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Elon Musk is not getting White House invites because advisors fear he might embarrass Biden: report

Credit: Wall Street Journal/YouTube

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Recent reports have indicated that there might be a reason why Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not being invited to electric vehicle-focused White House events. As it turns out, Biden’s advisors are quite hesitant to invite the Tesla CEO since they are concerned that Musk might do or say something that might embarrass the US President and his administration. 

The insights were recently shared by CNBC, which was able to get comments from both Elon Musk and people reportedly familiar with the Biden administration’s stance on the CEO. Citing over half a dozen people who are familiar with the matter — all of which opted remain anonymous — the publication noted that Biden’s advisors are privately pushing back against inviting Musk to future industry events. 

When asked about the administration’s concerns, Musk reportedly sent CNBC an initial reply featuring two “rolling on the floor laughing” emojis. Following this classic Musk response, the Tesla CEO noted that the Biden administration’s concerns are largely unfounded. “They have nothing to worry about. I would do the right thing,” Musk wrote. 

While Musk maintained that the idea of a feud between him and Biden is not really that accurate, the US President’s hesitation in mentioning Tesla when discussing America’s EVs — at least until recently — was very notable. This became quite evident when General Motors, a company that Biden deemed as a leader in EVs, delivered a measly 26 electric cars in the fourth quarter of 2021. Tesla delivered over 300,000. 

“The notion of a feud is not quite right. Biden has pointedly ignored Tesla at every turn and falsely stated to the public that GM leads the electric car industry, when in fact Tesla produced over 300,000 electric vehicles last quarter and GM produced 26… It got to the point, hilariously, where no one in the administration was even allowed to say the word ‘Tesla’! The public outrage and media pressure about that statement forced him to admit that Tesla does, in fact, lead the EV industry. I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘praise,’” Musk wrote in an email to the publication. 

Overall, the White House’s hesitation in inviting Elon Musk to White House events seems to stem from a place of misinformation. Musk, after all, is assertive and bold on Twitter, but he has attended numerous high-profile events in the past without making a fool of himself. In a way, this is the problem when a constant stream of negativity is directed towards a person. Eventually, a picture is painted that depicts the individual as a cartoon villain that is out of control. This is a narrative that, to a point, has been directed at Musk over the years. Coupled with Tesla’s tendency to mostly stay silent when criticized, such a narrative has allowed a vastly misinformed take on Musk to become the norm. 

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Interestingly enough, Musk actually has supported the president in the past. Prior to Biden taking office as the new US President, Musk noted that he was optimistic about the upcoming administration’s focus on climate change. Musk also lobbied for a carbon tax, though he later noted that he was informed by Biden and his team that a carbon tax was “too politically difficult” to implement. It took some time before Musk admitted that the Biden administration was “not the friendliest administration,” and it took even more time before the CEO’s sharp comments on Twitter against the President started. This, unfortunately, is something that has been lost in the Musk vs. Biden mainstream narrative. 

Ultimately, however, the Biden administration is changing. The US President actually mentioned Tesla recently, showing that he at least publicly acknowledges the company’s efforts. A White House spokesperson also praised the EV maker in an email to CNBC, noting that “Tesla has done extraordinary things for electric vehicles, and that’s a big part of why the whole industry now knows EVs are the future.” Comments such as these seemed almost impossible to secure just a few months ago. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Starlink launches Communities Program for passive income through internet sharing

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(Credit: Starlink | X)

Starlink is launching a new beta path for ordinary property owners and local operators to turn a single Starlink kit into a small shared-access business for passive income.

Under the Starlink for Communities program, a host installs one dish and router setup in a location with nearby demand: an apartment complex, campground, rural crossroads, or event site. Neighbors or local users can buy short-term passes rather than full individual subscriptions, giving the Starlink provider a potential path to passive income.

Hour, day, and week passes cover one device. A month pass covers up to four. Starlink handles account creation, payments, access controls, and the satellite link itself. The host’s role is mainly placement, power, and basic upkeep, with earnings tied to each paid connection.

The model echoes the passive-income vision long attached to Tesla’s Robotaxi plans, and it seems like it’s something Musk has hinted toward in the past as he believes AI will make the need to work relatively optional. In both cases, the platform owns the hard parts of matching, billing, and network management, while an individual supplies a physical asset that sits idle much of the time.

A Starlink host’s dish can serve multiple nearby users without each household buying and installing its own terminal. A Tesla owner, under the stated Robotaxi concept, would leave a vehicle enrolled in the fleet during unused hours so the car generates rides while the owner is at work or asleep.

Both arrangements convert under-utilized hardware into a revenue stream. They also let the company scale coverage or capacity without owning every endpoint.

Differences are practical. A Starlink kit is a fixed, relatively low-cost terminal whose main constraint is local congestion and line-of-sight. A Tesla Robotaxi is a mobile, high-value vehicle whose earnings depend on demand density, utilization rates, insurance, cleaning, and charging.

Starlink’s program is already accepting host applications in multiple countries and describes the revenue split as ongoing. Tesla’s owner-network version remains more aspirational.

The company currently operates a limited company-controlled robotaxi service in select areas and has solicited interest from fleet buyers for Cybercab vehicles, while private Full Self-Driving owners have not yet been able to dispatch their own cars for paid rides at scale.

Tesla primes Cybercabs for 4K streaming and high bandwidth gaming with Starlink integration

Starlink is a satellite broadband service operated by SpaceX that uses a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites to deliver internet to locations where terrestrial broadband is slow, expensive, or absent. It has grown to millions of subscribers worldwide by selling direct residential, mobile, and enterprise terminals, and have become widely available at a wide array at retail locations like Target and Best Buy.

The Communities program extends that reach by letting hosts resell short bursts of capacity to people nearby, while also providing high-speed internet access to those who are simply around a Starlink user.

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Tesla just made its headlights even better through a software update

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

Tesla just upgraded its headlights through a software update, making them even better without any physical or hardware upgrade.

Tesla’s latest software update is quietly improving nighttime driving for a small number of owners. Version 2026.38 includes a new capability called Dynamic Headlight Leveling.

The feature automatically adjusts the aim of the low beams in response to driving conditions and nearby traffic, with the goal of giving the driver more usable light on the road while reducing glare for oncoming vehicles and traffic ahead.

Unlike Tesla’s matrix high-beam system, which selectively dims individual LED segments to create shadows around other cars, Dynamic Headlight Leveling physically tilts the low-beam projectors. Internal motors respond to changes in vehicle pitch.

When the car accelerates hard, climbs a steep grade, or carries extra weight in the rear, the headlights can otherwise point higher than intended. The software counters that movement in real time so the beam stays aimed at the road surface rather than into the eyes of other drivers.

Early indications reveal the update is reaching a limited set of vehicles, including certain Model 3 and Cybertruck examples in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The rollout does not appear tied to a single hardware revision, and Tesla has not published a broader schedule. It is simply a common waiting game until your car receives it.

The change arrives against a backdrop of wider complaints about headlight glare. Some earlier Model 3 and Model Y vehicles were the subject of an NHTSA recall related to excessive low-beam glare; the software adjustment offers a potential mitigation for cars equipped with the necessary leveling hardware. It does not replace adaptive high beams where those are already available, nor does it alter the basic low-beam pattern itself.

Instead, it keeps an existing beam pointed where it is most useful.

For drivers who have received the update, the system requires no new settings or user input. The headlights simply respond as road conditions and traffic change. As the feature reaches more vehicles, it adds another example of Tesla using over-the-air software to refine existing hardware rather than waiting for a new model year. Nighttime visibility and reduced glare for others are the practical results owners are expected to notice first.

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Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard

Tesla’s Halloween teaser hides a covered vehicle and an Optimus hand rising from the ground.

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Tesla has started teasing a Halloween software update for its vehicles, with  a short clip on X that reads, “Halloween is coming.” The clip opens on a glowing pumpkin before pulling back to the car’s center touchscreen, where the usual parked visualization has been replaced by a graveyard scene, and the vehicle draped with a white sheet so it reads as a cartoon ghost.

The second detail is a robotic hand clawing its way out of the dirt like a zombie, which looks to be the hand of Tesla’s latest Optimus V3 humanoid robot. While Tesla still has not formally shown Optimus Gen 3 walking around in service, renders pulled from Tesla’s Android app last month gave the clearest look yet, including far more refined hands that Tesla has said carry 22 degrees of freedom. The hand has been the hardest part of the program. Musk has called it the majority of the robot’s engineering difficulty, and Tesla’s patents describe a design driven by tendons with the actuators moved into the forearm.

Tesla Optimus V3 hand and arm details revealed in new patents

Optimus also has a Halloween track record. Last October the robot handed out candy in Times Square, and a costumed “zombie” Optimus shuffled around the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles on Halloween night.

On the software side, Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update expanded Santa Mode with a Santa sleigh, snowmen, snow effects, and a festive lock chime, so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we saw something similar but themed for a  Halloween Mode.

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