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Tesla’s in-house Dojo chip teased by legendary engineer ahead of AI Day
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 #AI day
August 19, 2021
Palo Alto, CA
5 p.m. PDT pic.twitter.com/4zsP9cVxh5— Dennis Hong (@DennisHongRobot) August 3, 2021
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.
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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Tesla wins another award critics will absolutely despise
Tesla earned an overall score of 49 percent, up 6 percentage points from the previous year, widening its lead over second-place Ford (45 percent, up 2 points) to a commanding 4-percentage-point gap. The company also excelled in the Fossil Free & Environment category with a 50 percent score, reflecting strong progress in reducing emissions and decarbonizing operations.
Tesla just won another award that critics will absolutely despise, as it has been recognized once again as the company with the most sustainable supply chain.
Tesla has once again proven its critics wrong, securing the number one spot on the 2026 Lead the Charge Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard for the second consecutive year, Lead the Charge rankings show.
NEWS: Tesla ranked 1st on supply chain sustainability in the 2026 Lead the Charge auto/EV supply chain scorecard.
“@Tesla remains the top performing automaker of the Leaderboard for the second year running, and increased its overall score by 6 percentage points, while Ford only… pic.twitter.com/nAgGOIrGFS
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) March 4, 2026
This independent ranking, produced by a coalition of environmental, human rights, and investor groups including the Sierra Club, Transport & Environment, and others, evaluates 18 major automakers on their efforts to build equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free supply chains for electric vehicles.
Tesla earned an overall score of 49 percent, up 6 percentage points from the previous year, widening its lead over second-place Ford (45 percent, up 2 points) to a commanding 4-percentage-point gap. The company also excelled in the Fossil Free & Environment category with a 50 percent score, reflecting strong progress in reducing emissions and decarbonizing operations.
Perhaps the most impressive achievement came in the batteries subsection, where Tesla posted a massive +20-point jump to reach 51 percent, becoming the first automaker ever to surpass 50 percent in this critical area.
Tesla achieved this milestone through transparency, fully disclosing Scope 3 emissions breakdowns for battery cell production and key materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite.
The company also requires suppliers to conduct due diligence aligned with OECD guidelines on responsible sourcing, which it has mentioned in past Impact Reports.
While Tesla leads comfortably in climate and environmental performance, it scores 48 percent in human rights and responsible sourcing, slightly behind Ford’s 49 percent.
The company made notable gains in workers’ rights remedies, but has room to improve on issues like Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Overall, the leaderboard highlights that a core group of leaders, Tesla, Ford, Volvo, Mercedes, and Volkswagen, are advancing twice as fast as their peers, proving that cleaner, more ethical EV supply chains are not just possible but already underway.
For Tesla detractors who claim EVs aren’t truly green or that the company cuts corners, this recognition from sustainability-focused NGOs delivers a powerful rebuttal.
Tesla’s vertical integration, direct supplier contracts, low-carbon material agreements (like its North American aluminum deal with emissions under 2kg CO₂e per kg), and raw materials reporting continue to set the industry standard.
As the world races toward electrification, Tesla isn’t just building cars; it’s building a more responsible future.
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Tesla Full Self-Driving likely to expand to yet another Asian country
“We are aiming for implementation in 2026. [We are] doing everything in our power [to achieve this],” Richi Hashimoto, president of Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, said.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is likely to expand to yet another Asian country, as one country seems primed for the suite to head to it for the first time.
The launch of Full Self-Driving in yet another country this year would be a major breakthrough for Tesla as it continues to expand the driver-assistance program across the world. Bureaucratic red tape has held up a lot of its efforts, but things are looking up in some regions.
Tesla is poised to transform Japan’s roads with Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology by 2026.
Richi Hashimoto, president of Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, announced the ambitious timeline, building on successful employee test drives that began in 2025 and earned positive media reviews. Test drives, initially limited to the Model 3 since August 2025, expanded to the Model Y on March 5.
Once regulators approve, Over-the-Air (OTA) software updates could activate FSD across roughly 40,000 Teslas already on Japanese roads. Japan’s orderly traffic and strict safety culture make it an ideal testing ground for autonomous driving.
Hashimoto said:
“We are aiming for implementation in 2026. [We are] doing everything in our power [to achieve this].”
The push aligns with Hashimoto’s leadership, which has been credited for Tesla’s sales turnaround.
In 2025, Tesla delivered a record 10,600 vehicles in Japan — a nearly 90% jump from the prior year and the first time exceeding 10,000 units annually.
BREAKING 🇯🇵 FSD IS LIKELY LAUNCHING IN JAPAN IN 2026 🚨
Richi Hashimoto, President of Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, stated: “We are aiming for implementation in 2026” and added that they are “doing everything in our power” to achieve this 🔥
Test drives in Japan began in August… pic.twitter.com/jkkrJLszXN
— Ming (@tslaming) March 5, 2026
The strategy shifted from online-only sales to adding 29 physical showrooms in high-traffic malls, plus staff training and attractive financing offers launched in January 2026. Tesla also plans to expand its Supercharger network to over 1,000 points by 2027, boosting accessibility.
This Japanese momentum reflects Tesla’s broader international expansion. In Europe, Giga Berlin produced more than 200,000 vehicles in 2025 despite a temporary halt, supplying over 30 markets with plans for sequential production growth in 2026 and battery cell manufacturing by 2027.
While regional EV sales faced headwinds, the factory remains a cornerstone for Model Y deliveries across the continent.
In Asia, Giga Shanghai continues to be recognized as Tesla’s powerhouse. China, the company’s largest market, saw January 2026 deliveries from the plant rise 9 percent year-over-year to 69,129 units, with affordable new models expected later this year.
FSD advancements, already progressing in the U.S. and South Korea, are slated for Europe and further Asian rollout, complementing plans to expand Cybercab and Optimus to new markets as well.
With OTA-enabled autonomy on the horizon and retail strategies paying dividends, Tesla is strengthening its footprint from Tokyo showrooms to Berlin assembly lines and Shanghai exports. As Hashimoto continues to push Tesla forward in Japan, the company’s global vision for sustainable, self-driving mobility gains traction across Europe and Asia.
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Tesla ships out update that brings massive change to two big features
“This change only updates the name of certain features and text in your vehicle,” the company wrote in Release Notes for the update, “and does not change the way your features behave.”
Tesla has shipped out an update for its vehicles that was caused specifically by a California lawsuit that threatened the company’s ability to sell cars because of how it named its driver assistance suite.
Tesla shipped out Software Update 2026.2.9 starting last week; we received it already, and it only brings a few minor changes, mostly related to how things are referenced.
“This change only updates the name of certain features and text in your vehicle,” the company wrote in Release Notes for the update, “and does not change the way your features behave.”
The following changes came to Tesla vehicles in the update:
- Navigate on Autopilot has now been renamed to Navigate on Autosteer
- FSD Computer has been renamed to AI Computer
Tesla faced a 30-day sales suspension in California after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles stated the company had to come into compliance regarding the marketing of its automated driving features.
The agency confirmed on February 18 that it had taken a “corrective action” to resolve the issue. That corrective action was renaming certain parts of its ADAS.
Tesla discontinued its standalone Autopilot offering in January and ramped up the marketing of Full Self-Driving Supervised. Tesla had said on X that the issue with naming “was a ‘consumer protection’ order about the use of the term ‘Autopilot’ in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.”
This was a “consumer protection” order about the use of the term “Autopilot” in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem.
Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) December 17, 2025
It is now compliant with the wishes of the California DMV, and we’re all dealing with it now.
This was the first primary dispute over the terminology of Full Self-Driving, but it has undergone some scrutiny at the federal level, as some government officials have claimed the suite has “deceptive” names. Previous Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was one of those federal-level employees who had an issue with the names “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving.”
Tesla sued the California DMV over the ruling last week.
Tesla wins another award critics will absolutely despise
Tesla Full Self-Driving likely to expand to yet another Asian country
