News
Former Tesla UI designer teases Cybertruck design, Full Self-Driving animations
A former Tesla UI designer’s renders of the Cybertruck design, along with never-before-seen Full Self-Driving animations, have been revealed from his personal website. Pawel Pietryka, who left Tesla in mid-March to pursue other interests, served the company for 4.5 years, frequently presenting new ideas and designs to CEO Elon Musk. After leaving the company, there were several new renders and animations that revealed the Cybertruck and Full Self-Driving animations that have remained elusive to the community.
The new renders and designs were recovered from Pietryka’s website but have now been removed following the Tesla community getting their hands on them. While it is not necessarily known if these were official Tesla renders and animations, the fact that they have disappeared from Pietryka’s website reveals that they could have been sensitive to Tesla’s designs and plans for future versions of FSD. Additionally, the Cybertruck UI animations could be utilized within the electric pickup when it hits the market later this year.
Cybertruck Render and Animation
Cybertruck UI is incredible. I can’t wait! pic.twitter.com/wZ9Zo8MYWu
— MotherFrunker #FSDBetaCanada ?? (@MFrunker) April 28, 2021
Pietryka’s Cybertruck rendering seems to show the vehicle’s interior, along with the planned animation and UI infrastructure that Tesla could use when the truck begins deliveries in late 2021. It appears to show a route and navigation summary that is similar to what real-world owners would view as they set out to drive their car to a destination. Relatively simple in design, the render and animations have not been seen before. With Pietryka being the former head of the UI design team at Tesla, there is likely some correlation between what was posted on his website and what Tesla will actually use within the Cybertruck.
The Cybertruck has been in development for several years and has undergone intense scrutiny from Tesla and its designers, along with potential owners since its unveiling in 2019. CEO Elon Musk has said that the Cybertruck underwent a slight redesign to make the truck slightly more compact. Most people were worried about getting the truck into their garage. Still, Musk was more concerned about the potential issues that the company could have with fitting it into the Boring Company tunnels comfortably. Musk told Joe Rogan earlier this year that Tesla adjusted the size by “around 3% or smaller. You don’t want it to be a couple of inches too big for the tunnel.”
Full Self-Driving Animations
A possible look at what V11 could bring. The designer who led the Tesla UI design left last month to start his own design company
Source: https://t.co/R9YGk7QmtH before it was taken down pic.twitter.com/85Mrh6oAUm
— Tesla Owners Online (@Model3Owners) April 28, 2021
The FSD Animation gave some owners and enthusiasts, like @Model3Owners, the idea that it could be a look at what Software Version 11 could bring. Tesla released some of the V11 features through the Holiday Update in late 2020, but there were several things that went unchanged. This could simply be due to FSD still being worked on, which Tesla outlined during the recent Earnings Call.
Musk said that Full Self-Driving Beta is continuing to “make great progress,” and Tesla is developing more extensive training software that will help with labeling. However, Tesla could be looking to redesign the Driving Visualization feature and could be leaning toward the design that Pietryka posted on his website. Like the Cybertruck render, this has also been removed.
As for Pietryka, he founded Moderne Grafik Anstalt Inc. in 2019, and it appears that his plans are to focus on this instead of Tesla’s work. He joined Tesla in 2016 after leaving Apple, where he crafted “new product narratives” and was responsible for hardware launches.
After 4.5 years at Tesla, today is my last day. I’ll miss these sweet fools so much, such incredible designers and humans. xo https://t.co/qNKcJCnZ7i
#tesla #productdesign #ui #uiux #ux #cybertruck #models #model3 #modely pic.twitter.com/PEgJAhH9CG— Pawel Pietryka (@pawelpietryka) March 11, 2021
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI, creator of Grok and Grokipedia, celebrates its third birthday
xAI Memphis highlighted several of its milestones over the years in its celebratory post.
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has marked its third anniversary. The update was shared in a post from the xAI Memphis account on social media platform X.
xAI Memphis highlighted several of its milestones over the years in its celebratory post.
As per xAI, it has built three massive data centers in the city, launched a coherent cluster of 330,000 GBs, created over 3,000 jobs, and paid over $30 million in taxes to local communities.
xAI’s Memphis operation has become a key part of the company’s infrastructure as the company works to train and deploy its Grok artificial intelligence models. Elon Musk has been quite optimistic about Grok’s potential, noting in the past that the large language model might have a shot at achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI).
xAI’s Memphis’ crown jewel is its Colossus supercomputer cluster. The project was announced in 2024 and has since become the home of one of the world’s largest AI compute facilities. The first phase of Colossus reached its initial 100,000 GPU operational milestone in just 122 days, or just about four months.
Industry figures such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have praised the facility, noting that projects of similar scale typically take two to four years to complete.
xAI has cited Memphis’ central location, skilled workforce, and industrial infrastructure as key reasons for selecting the city as the home of its AI training operations. The company has also emphasized plans to expand the site further as it scales compute capacity for Grok and future AI models.
News
Tesla Sweden’s Megapack Supercharger near Arlanda continues to aggravate IF Metall union
The charging site, located in Arlandastad outside Stockholm, appears to be operating despite ongoing union blockade measures tied to Tesla’s labor dispute in the country.
Tesla Sweden’s Megapack-powered Supercharger station near Arlanda Airport has continued to aggravate Swedish labor union IF Metall. The charging site, located in Arlandastad outside Stockholm, appears to be operating despite ongoing union blockade measures tied to Tesla’s labor dispute in the country.
Comments about the site were shared by IF Metall representatives in remarks to Swedish publication CarUp.
The Arlandastad location includes eight Tesla Superchargers powered by a Megapack battery system. Unlike traditional charging stations that rely on direct grid connections, the site uses a large battery installation to store electricity and power the chargers.
According to the Swedish publication, the setup allowed the station to come online despite sympathy measures from Sweden’s electricians’ union, which has attempted to prevent companies from cooperating with Tesla as part of the broader labor conflict.
IF Metall press manager Jesper Pettersson indicated that the union was not aware that the Superchargers had already been connected and activated.
“We do not know the details around this. But it is further proof of how Tesla systematically finds loopholes to circumvent the sympathy measures through active strikebreaking. Every time this happens it gives us reason to sharpen our conflict measures,” Pettersson said.
Union representatives also noted that the Megapack appears to be charged using electrical cables routed through nearby terrain, though the exact power source remains under review.
The Megapack-powered site has then prompted questions from Swedish labor unions about how electricity is being supplied to the system.
IF Metall has submitted a report to Sweden’s Energy Market Inspectorate asking the regulator to review whether the electricity supply arrangement complies with national regulations. The Megapack is reportedly charged using electricity from a local company, though the provider has not been publicly identified.
Peter Lydell, an ombudsman at IF Metall, previously stated that Swedish law limits electricity trading to companies with proper authorization.
“The legislation states that only companies that engage in electricity trading may supply electricity to other parties. You may not supply electricity without a permit, then you are engaging in illegal electricity trading. That is why we have reported this…
“This is about a company that helps Tesla circumvent the conflict measures that exist. It is clear that it is troublesome and it can also have consequences,” Lydell said.
IF Metall and Tesla Sweden’s conflict has been going on for over two years now.
Elon Musk
Starbase after dark: Musk’s latest photo captures a Spaceport on the brink of history
SpaceX’s Starbase city in Boca Chica, Texas is rapidly transforming the southern tip of the Lone Star State into one of the most ambitious launch complexes in history.
A striking nighttime photograph of SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, shared recently by Elon Musk on X, offers a dramatic glimpse of an operation that is rapidly transforming the southern tip of the Lone Star State into one of the most ambitious launch complexes in history.
The most immediately visible change in the photo is the presence of two fully erected Starship launch towers dominating the coastal skyline. The second orbital launch pad, known as Pad B, now features its fully erected tower, OLIT-3, which stands approximately 474 feet tall and incorporates an integrated water-cooled flame trench designed to minimize damage and reduce turnaround time between launches. The dual-tower silhouette against the night sky signals a decisive shift from experimental testing facility to high-cadence launch operations.
Grok Image concept of Elon Musk’s latest Starbase photo via X
Back at Starbase, Pad 2 is approaching hardware completion, with upgraded chopstick arms, a new chilldown vent system, and all 20 hold-down arms now fitted with protective doors to shield them from the intense exhaust of up to 33 Raptor 3 engines, according to a deeper dive by NASASpaceFlight.
SpaceX has also received approval to nearly double the footprint of the Starbase launch site, with groundwork already underway to add LNG liquefaction plants, expanded propellant storage, and additional ground support infrastructure.
The photo also carries a milestone civic dimension. Starbase officially became a Texas city in May 2025 after a community vote, with SpaceX employees elected as mayor and commissioners of the newly incorporated municipality. That legal status streamlines launch approvals and gives SpaceX direct control over local infrastructure decisions.
The FAA has approved an increase in launches from Starbase in Texas from five to twenty-five per year, clearing the runway for the kind of flight frequency needed to fulfill Starship’s ultimate mission of ferrying cargo and crew to the Moon, servicing the Department of Defense, deploying next-generation Starlink satellites, and eventually establishing Elon Musk’s long sought after goal of a self-sustaining human presence on Mars.
Seen from above in the dark, Starbase looks less like a test site and more like a spaceport.