News
Tesla’s cobalt-free efforts are being closely watched by LG Chem, Samsung ahead of Battery Day
It appears that it is not only the electric vehicle community that is eagerly anticipating Tesla’s upcoming Battery Day event. Considering the company’s place in the EV movement, as well as its efforts in pursuing a cobalt-free solution for batteries, industry leaders like Samsung and LG Chem are reportedly watching Tesla and its battery announcements closely.
Battery Day has been mentioned by Elon Musk multiple times in the past, and last month, the company noted that the highly-anticipated event will be held on September 22. The CEO has informed analysts that Battery Day will include a “big reveal” of developments in Tesla’s battery efforts. The effects of such developments on the battery supply chain are also expected to be discussed.
Tesla has kept details of Battery Day secret, though industry officials have noted that details on new cobalt-free batteries will be revealed at the upcoming event. Tesla has been working on reducing its batteries’ cobalt content for years, as evidenced by a study from a German firm that determined that Model 3 batteries have 75% less cobalt than the cells used by companies like Volkswagen. In the second-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk noted that eventually, cobalt will be phased out completely.
EV battery makers such as LG Chem and Samsung have mostly favored nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) or nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) batteries over cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry due to their higher energy density, which allows vehicles to travel longer distances. LFP batteries are more environmentally-friendly and cost-effective, but they tend to be limited when it comes to range. This status quo seems poised to change with Battery Day, at least if speculations prove accurate.
Reports have emerged stating that CATL, one of Tesla’s battery partners in China, has begun supplying LPF batteries for the electric car maker’s locally-produced Model 3. Elon Musk emphasized this in the Q2 2020 earnings call, when he stated that Tesla will be boosting volume production in China of LFP battery packs for the Model 3. By the end of July, Panasonic, Tesla’s longtime battery partner, informed Reuters that it will be commercializing a cobalt-free battery in two to three years for the electric car maker.
Amidst these reports, industry leaders like LG Chem and Samsung are now facing what could very well be a crossroads with their battery strategy. If Tesla has come up with a way to solve the shortcomings of LFP batteries, there is a good chance that the battery industry could also start moving away from cobalt. Tesla, after all, is one of the world’s leading electric car maker, and its EV and energy storage business are both undergoing an aggressive expansion. Cobalt is also a controversial material to begin with, thanks to questionable mining practices in areas such as the Congo.
That being said, LG Chem has stated that it still believes that NMC chemistry will remain the mainstream in the global market due to its energy density advantages. “Though we are producing LFP batteries too, these have their shortcomings in energy density and weight. We believe NCM will remain the mainstream in the global EV battery market,” the company stated during its second-quarter conference call.
Samsung SDI was on the same page, stating that it will be focusing on NCA technology. Citing an industry official who requested anonymity, The Korea Times noted that Samsung is paying close attention to what Tesla will be announcing and unveiling on Battery Day.
“Many battery firms have tried to upgrade the energy density of LFP chemistry, but they have yet to have meaningful outcomes. Tesla is now saying it is increasing its reliance on LFP batteries and is anticipated to come up with information on new cobalt-free batteries during Battery Day. This can either mean that Tesla and CATL have come up with technology to improve the efficiency of LFP batteries or unprecedented technology in removing cobalt,” he said. “Since either way will likely affect the industrial trend, domestic companies are paying attention to what Tesla will reveal during the event,” the industry insider stated.
Tesla’s Battery Day event is expected to be held on September 22, 2020. A live audience is expected to be present, though the event will also be live-streamed.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk and Tesla AI Director share insights after empty driver seat Robotaxi rides
The executives’ unoccupied tests hint at the rapid progress of Tesla’s unsupervised Robotaxi efforts.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and AI Director Ashok Elluswamy celebrated Christmas Eve by sharing personal experiences with Robotaxi vehicles that had no safety monitor or occupant in the driver’s seat. Musk described the system’s “perfect driving” around Austin, while Elluswamy posted video from the back seat, calling it “an amazing experience.”
The executives’ unoccupied tests hint at the rapid progress of Tesla’s unsupervised Robotaxi efforts.
Elon and Ashok’s firsthand Robotaxi insights
Prior to Musk and the Tesla AI Director’s posts, sightings of unmanned Teslas navigating public roads were widely shared on social media. One such vehicle was spotted in Austin, Texas, which Elon Musk acknowleged by stating that “Testing is underway with no occupants in the car.”
Based on his Christmas Eve post, Musk seemed to have tested an unmanned Tesla himself. “A Tesla with no safety monitor in the car and me sitting in the passenger seat took me all around Austin on Sunday with perfect driving,” Musk wrote in his post.
Elluswamy responded with a 2-minute video showing himself in the rear of an unmanned Tesla. The video featured the vehicle’s empty front seats, as well as its smooth handling through real-world traffic. He captioned his video with the words, “It’s an amazing experience!”
Towards Unsupervised operations
During an xAI Hackathon earlier this month, Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla owed be removing Safety Monitors from its Robotaxis in Austin in just three weeks. “Unsupervised is pretty much solved at this point. So there will be Tesla Robotaxis operating in Austin with no one in them. Not even anyone in the passenger seat in about three weeks,” he said. Musk echoed similar estimates at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting and the Q3 2025 earnings call.
Considering the insights that were posted Musk and Elluswamy, it does appear that Tesla is working hard towards operating its Robotaxis with no safety monitors. This is quite impressive considering that the service was launched just earlier this year.
Elon Musk
Starlink passes 9 million active customers just weeks after hitting 8 million
The milestone highlights the accelerating growth of Starlink, which has now been adding over 20,000 new users per day.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has continued its rapid global expansion, surpassing 9 million active customers just weeks after crossing the 8 million mark.
The milestone highlights the accelerating growth of Starlink, which has now been adding over 20,000 new users per day.
9 million customers
In a post on X, SpaceX stated that Starlink now serves over 9 million active users across 155 countries, territories, and markets. The company reached 8 million customers in early November, meaning it added roughly 1 million subscribers in under seven weeks, or about 21,275 new users on average per day.
“Starlink is connecting more than 9M active customers with high-speed internet across 155 countries, territories, and many other markets,” Starlink wrote in a post on its official X account. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell also celebrated the milestone on X. “A huge thank you to all of our customers and congrats to the Starlink team for such an incredible product,” she wrote.
That growth rate reflects both rising demand for broadband in underserved regions and Starlink’s expanding satellite constellation, which now includes more than 9,000 low-Earth-orbit satellites designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet worldwide.
Starlink’s momentum
Starlink’s momentum has been building up. SpaceX reported 4.6 million Starlink customers in December 2024, followed by 7 million by August 2025, and 8 million customers in November. Independent data also suggests Starlink usage is rising sharply, with Cloudflare reporting that global web traffic from Starlink users more than doubled in 2025, as noted in an Insider report.
Starlink’s momentum is increasingly tied to SpaceX’s broader financial outlook. Elon Musk has said the satellite network is “by far” the company’s largest revenue driver, and reports suggest SpaceX may be positioning itself for an initial public offering as soon as next year, with valuations estimated as high as $1.5 trillion. Musk has also suggested in the past that Starlink could have its own IPO in the future.
News
NVIDIA Director of Robotics: Tesla FSD v14 is the first AI to pass the “Physical Turing Test”
After testing FSD v14, Fan stated that his experience with FSD felt magical at first, but it soon started to feel like a routine.
NVIDIA Director of Robotics Jim Fan has praised Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14 as the first AI to pass what he described as a “Physical Turing Test.”
After testing FSD v14, Fan stated that his experience with FSD felt magical at first, but it soon started to feel like a routine. And just like smartphones today, removing it now would “actively hurt.”
Jim Fan’s hands-on FSD v14 impressions
Fan, a leading researcher in embodied AI who is currently solving Physical AI at NVIDIA and spearheading the company’s Project GR00T initiative, noted that he actually was late to the Tesla game. He was, however, one of the first to try out FSD v14.
“I was very late to own a Tesla but among the earliest to try out FSD v14. It’s perhaps the first time I experience an AI that passes the Physical Turing Test: after a long day at work, you press a button, lay back, and couldn’t tell if a neural net or a human drove you home,” Fan wrote in a post on X.
Fan added: “Despite knowing exactly how robot learning works, I still find it magical watching the steering wheel turn by itself. First it feels surreal, next it becomes routine. Then, like the smartphone, taking it away actively hurts. This is how humanity gets rewired and glued to god-like technologies.”
The Physical Turing Test
The original Turing Test was conceived by Alan Turing in 1950, and it was aimed at determining if a machine could exhibit behavior that is equivalent to or indistinguishable from a human. By focusing on text-based conversations, the original Turing Test set a high bar for natural language processing and machine learning.
This test has been passed by today’s large language models. However, the capability to converse in a humanlike manner is a completely different challenge from performing real-world problem-solving or physical interactions. Thus, Fan introduced the Physical Turing Test, which challenges AI systems to demonstrate intelligence through physical actions.
Based on Fan’s comments, Tesla has demonstrated these intelligent physical actions with FSD v14. Elon Musk agreed with the NVIDIA executive, stating in a post on X that with FSD v14, “you can sense the sentience maturing.” Musk also praised Tesla AI, calling it the best “real-world AI” today.
Elon Musk and Tesla AI Director share insights after empty driver seat Robotaxi rides
Starlink passes 9 million active customers just weeks after hitting 8 million
