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Tesla’s in-house Dojo chip teased by legendary engineer ahead of AI Day

@DennisHongRobot | Twitter

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Ahead of Tesla’s AI Day scheduled for August 19th, legendary mechanical engineer Dennis Hong has teased a picture of what could be Tesla’s Dojo Chip. While Dojo is a Supercomputer that Tesla Head of Autonomy Andrej Karpathy released photographs of recently, Dojo uses an in-house chip, according to Elon Musk, along with a computer architecture optimized for Neural Net Training.

Hong, who has been a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Samueli School of Engineering for several years, has an interest in robotic platforms, autonomous vehicles, and machine design. Interestingly, in 2011, Hong presented a TED Talk about the possibilities of making a car for blind people. During the presentation, Hong told attendees about the DARPA Urban Challenge, where he and his team of engineers developed a fully autonomous car that would automatically reach its destination without intervention. In 2007, when the Urban Challenge was completed, Hong and Co. placed third in the competition, taking home a cool $500,000 prize to continue developing self-driving techniques, among other things.

Hong dished out some added anticipation to Tesla’s AI Day event by sending out a picture of what is likely the in-house chip that Musk talked about in September 2020. “Dojo uses our own chips,” Musk said. Unlike most automakers, Tesla aims to develop most of its software and hardware in-house, especially when it comes to its autonomy projects. While Hong was unwilling to confirm or deny what his professional relationship with Tesla is, his expertise could likely have contributed to the development of Dojo and the autonomous driving project that the company has worked on for years.

Tesla has been developing its own chips since 2016, led by Jim Keller. Ultimately, Tesla wanted to design chips in-house so it knew all of the components and could likely sell the chip to other manufacturers later on. In 2019 at Autonomy Day, it unveiled Hardware 3.0, a chip that Elon Musk said was “objectively the best chip in the world.” Earlier this year, it was rumored that Tesla was working with Samsung to develop a new 5nm semiconductor chip that would assist with autonomous driving software.

Dojo is undoubtedly being developed in-house, but that does not mean Tesla will not attempt to gain the expertise and experience of some of the world’s most intelligent and accomplished engineers. With at least 14 years of experience in the field of self-driving cars, Hong may be the perfect candidate to help Tesla perfect and unveil the future of autonomous driving later this month. At AI Day, it is unknown what will be talked about or released as of right now, but there is obvious speculation that details regarding Tesla’s long-awaited Dojo could be released.

After announcing Dojo last year, Musk and Co. have remained relatively quiet regarding its development, but the company has continuously released updates to its Full Self-Driving Beta suite. Musk says updates will come “every 2 weeks on Friday” at midnight Pacific Standard Time.

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Despite Tesla’s development and incremental improvements with nearly every software update, it is nowhere near completed. Instead, the strategy was to transition Tesla’s entire FSD strategy from what Musk called ~2.5D to 4D. Essentially, Musk wanted to transition the FSD Neural Network to a video format. Adding timestamps for more accuracy, the complexity of Dojo is likely something that will not only improve the accuracy of Tesla’s vehicles when FSD and Autopilot are operational, but it also will increase performance at a more drastic rate due to the increased rate of data capture. The massive amount of data that Dojo will comprehend requires one of the world’s strongest and most robust computer systems.

While Tesla hinted toward the release of Dojo late last year, it will not be ready until late 2021 at the earliest. It is unknown if Tesla will unveil Dojo at the event or give a simple progress update.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla Model Y L gets biggest hint yet that it’s coming to the U.S.

Over the past week, a noticeable wave of American Tesla influencers descended on China and Australia, each posting in-depth YouTube reviews of the Model Y L within days of one another.

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Credit: Tesla China

The Tesla Model Y L is perhaps the most wanted vehicle in the company’s lineup in the United States, especially now that it is void of a true family vehicle with the removal of the Model X.

In China, Tesla currently offers a longer, more family-friendly version of the Model Y, known as the Model Y L, which is longer in terms of its wheelbase and larger in terms of interior space, making it the perfect option for those with a need for a tad more room than what the all-electric crossover offers in its Standard, Premium, and Performance trims.

However, there seems to be a hint that the Model Y L could be on its way to the United States. Over the past week, a noticeable wave of American Tesla influencers descended on China and Australia, each posting in-depth YouTube reviews of the Model Y L within days of one another:

The timing has sparked some intense speculation as to whether Tesla is quietly preparing to bring the long-wheelbase, three-row family SUV to North America after months of requests from fans.

The Model Y L stretches the wheelbase by about five inches compared to the standard Model Y.

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This delivers dramatically more rear legroom, optional captain’s chairs in the second row, and a true six- or seven-seat configuration ideal for growing families. Reviewers praise its refined ride, upgraded interior features like a rear touchscreen and premium audio, and competitive range—up to roughly 466 miles in some configurations.

Many observers see the coordinated influencer trip as more than a coincidence. Tesla China appears to have hosted the group, possibly tied to the Beijing Auto Show, giving U.S.-focused creators early access to hands-on footage aimed squarely at North American audiences.

Tesla Model Y lineup expansion signals an uncomfortable reality for consumers

Tesla watchers are quick to point out this isn’t the first time such a pattern has emerged.

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Just months earlier, American influencers were similarly invited to China to test-drive the refreshed Model Y Performance. Those videos dropped in the lead-up to the variant’s U.S. rollout, generating exactly the kind of pre-launch hype that helped smooth its September arrival in American showrooms.

The parallel is obviously hard to ignore, as Tesla has used overseas influencer trips before as a low-key way to build anticipation without formal announcements. With the Model Y L potentially hitting the U.S. market late this year, according to CEO Elon Musk, the timing would make sense.

Tesla Model Y L might not come to the U.S., and it’s a missed opportunity

Of course, it could still be coincidental. Tesla regularly invites creators to its Shanghai factory and events for broader promotional purposes, and the Model Y L has been on sale in China for some time. No official word has come from Tesla or Elon Musk about U.S. availability, pricing, or timing.

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Import tariffs, regulatory hurdles, and production priorities at Fremont or the new Mexican Gigafactory could still delay or alter any stateside plans.

Even so, the buzz is real. U.S. families have long asked for a more spacious, three-row Tesla SUV that doesn’t require stepping up to the larger Model X.

If the influencer campaign is any indication, the Model Y L—or a close North American cousin—could finally answer that call. For now, American Tesla fans are watching closely and wondering whether this latest China trip is just good content… or the opening act for something much bigger stateside.

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Tesla begins probing owners on FSD’s navigation errors with small but mighty change

Previously lumped under “Other,” these incidents made it harder for Tesla’s AI team to isolate and prioritize map-related issues in their reinforcement learning models. There was a lot of disagreement on how certain interventions should be reported.

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Tesla has started probing owners on how often its Full Self-Driving suite has Navigation errors with a small but mighty change last night.

In its latest Software Update, which is Version 2026.2.9.9 featuring Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.2, Tesla has introduced a targeted improvement to how owners will report interventions.

With the initial rollout of v14.3.2, Tesla introduced a new Intervention Menu that appears when a disengagement occurs. It allowed owners to choose from four different categories: Preference, Comfort, Critical, or Other.

Tesla has voided the Other option and replaced it with a new “Navigation” choice, which seems much more ideal given the complaints owners have had about navigation. This seemingly minor UI tweak, rolled out widely in recent days, marks another step in Tesla’s ongoing effort to refine its autonomous driving stack through precise, crowdsourced data.

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Tesla made this change in direct response to longstanding community feedback. For years, FSD users have noted that navigation errors—such as incorrect speed limits, suboptimal routes, or directing the vehicle to a building’s rear entrance instead of the main one—frequently force interventions.

Previously lumped under “Other,” these incidents made it harder for Tesla’s AI team to isolate and prioritize map-related issues in their reinforcement learning models. There was a lot of disagreement on how certain interventions should be reported:

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By adding a dedicated “Navigation” label, the company can now tag disengagements more accurately, feeding cleaner data into its neural networks. This supports faster iteration on routing algorithms, map accuracy, and intent-aware navigation.

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Community consensus around Tesla’s navigation system has been consistent and candid. While the end-to-end AI driving behavior in v14.x earns widespread acclaim for smoothness and safety, navigation remains FSD’s clearest Achilles’ heel.

Owners frequently cite outdated map data, failure to learn from repeated corrections, and routing decisions that feel less intuitive than Google Maps or Apple Maps. Common complaints include phantom speed-limit changes, inefficient local roads, and poor point-of-interest handling.

Tesla Summon got insanely good in FSD v14.3.2 — Navigation? Not so much

Many drivers report intervening on navigation far more often than on core driving maneuvers, with some estimating it accounts for the majority of disengagements outside of edge cases.

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Long-term users note that the same mapping glitches persist across years and software versions, despite thousands of collective miles of feedback. Yet the addition of the “Navigation” option has been met with optimism. It signals Tesla’s commitment to data-driven progress and suggests navigation improvements could arrive sooner.

For a community that already logs millions of FSD miles monthly, this small change could unlock meaningful gains in reliability and user trust—potentially accelerating the path to unsupervised autonomy.

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Tesla expands Robotaxi in a way that was long anticipated

Instead, it has to do with the consumer base it offers Robotaxi to, because it has not offered it to everyone in the past.

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla has expanded Robotaxi in a way that was long anticipated, and it does not have to do with a new, larger geofence in a city where it already offered its partially autonomous ride-hailing suite, or a new city altogether.

Instead, it has to do with the consumer base it offers Robotaxi to, because it has not offered it to everyone in the past.

Tesla has taken a major step forward in its autonomous ride-hailing ambitions with the official launch of the Tesla Robotaxi app for Android users. Released on the Google Play Store on April 24. Titled simply “Tesla Robotaxi,” the app is now available to download directly from Tesla.

This rollout fulfills a long-anticipated expansion that opens the service to hundreds of millions of Android smartphone users who were previously unable to access it on iOS alone.

The app delivers a streamlined, driverless ride experience powered by Tesla’s automated driving technology.

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Users sign in with a Tesla Account, view the current service area map within the app, enter a destination, and receive an estimated fare and arrival time before confirming the ride. When a Model Y from the Robotaxi fleet arrives, riders confirm the license plate, enter the vehicle, fasten their seatbelt, and tap “Start Ride” on either the app or the vehicle’s touchscreen.

During the trip, passengers have access to all the same controls that iOS users do, and can adjust climate settings, seat positions, and music while tracking progress on an in-app map. The interface also allows drop-off changes or support requests if needed. After the ride, users exit, close the doors, and submit feedback.

This Android availability directly broadens the rider base for Robotaxi in its initial service areas. Unfortunately, Android users are used to being subject to delayed launches of new features available to Tesla owners.

By removing the iOS-only barrier, Tesla instantly expands the addressable market, enabling far more people to summon and use the autonomous vehicles already operating on public roads.

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The move is a foundational requirement for scaling ride volume and gathering the real-world data needed to refine the unsupervised Full Self-Driving system that powers every trip.

For the Robotaxi program itself, the launch signals steady operational progress. It prepares the service for higher utilization rates as the fleet grows and supports the transition from limited early deployments to a more robust network.

Tesla expands Unsupervised Robotaxi service to two new cities

Tesla has indicated that users outside current service areas can sign up at the company’s website for future notifications, pointing to a deliberate, phased geographic rollout.

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Looking ahead, the company plans to incorporate Cybercab vehicles to increase fleet capacity and efficiency while continuing to expand service territories. With the Android app now live, Tesla has removed a key adoption hurdle and positioned Robotaxi for the next phase of growth in autonomous urban transportation.

The infrastructure is now in place to support significantly larger rider demand as production and deployment accelerate.

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