Tesla’s AI Day is tomorrow, and the company has been largely silent about details of the upcoming event. Considering how artificial intelligence plays into Tesla’s energy and electric vehicle business, it is no surprise that there is some excitement for AI Day. With this in mind, here are some things that Tesla watchers could expect for the highly-anticipated event.
Updates from Autonomy Day
Tesla bull and Loup Ventures Managing Partner Gene Munster previously noted that AI Day would likely be a “second edition” of sorts for the company’s Autonomy Day event back in 2019. The invitations that have been sent for AI Day suggest that the company is looking to expand its AI use to more than just vehicles. This is something that Elon Musk has mentioned in the past.
During the Q1 2021 earnings call, Musk stated that in the long run, people would start perceiving Tesla as an “AI robotics company” instead of a carmaker or battery storage producer. “I think long term, people will think of Tesla as much as an AI robotics company as we are a car company or an energy company. I think we are developing one of the strongest hardware and software AI teams in the world,” Musk said.
If AI Day does become a follow-up to Autonomy Day, however, Tesla would likely have to discuss some of the updates it has rolled out to its vehicles and self-driving efforts since 2019. These include the removal of radar for the Model 3 and Model Y, which Musk expects would ultimately accelerate the company’s progress towards autonomous driving.
Project Dojo Details
Tesla’s Dojo Supercomputer has long been teased, but its specs and capabilities have never really been revealed by the company. AI Day would be a great venue to formally introduce the world to its supercomputer and its capabilities. Dojo is crucial to Tesla’s self-driving efforts as the computer is tasked with training neural networks that would, in turn, enable the company’s vehicles to behave even more like cautious and confident human drivers on the road.
Gene Munster noted that based on Elon Musk’s previous comments, it appears that Tesla has plans to make Dojo available to other automakers in the future. This should help not just Tesla but the entire auto industry transition into the self-driving era. Musk definitely seems optimistic about Dojo’s contribution to Tesla’s self-driving efforts, which have been both highly praised and criticized to date.
“Dojo is really a — it is a supercomputer optimized for neural net training. We think Dojo will be, probably in order of magnitude, more efficient on, say — not sure what the exact right metric is, but say, per frame of video, we think it will be an order of magnitude more cost efficient in hardware and in energy usage for a frame of video compared to a GPU-based solution or compared to the next best solution that we’re aware of. So then possibly that could be used by others,” Musk stated.
Beyond Automotive and Energy
Tesla already uses AI on its electric vehicles, and the company’s products like Autobidder show that artificial intelligence could also be invaluable for the energy sector. Interestingly enough, Tesla seems to be intent on expanding beyond these markets, with the company teasing more AI-based efforts in its formal invitation.
“This invite-only event will feature a keynote by Elon, hardware and software demos from Tesla engineers, test rides in Model S Plaid, and more. Attendees will be among the first to see our latest developments in supercomputing and neural network training. They’ll also get an inside look at what’s next for AI at Tesla beyond our vehicle fleet,” Tesla wrote.
Elon Musk has hinted at other “smart” products in the past. During his first appearance at the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2018, Musk has stated that it would be great to develop a “Tesla Smart Home” that includes an efficient HVAC system. Musk mentioned this once more in March 2020, when he noted that creating smart and energy-efficient home products would be great since Tesla is already developing a lot of the needed tech for its vehicles.
TSLA Volatility
Tesla watchers and investors would likely have to get ready for some volatility after AI Day tomorrow. While Tesla’s dedicated events such as Autonomy Day and Battery Day were filled to the brim with information, and while both events were mainly for recruitment, TSLA stock ended up dipping the day after. The day after Battery Day in September 2020, for example, TSLA shares dropped 10% as critics pounced on the 4680 cells’ timetable and the fact that the company did not show a physical cell during its event. It will not be surprising if the same thing happens on Friday after AI Day.
Tesla’s AI day is set to be held at Palo Alto, CA, on August 19, 2021, at 5 p.m. PDT. The event would likely be livestreamed as well.
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Tesla has moved its Wireless Charging efforts for its electric vehicles forward, as it had a new patent published today, one that it submitted back in March.
The patent describes a system for detecting foreign objects on the wireless charging pad under varying temperatures, aiming to mitigate any undesired results that could come from something being on top of the charging pad.
🚨 Tesla has a new patent application published today, which was submitted back in March, for a Wireless Charging Pad:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some… pic.twitter.com/LIeLfZAuDJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The abstract of the patent states:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some examples, an object detector can utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and excite the resonant tanks using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the resonant tanks. The object detector can detect a metal object based on resistance of a coil increasing and inductance of the coil decreasing. By analyzing the shifts and/or distributions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes (e.g., output voltage peaks), the object detector can distinguish between changes of frequencies and magnitudes caused by temperature and those caused by foreign objects to accurately detect the foreign objects.”
The object detection system will utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and “excite the resonant tank using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the tanks.” Metal can be detected by an increase in the coil’s resistance and a decrease in the coil’s inductance.
By analyzing shifts or disruptions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes, the system can detect foreign objects. These types of safeguards need to be implemented through the normal operation of the charging pads.
Tesla says its Cybercab wireless charging efficiency is ‘well above 90%’
Tesla plans to utilize wireless charging with Cybercab and Robotaxi-enabled units to help streamline the fully autonomous experience from A to Z. The last thing the company wants to do is have any sort of small obstruction preventing the rider from experiencing Robotaxi as intended.
Tesla has launched its newest iteration of the Model 3 in China with a slew of new features, including the highly requested V2L (vehicle-to-load) feature and a new interior option.
The Model 3 now has a 16″ front touchscreen with improved resolution, a black headliner, V2L capabilities, Zen Grey interior in the Premium and Performance trims, as the White option has officially been discontinued, and 19″ Dark Nova Wheels, which are standard on the Model 3 Premium only.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Model 3 in China with a variety of new features and specs:
✅ 16” front touchscreen
✅ Black Headliner
✅ V2L Capability
✅ Zen Grey interior (Premium & Performance only)
✅ 19” Dark Nova wheels (Model 3 Premium only)
✅ Zen Grey Interior option… pic.twitter.com/ltTAEIYi2Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The touchscreen in the U.S. version of the Model 3 is just 15.4″, so the newly upgraded screen is .6″ larger. Additionally, the Black Headliner, now standard on Model Y vehicles in the U.S., is coming to China.
Additionally, Tesla’s decision to end the white interior option has also made its way to the Asian market, as Zen Grey is the lighter color consumers can now go with. It is slightly different from the previously offered White option:
These options are available in China, Australia, and New Zealand as well, as Giga Shanghai serves those markets, bringing its mass-market vehicles to those countries in the South Pacific.
The Model 3 trims are now priced at:
- Rear-Wheel-Drive – 235,500 yuan (~$35,000)
- Long Range Rear-Wheel-Drive – 259,500 yuan ($38,700)
- Long Range All-Wheel-Drive – 285,500 yuan (~$42,600)
- Performance – 339,500 yuan (~$50,600)
These features have yet to make their way to the U.S., which might upset some buyers, but it is probably a good sign that Tesla will bring these changes to U.S. trims sometime next year. Potentially, these could come even sooner, as they could be used to stimulate demand for the year-end sales push.
Nevertheless, when things start at Giga Shanghai, they usually end up in the U.S. market. Tesla has also already started to install things like the Black Headliner and larger touchscreen in certain U.S.-built vehicles, so these things will be easy to implement across other vehicles in the lineup.
Elon Musk
The Pentagon taps Elon Musk to design the battlefield of the future
Hegseth named Elon Musk to help lead Project Meridian, a Pentagon study of future warfare.
Elon Musk has a new role in the Trump administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on war.gov Wednesday that Musk will help lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon study meant to identify the weapons and technologies the U.S. military will need to fight wars decades from now.
Hegseth unveiled the project during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Musk will direct the effort alongside Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, working under Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael. All three men were in attendance, and Hegseth said their first meeting would take place directly after the speech inside a secure compartmented facility, according to The Hill.
Hegseth said the group “will be focused on discovering, developing, and fielding the weapons and systems that our children and our grandchildren will need in their lifetimes, without any creative limitations or restrictions, on any future battlefield, from under the Earth to beyond the Moon.” He added that Meridian is not meant to produce new strategy or policy documents.
SpaceX to become America’s Military data backbone for missiles, drones, and warfighters
A memo released after the announcement gives Michael until January 28, 2027, to deliver findings, a window of 120 days. It names artificial intelligence, autonomy, directed energy, robotics and biotechnology as the fields expected to change how wars are fought. The results will come as a public report with a classified annex. The memo says the study will run through a partner organization it does not name, and it does not mention Musk directly. His role comes from Hegseth’s speech and a Pentagon press release.’
Musk had not commented publicly on the appointment as of Wednesday evening. This will be Musk’s first official advisory role in the administration since he left DOGE last year.
The mandate overlaps heavily with Musk’s companies. SpaceX is one of the Pentagon’s largest contractors, with 2026 defense awards topping $8 billion, much of it tied to launches and a suspected Starshield buildout out of Vandenberg. The Pentagon’s release says Meridian will examine domains “from subterranean depths to the cislunar frontier,” which maps onto The Boring Company’s tunneling and Starship’s lunar plans. Tesla’s work on autonomy and Optimus falls within the fields the memo lists.
Meridian was one of six initiatives Hegseth announced Wednesday. Another is a new Autonomous Warfare Command, which the department wants operating as a four-star combatant command by October 1, 2027.
The news lands a day before SpaceX is scheduled to fly a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload on Falcon Heavy, one of three launches the company has planned for Thursday.
Tesla moves forward on Wireless Charging for vehicles
Tesla launches improved Model 3 in China with V2L, new interior option
