News
Tesla excluded from incentives in Canada over Trump tariffs
Tesla has been excluded from two Canadian EV incentive programs, as the country’s officials grapple with tariffs from the Trump administration.
Tesla has been excluded from electric vehicle (EV) incentive programs in Canada in recent weeks, as officials attempt to retaliate against CEO Elon Musk and the Trump administration’s recent tariffs.
In a press conference on Monday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said that the city would no longer provide tax incentives for Tesla vehicles for ride-hailing and taxi purposes, effectively excluding the brand from a program offering reduced fees for going electric. The news also comes after a British Columbia (B.C.) official announced last week that Tesla’s vehicles would no longer get EV rebates for home charging equipment.
“We are giving incentives for people to migrate into electric cars, except we will stop giving incentives, financial incentives to buy Tesla,” Chow said during the media conference. “We have certainly said that if you want to buy Tesla, go ahead, but don’t count on taxpayer money to subsidize it.”
The program is part of a citywide initiative to offer reduced licensing and renewal fees for ride-hailing vehicle purchasers going electric, set to run through 2029 in efforts to electrify the city’s taxi fleet and lower emissions.
The Toronto Mayor also went on to point out that “there are other electric cars around,” which fleet operators would have to consider She also addressed whether the city would re-evaluate carbon emissions goals in light of the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doing so in recent weeks, saying that the city “would like to reduce [its] carbon footprint as quickly as possible,” but that it could always look at “whether or not the deadline makes sense.”
At the time of writing, the Mayor’s office has not yet responded to Teslarati’s request for clarification on how many vehicles have utilized the program. You can watch the full press conference below, with Chow discussing the incentive around 17:30.
READ MORE ON CANADA: Tesla is getting targeted by Canada officials over rocky Trump relations
Canada’s iZEV rebates were officially paused in January, according to Transport Canada’s website, and while the previous program’s funding was depleted, the previous contract’s had an end date of March 31. The web page also says that the “continuation of eligibility remains at the Minister of Transport’s discretion,” along with highlighting that eligibility ended on October 1, 2024 for vehicles from countries that do not have a free-trade agreement with Canada.
Last week, B.C. Premier David Eby also announced plans to remove Tesla from the B.C. Hydro EV charging rebate program, as a provincial response to Musk and his recent involvement with the Trump administration.
“It’s just for Tesla and it’s because of Elon Musk,” Eby said (via CBC).
The Premier also said he felt that if taxpayers knew thousands of dollars would go to Musk’s company through the subsidy program, “they’d want to throw up.”
The B.C. Hydro program offers up to $350 in rebates to residents who purchase and install EV chargers in their homes. As of March 12, Tesla products, such as the company’s Wall Connector, have become ineligible for the rebate.
“I thought [Tesla products] shouldn’t be made available on a public subsidy program right now,” said Adrian Dix, B.C. Energy Minister, in response to a reporter this month after evaluating the province’s rebate programs in recent months. “I don’t think anyone in British Columbia needs to be told why, and I think most people would support their removal from that list.”
The removal of Tesla’s products from the B.C. Hydro program also elicited a response from Musk on X, who reposted the story, simply writing “crazy.”
Tesla says it will be a victim of Trump admin’s tariff strategy
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.
News
Tesla AI team burns the Christmas midnight oil by releasing FSD v14.2.2.1
The update was released just a day after FSD v14.2.2 started rolling out to customers.
Tesla is burning the midnight oil this Christmas, with the Tesla AI team quietly rolling out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2.2.1 just a day after FSD v14.2.2 started rolling out to customers.
Tesla owner shares insights on FSD v14.2.2.1
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester @BLKMDL3 shared some insights following several drives with FSD v14.2.2.1 in rainy Los Angeles conditions with standing water and faded lane lines. He reported zero steering hesitation or stutter, confident lane changes, and maneuvers executed with precision that evoked the performance of Tesla’s driverless Robotaxis in Austin.
Parking performance impressed, with most spots nailed perfectly, including tight, sharp turns, in single attempts without shaky steering. One minor offset happened only due to another vehicle that was parked over the line, which FSD accommodated by a few extra inches. In rain that typically erases road markings, FSD visualized lanes and turn lines better than humans, positioning itself flawlessly when entering new streets as well.
“Took it up a dark, wet, and twisty canyon road up and down the hill tonight and it went very well as to be expected. Stayed centered in the lane, kept speed well and gives a confidence inspiring steering feel where it handles these curvy roads better than the majority of human drivers,” the Tesla owner wrote in a post on X.
Tesla’s FSD v14.2.2 update
Just a day before FSD v14.2.2.1’s release, Tesla rolled out FSD v14.2.2, which was focused on smoother real-world performance, better obstacle awareness, and precise end-of-trip routing. According to the update’s release notes, FSD v14.2.2 upgrades the vision encoder neural network with higher resolution features, enhancing detection of emergency vehicles, road obstacles, and human gestures.
New Arrival Options also allowed users to select preferred drop-off styles, such as Parking Lot, Street, Driveway, Parking Garage, or Curbside, with the navigation pin automatically adjusting to the ideal spot. Other refinements include pulling over for emergency vehicles, real-time vision-based detours for blocked roads, improved gate and debris handling, and Speed Profiles for customized driving styles.
Starlink passes 9 million active customers just weeks after hitting 8 million
NVIDIA Director of Robotics: Tesla FSD v14 is the first AI to pass the “Physical Turing Test”
