News
Tesla AI Day News Roundup: Optimus, FSD Beta & Dojo updates
Tesla AI Day has officially kicked off. Guests have started entering the venue already.
AI Day is an event mainly held to recruit talented people and welcome them to Tesla. However, it is still a Tesla event, so everyone expects some product surprises and updates, specifically about the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus, Dojo, and Full Self-Driving.
Teslarati will be closely following the event. This is our news roundup for 2022 AI Day, covering key information Tesla reveals at the event.
Photos and Videos aren’t allowed during the event from attendees. However, guests were able to capture some cool photos of a Tesla Semi with Cybertruck graffiti, a literal fork on the road, and some other cool set ups around the premises.
Tesla’s former AI Head, Andrej Karpathy, has brought out the (metaphorical) popcorn. His brief “comment” hints that AI Day 2022 might be as exciting as everyone anticipates.
Elon Musk set some expectations about Optimus, reminding everyone that during AI Day 2021, Tesla’s humanoid bot was just “a guy in a robot suit.” Musk also laid out the topics for AI Day 2022, saying that Tesla will talk about Autopilot and Dojo, too.
Optimus Takes the Stage
Tesla didn’t waste any time and brought out Optimus immediately. According to a Tesla mechanical engineer, AI Day 2022 is the first time Optimus has been “let out”– so to speak– without any external support.
“This is literally the first time the robot has walked on stage without a tether, on stage tonight,” Musk added. “The robot can actually do a lot more than we showed you. We just don’t want it to fall on its face.”
Tesla reveals videos of Optimus or in this case “Bumble-Cee” doing “work” around the Tesla office. Optimus carried a box from one area to another, watered plants, and even worked at the factory for a bit. The Tesla bot’s vision is very similar Autopilot.
Tesla also revealed Optimus’ potential final unit one production design. “Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as soon as possible,” said Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO also shared that Tesla aims to make Optimus’ price less than $20,000 or cheaper than a car.
Tesla is using some of the technology in its car in Optimus’ body as well, such as the battery pack, cooling system and more. The company also uses that same technology it uses for its cars to simulate Optimus’ movements and reactions to external collisions.
Tesla is basing Optimus’ body design on the human body. The company has been closely studying the structure of the human body while making the humanoid robot’s overall design. For instance, Tesla designed Optimus’ hands with the idea that factories worldwide are designed ergonomically, or optimized for the human hand. Teslarati briefly covered the significance of robots’ hands in a previous article, linked below.
FSD Beta Updates
The Tesla FSD Beta now has 160,000 customers, compared to 2,000 customers in 2021. Tesla is expected to release v.10.69.2.3 after AI Day, although a precise roll out date has not be announced yet.
Tesla explained the progress its made with Full Self-Driving Beta. The Tesla FSD experts explained how the Full Self-Driving makes decision to AI day guests and the role that customer data played to refine the software. The company also explained occupancy and the role it plays with 3D mapping and providing a birds-eye-view for the car. Tesla is working hard to optimize its video model training as well.
Tesla also talked a lot about its FSD Lane Networks during AI Day 2022. In the past few weeks, Teslarati has received reports from FSD testers, who specifically brought up issues with lane selection. To see “under the hood”–so to speak–somewhat explains the lane issues FSD testers experience on the road.
After multiple test loops and drives, there’s really just one main problem remaining for me at this point on 10.69.2, it’s significant, and that is lane selection,” noted long-time FSD tester Les.
Tesla has developed a new auto-labeling machine to help with 3D labeling. The FSD experts explained how the software uses other clips to fill out the picture under certain conditions when the camera shows an unclear picture.
Tesla also talked a bit about simulation. The experts showed how it could simulate worlds or environments, using the data gathered from its fleet. It revealed a simulation of San Francisco that was created within two weeks by one employee. Tesla may update a simulated world quickly and as updated develop.
Dojo Updates
Tesla’s goal with Dojo is to build a single accelerator. A key step to realizing its goals was its training tile, which it unveiled during AI Day 2021. Tesla has been trying to figure out how to make its Dojo design scalable and has run into challenges along the way. However, the company’s “fail fast” mindset has helped it push through road blocks and move forward.
The Dojo team showed images of a Cybertruck and Semi running on Mars using stable diffusion achieved through Dojo.
Tesla experts explained that Dojo reduced work that would usually take months to a single week.
Tesla plans to build its first Exapod by 2023, which is expected to significantly increase its autolabeling output . It will be the first Exapod of 7 that Tesla plans to build in Palo Alto.
Tesla ended AI Day 2022 by answering questions from attendees. Tesla hopes that through their thorough explanations during the event, the company would be seen as more than an automaker. And, of course, Tesla hopes that its AI Day 2022 presentation also entices talented individuals to join the company.
The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.
Tesla has finally clarified the situation regarding the viral crash in Texas where a Model 3 slammed into a home.
CEO Elon Musk replied to reports on Monday that stated the crash was due to the company’s Full Self-Driving or Autopilot suite, which seemed unlikely to those who are familiar with it. Video showed the car slamming into a house at an excessive rate of speed, making it highly unlikely the crash was due to the suite’s operation, as it does not travel at those speeds in residential areas.
Musk said:
“This makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets, and this was a high-speed crash!”
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, added context, revealing that the company’s data shows the driver “manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.”
He revealed the speed reached by the car was 73 MPH, and the accelerator was still pressed “even after the crash.”
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Authorities are reportedly investigating “whether Tesla’s Autopilot system played a role after a Model 3 left the roadway…slammed through a brick house at high speed and fatally struck Matha Avila as she sat inside,” the New York Post reported.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now investigating the crash. Tesla will work with the agency to provide them with whatever information they need in order to clarify the cause of the crash.
Similarly, Tesla had claims of a fatal accident in Harris County, Texas, a few years ago. Early reports indicated that Full Self-Driving was the cause of the crash. After the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) worked with Tesla, the agency proved there was “no use of the Autopilot system at any time during this ownership period of the vehicle, including the time frame up to the last transmitted timestamp on April 17, 2021.”
Tesla alleged “driverless” crash in Texas: What is known so far
“Application of the accelerator pedal was found to be as high as 98.8 percent,” the NTSB said in their findings. The highest recorded speed in the five seconds leading up to the impact was 67 miles per hour. The area where the crash occurred is residential, and Texas State laws have default speed limits of 30 MPH in residential streets.
This appears to be a similar situation. However, an investigation will prove what happened for sure.
SpaceX announced today that it commenced its first-ever public bond offering, marking a significant step in the newly public company’s capital markets strategy.
The company announced an offering of senior unsecured notes expected to raise at least $20 billion.
The move comes just a short time after SpaceX completed one of the largest initial public offerings in history. In mid-June, the company priced shares at $135 and raised more than $85 billion, propelling founder Elon Musk’s net worth past the trillion-dollar mark and giving the firm substantial liquidity.
🚨 SpaceX has announced its inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes.
The net proceeds will be used to repay outstanding loans under its bridge loan facility in full.
This inaugural debt offering represents a financing milestone for SpaceX, which previously depended… pic.twitter.com/pcOZuVbTRv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
According to the company’s SEC filing, the net proceeds from the notes will be used primarily to repay in full the outstanding borrowings under its existing bridge loan facility, cover related fees and expenses, and fund general corporate purposes. The offering is being conducted under Rule 144A, as well as Regulation S, targeting qualified institutional buyers and non-U.S. investors. Notes will be unsecured obligations ranking equally with other unsubordinated debt.
The $20 billion bridge loan was used to refinance approximately $17.5 billion in higher-cost “junk” debt tied to X and xAI. SpaceX had merged with xAI in February 2026 in an all-stock deal. The bridge facility, which matures in September 2027, had represented the bulk of SpaceX’s long-term debt.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
In connection with the bond launch, SpaceX disclosed it held approximately $100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19. Investor calls began on the announcement date, with pricing and launch expected shortly thereafter. Rating agencies have assigned investment-grade ratings to the proposed bonds, reflecting confidence in SpaceX’s dominant position in commercial launches and the growth trajectory of its Starlink internet offering.
The debt raise also allows SpaceX to optimize its balance sheet by replacing short-term, higher-cost bridge financing with longer-date, lower-cost fixed-income securities. This provides greater financial flexibility to support capital-intensive initiatives, including the development of Starship, the expansion of the Starlink constellation, and the integration of AI capabilities following the xAI combination.
SpaceX shares (NASDAQ: SPCX) fell sharply on the news, dropping over 16 percent overall on the market on Monday. The stock had surged initially after debuting but pulled back amid profit-taking and broader market dynamics.
Overall, the bond offering underscores SpaceX’s transition to a mature public company with access to diverse funding sources. It positions the firm to pursue its long-term vision of multiplanetary expansion and AI infrastructure, while maintaining a disciplined approach to its capital structure in a high-growth but capital-heavy industry.
SpaceX confirmed today that it has officially signed its third massive compute deal, providing compute at its Colossus data center in Southaven, Mississippi.
Reflection AI will gain immediate access to NVIDIA GB300 chips at SpaceX’s Colossus 2 data center. In return, Reflection will pay SpaceX $150 million per month starting on July 1, with total payments reaching approximately $6.3 billion if the contract runs through its duration, which is until 2029. Either party can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice after the initial three-month period.
CNBC first reported the deal.
🚨 SpaceXAI has agreed to a new compute deal with Reflection AI.
Reflection gets access to NIVIDIA GB300s, and will pay $150M per month to SpaceXAI for the compute. pic.twitter.com/bNPare8U5u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
This latest partnership highlights SpaceX’s strategy of commercializing its massive Colossus supercomputing infrastructure, originally developed to power Elon Musk’s Grok AI models. The company has rapidly expanded its customer base in the AI sector following its February 2026 merger with xAI, a transaction that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.
SpaceX has previously signed significant compute deals with other major players.
It granted Anthropic exclusive access to the full capacity of its Colossus 1 data center, which exceeds 300 megawatts and includes over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Details from SpaceX’s IPO filings indicate Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, potentially generating around $45 billion over the term of the deal.
Additionally, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month for compute capacity from October 2026 through June 2029. This 32-month period will provide Google access to roughly 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, along with supporting processors and memory. Capacity ramps up through September at a reduced fee, with termination options after the first year.
SpaceXA also established arrangements for computing power with Cursor, an AI coding startup. SpaceX acquired them in a $60 billion all-stock deal.
These arrangements position SpaceX’s collective position as an AI infrastructure powerhouse with high-margin revenue potential. The Google deal alone could generate nearly $29.5 billion over its term, while the Reflection contract adds another $6.3 billion.
Combined with the Anthropic arrangement, SpaceX stands to realize tens of billions in revenue from compute leasing in the coming years, which diversifies beyond SpaceX’s traditional rocket launches and Starlink operation.
The deals underscore growing demand for advanced AI training and inference capacity amid chip shortages and surging model development needs. Reflection, valued at $25 billion and focused on “American open intelligence” with government and national security ties, cited recent restrictions on closed models as validation for open-source approaches.
For SpaceX, the partnerships transform capital-intensive data centers into flexible revenue sources while supporting its broader AI ambitions after the company has gone public.
Tesla finally clarifies fatal Texas crash, confirms driver manually overrode acceleration
SpaceX makes $20 billion move to optimize its balance sheet
