Tesla is facing another call for boycotts of its electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe, following Elon Musk’s controversial appearances at U.S. President Trump’s inauguration last week and at a campaign event for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) over the weekend.
On Saturday, Musk spoke virtually at a rally for Germany’s AfD, which is widely considered a far-right nationalist party, saying that there was “too much of a focus on past guilt” in what many reported to be referencing the Nazis.
Following the event, Poland’s Minister of Sports and Tourism, Slawomir Nitras, called for strong condemnation of Musk and a Tesla boycott on Monday, coming on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Jews from Auschwitz (via Polish Press Agency).
“There is no justification for any reasonable Pole to continue purchasing Teslas. A serious and strong response is necessary, including a consumer boycott,” Nitras said. “This ‘Hydra’s’ head may grow back. And, particularly on a day like today, on the anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation, we must remember and loudly speak the truth.”
At the time of writing, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not responded to Teslarati’s request for comment on the report.
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The statement comes after Musk over the weekend encouraged German’s AfD party to be proud of being German during a campaign event on Saturday, and after he performed what appeared to be a Nazi salute during U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony last Monday.
“I think there’s, like, frankly, too much of a focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” Musk said during the AfD rally. “Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents or even, let alone their parents, their great grandparents, maybe even. And we should be optimistic and excited about a future for Germany.
“That’s really what it is, to be excited, to be optimistic about the future, to preserve German culture and protect the German people. And you know, there are some other things that I think would be very helpful too, which is that, I think you want more self-determination for Germany and for the countries in Europe, and less from Brussels.”
He also warned of “multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” stoking fears of the world becoming “the same everywhere, where it’s just one big sort of soup.”
The event comes ahead of a key German election being held on February 23, and Musk also said that it could “decide the entire fate of Europe and maybe the fate of the world.”
Ahead of the AfD appearance, many executives and boardmembers in Germany announced their disdain for Musk’s apparent Nazi salute, echoing their intentions to avoid purchasing Tesla’s EVs in the future.
“We can no longer support the path we are currently on,”said Lars Viebrock, Viebrockhaus CEO. Others highlighted the “incompatibility” between Musk’s statements and the values of Tesla’s products.
Tesla Germany declined to comment on the matter or on Musk’s recent rally appearances.
Despite downplaying the events with Nazi-related jokes, and his pointing to “how insanely hard legacy media tried to cancel me for saying ‘my heart goes out to you,’” Musk has also gained support from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the Tesla CEO “a great friend of Israel.”
“He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said. “He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state. I thank him for this.”
Tesla has also been facing significant pressure from union strikes and sympathy strikes in Sweden over the last year, with multiple industries attempting to block delivery of the company’s EVs, license plates for buyers, and the connection of new Supercharger stalls to the electrical grid.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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SpaceX and xAI tapped by Pentagon for autonomous drone contest
The six-month competition was launched in January and is said to carry a $100 million award.
SpaceX and its AI subsidiary xAI are reportedly competing in a new Pentagon prize challenge focused on autonomous drone swarming technology, as per a report from Bloomberg News.
The six-month competition was launched in January and is said to carry a $100 million award.
Bloomberg reported that SpaceX and xAI are among a select group invited to participate in the Defense Department’s effort to develop advanced drone swarming capabilities. The goal is reportedly to create systems that can translate voice commands into digital instructions and manage fleets of autonomous drones.
Neither SpaceX, xAI, nor the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit has commented on the report, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the details.
The development follows SpaceX’s recent acquisition of xAI, which pushed the valuation of the combined companies to an impressive $1.25 trillion. The reported competition comes as SpaceX prepares for a potential initial public offering later this year.
The Pentagon has been moving to speed up drone deployment and expand domestic manufacturing capacity, while also seeking tools to counter unauthorized drone activity around airports and major public events. Large-scale gatherings scheduled this year, including the FIFA World Cup and America250 celebrations, have heightened focus on aerial security.
The reported challenge aligns with broader Defense Department investments in artificial intelligence. Last year, OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI secured Pentagon contracts worth up to $200 million each to advance AI capabilities across defense applications.
Elon Musk previously joined AI and robotics researchers in signing a 2015 open letter calling for a ban on offensive autonomous weapons. In recent years, however, Musk has spoken on X about the strengths of drone technologies in combat situations.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk doubles down on Tesla Cybercab timeline once again
“Cybercab, which has no pedals or steering wheel, starts production in April,” Musk said.
CEO Elon Musk doubled down once again on the timeline of production for the Tesla Cybercab, marking yet another example of the confidence he has in the company’s ability to meet the aggressive timeline for the vehicle.
It is the third time in the past six months that Musk has explicitly stated Cybercab will enter production in April 2026.
On Monday morning, Musk reiterated that Cybercab will enter its initial manufacturing phase in April, and that it would not have any pedals or a steering wheel, two things that have been speculated as potential elements of the vehicle, if needed.
Cybercab, which has no pedals or steering wheel, starts production in April https://t.co/yShxZ2HJqp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2026
Musk has been known to be aggressive with timelines, and some products have been teased for years and years before they finally come to fruition.
One of perhaps the biggest complaints about Musk is the fact that Tesla does not normally reach the deadlines that are set: the Roadster, Semi, and Unsupervised Full Self-Driving suite are a few of those that have been given “end of this year” timelines, but have not been fulfilled.
Nevertheless, many are able to look past this as part of the process. New technology takes time to develop, but we’d rather not hear about when, and just the progress itself.
However, the Cybercab is a bit different. Musk has said three times in the past six months that Cybercab will be built in April, and this is something that is sort of out of the ordinary for him.
In December 2025, he said that Tesla was “testing the production system” of the vehicle and that “real production ramp starts in April.
Elon Musk shares incredible detail about Tesla Cybercab efficiency
On January 23, he said that “Cybercab production starts in April.” He did the same on February 16, marking yet another occasion that Musk has his sights set on April for initial production of the vehicle.
Musk has also tempered expectations for the Cybercab’s initial production phase. In January, he noted that Cybercab would be subjected to the S-curve-type production speed:
“…initial production is always very slow and follows an S-curve. The speed of production ramp is inversely proportionate to how many new parts and steps there are. For Cybercab and Optimus, almost everything is new, so the early production rate will be agonizingly slow, but eventually end up being insanely fast.”
Cybercab will be a huge part of Tesla’s autonomous ride-sharing plans moving forward.
Elon Musk
Tesla owners explore potential FSD pricing options as uncertainty looms
We asked Tesla owners what the company should price Full Self-Driving moving forward, as now it’s going to be subscription-based. There were some interesting proposals.
Tesla is starting the process of removing the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, as it pulled the purchase option in the United States over the weekend.
However, there has been some indication by CEO Elon Musk that the price of the subscription will increase as the suite becomes more robust. But Tesla finds itself in an interesting situation with this: the take rate for Full Self-Driving at $99 per month is about 12 percent, and Musk needs a significant increase in this rate to reach a tranche in his new compensation package.
This leaves Tesla and owners in their own respective limbos: Tesla needs to find a price that will incentivize consumers to use FSD, while owners need Tesla to offer something that is attractive price-wise.
We asked Tesla owners what the company should price Full Self-Driving moving forward, as now it’s going to be subscription-based. There were some interesting proposals.
Price Reduction
Although people are willing to pay the $99 per month for the FSD suite, it certainly is too high for some owners. Many suggested that if Tesla would back down the price to $49, or somewhere around that region, many owners would immediately subscribe.
Others suggested $69, which would make a lot of sense considering Musk’s obsession with that number.
Different Pricing for Supervised and Unsupervised
With the release of the Unsupervised version of Full Self-Driving, Tesla has a unique opportunity to offer pricing for different attention level requirements.
$50/mo for supervised.
$300/mo for unsupervised including insurance.— pɦoɿɟ pᴉʌɒp (@CSUDavid) February 15, 2026
Unsupervised Full Self-Driving would be significantly more expensive, but not needed by everyone. Many people indicate they would still like to drive their cars manually from time to time, but others said they’d just simply be more than okay with only having Supervised FSD available in their cars.
Time-Based Pricing
Tesla could price FSD on a duration-based pricing model, including Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Annual rates, which would incentivize longer durations with better pricing.
Annually, the rate could be $999 per year, while Monthly would stay at $99. However, a Daily pass of FSD would cost somewhere around $10, while a $30 per week cost seems to be ideal.
These all seem to be in line with what consumers might want. However, Tesla’s attitude with FSD is that it is the future of transportation, and with it offering only a Monthly option currently, it does not seem as if it will look as short-term as a Daily pass.
Tiered Pricing
This is perhaps the most popular option, according to what we’ve seen in comments and replies.
This would be a way to allow owners to pick and choose which FSD features they would like most and pay for them. The more features available to you, the more it costs.
For example, if someone only wanted Supervised driving and Autopark, it could be priced at $50 per month. Add in Summon, it could be $75.
This would allow people to pick only the features they would use daily.
SpaceX and xAI tapped by Pentagon for autonomous drone contest
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