment. Haven’t seen anyone post this so figured I’d share.
The future is autonomous!!@SawyerMerritt @wholemars pic.twitter.com/qkPDHPUQZ6
— Danny (@dannywinner1) June 21, 2026
The Semi being spotted with this type of validation rig is important because it means the company is working on solidifying a Full Self-Driving model for its commercial vehicle offering. This would be a massive development for not only Tesla but also the logistics industry as a whole.
There are strict regulations on driving hours for commercial truck drivers, and autonomy is a way to potentially combat these issues. FSD is already a widely effective way that owners of typical passenger vehicles take stress out of travel. Even launching a semi-autonomous platform for truck drivers to use to increase safety, reduce fatigue, and increase productivity would be a huge development.
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The Semi has already proven to be an ideal solution for companies that use commercial logistics. It has increased efficiency and reduced operating costs for many companies that have been able to use it in pilot programs.
There are expected to be some bumps along the way. Tesla saw some challenges with FSD on the Cybertruck, as it had never had a vehicle with cameras at that height, so some of the features with FSD were not immediately available. Just a week ago, Tesla launched Actually Smart Summon (ASS) for Cybertruck, nearly three years after the vehicle was first delivered to customers.
President Donald Trump unveiled an upgraded Boeing 747-8 at Joint Base Andrews on June 19, 2026, describing the Qatar-gifted aircraft as an interim Air Force One equipped with advanced communications systems, including Starlink, Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet service.
The plane, valued at around $400 million and modified for presidential use, serves as a bridge until the delayed VC-25B replacements arrive. Trump highlighted its luxury features and new technology during remarks to service members.
Trump stated:
“We have communication equipment up there that nobody’s ever seen before. It’s the highest level and, uh, including Starlink. My friend Elon is going to be very happy, but, uh, Starlink and we have, uh, four or five different sets of double and triple communications like people haven’t seen.”
He added:
“And it represents what can happen with hard work, innovation, and aggressive timelines because we did this quickly and yet there’s never been communication like is on this plane.”
🚨 President Trump confirmed today that the new Air Force One is equipped with Starlink:
“We have communication equipment up there that nobody’s ever seen before, it’s the highest level and including Starlink…my friend Elon is going to be very happy.” pic.twitter.com/IhkDmtr5hL
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 20, 2026
The aircraft features a redesigned red, white, and blue livery and has been outfitted with Starlink satellite connectivity alongside other secure systems.
Trump praised the plane’s uniqueness, calling it among the world’s most luxurious. The gift from Qatar and subsequent modifications have drawn attention, with the jet positioned as a solution for presidential travel. It is expected to support operations, including potential ceremonial roles such as Fourth of July flyovers.
The event marked the formal introduction of the converted jet, which will help maintain capabilities while the primary Air Force One fleet undergoes modernization. Defense observers note the inclusion of commercial satellite technology like Starlink as part of efforts to ensure resilient communications, crucial to keep the country running as the President is in the sky.
President Trump’s comments underscored appreciation for rapid upgrades and innovation in equipping the aircraft. The plane remains a U.S. government asset and is slated for eventual transfer related to presidential library purposes after its service.
SpaceX is launching a secret spacecraft that could change how things are made in space
Tesla Semi spotted with ground truth validation equipment as launch looms
