Since February, Tesla has been dealing with protestors in the nearby forest it hopes to cut down for expansion plans. Many of the environmental activists still remain, and this week, local police have launched an operation to try to remove them.
Protestors have been staying in treehouses in a local forest near Tesla’s Grünheide Gigafactory in efforts to stop the company from removing trees in preparation for its upcoming expansion. On Monday, however, German publication Moz.de reported that a large team of police has been deployed to the site to remove the activists, after some of them refused to leave even when World War II bomb relics had been discovered on site.
The outlet says that a large number of police vehicles arrived at the forested area near the station’s fishing lock on L38, expected to be a longer-term deployment than usual for the authorities given the protestors’ refusal to leave. Grünheide press contact Beate Kardels has also said that the activists had so far been uncooperative and would likely continue to resist leaving, despite ongoing searches for World War II ammunition in the area.
“We stay here,” said a spokeswoman for the activists. “We will not allow the billionaire Elon Musk to destroy nature for its profit interests.”
Police have thus far resisted a flat-out eviction of the group, which is dubbed Tesla-den-Hahn-abdrh translating to Tesla-turn-off-the-faucet. The group has managed to rely on its right to assembly as a legal backing for its ability to stay in the forest.
Still, police have been removing protestors from the trees while the group shouts “revolution,” though many activists have attempted to scale the trees to avoid seizure.
Credit: Moz.de Credit: Moz.de Credit: Moz.de
Tesla Giga Berlin expansion progresses with 3K trees cut
“Come to Grünheide and show your protest with us,” says the group’s spokeswoman Karolina Drzewo. “This morning, freedom of assembly is being trampled under the pretext of a movement of struggle and the will of Elon Musk and Co. is being punched through.”
Although authorities have destroyed some of the barriers and treehouses created by the group, a spokesman for the police department has said that its goal on Monday was not to completely clear the camp, but rather to clear a roughly 5,000 square metre space in the camp where it seeks to continue searching for old ammunition.
Activists have said that police are also actively separating the rope connections to the tree houses, and they’ve been using loudspeakers to repeatedly ask them to leave the area. While the police have attempted to maintain a peaceful approach, they also say that they may be forced to dissolve the assembly through coercion if necessary, and they’ve managed to remove a few of the activists from the area.
Police are currently guarding the outskirts of the treehouse camp, though those in the group argue that the ammunition doesn’t pose a threat to the forest since it’s been embedded in the ground for several decades.
“We have opposed the profit interests of a billionaire here and we were and is aware that the police will implement their interests because they want to get us out of here,” 23-year-old activist Mara told Moz.de. “The police want us to volunteer to vacate parts of our protest camp for a bombing. But we will not give up the protest camp.”
Tesla was officially approved for the first stage of its expansion plans last month, which requires the company to remove several trees from the forest, as it has already begun doing so. The company has also shared plans to plant three times as many trees as it cuts down for the expansion, and it had already planted one million trees so far this year as of July.
As of September, Tesla had successfully cut down around 3,000 trees in preparation for the expansion, specifically to create a 1.86-mile construction road to the upcoming facility. The road will be located between L23 and the nearby motorway, and it’s expected to make it easier to transport construction materials to and from the site.
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Tesla gives Giga Berlin workers new, higher wages without union involvement
Elon Musk
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
NASA named the rovers, landers, and vendors that will build America’s first Moon Base.
NASA has laid out its most detailed Moon Base plan to date, describing a permanent outpost near the Moon’s south pole that the agency intends to build over the coming decade as a direct stepping stone to Mars. “The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, adding that every mission crewed and uncrewed “will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”
The plan is structured in three phases involving both uncrewed and crewed missions to deliver equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure to the surface, with the first three moon base missions targeted to launch before the end of 2026.
Moon Base I, targeting fall 2026, will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to deliver scientific instruments to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, the same region where Artemis astronauts will land. Moon Base II will send Astrobotic’s Griffin lander carrying more than 1,100 pounds of cargo including Astrolab’s FLIP rover to begin developing mobility systems on the surface. Moon Base III will carry the Lunar Vertex science mission on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Trinity lander to study lunar swirls near the south pole, with ESA and Korean science payloads aboard.
On the rover side, NASA awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build the first phase of Lunar Terrain Vehicles, with both rovers targeted for deployment to the lunar surface by 2028. Astrolab’s crewed rover weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and can reach over 6 mph. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover can operate autonomously or via remote control at over 9 mph. Blue Origin separately received $188 million with an option worth $280.4 million to deliver cargo landers for rover transport.
NASA also confirmed that MoonFall, a mission deploying four survey drones to scout Artemis landing sites, has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the transport spacecraft, with a 2028 launch target.
SpaceX sits at the center of that commercial layer. SpaceX holds the NASA Human Landing System contract for the Starship-derived lander that will put astronauts on the surface under Artemis IV, currently targeting 2028. Before that can happen, SpaceX must demonstrate in-orbit propellant transfer at scale, a process requiring multiple Starship tanker launches to fuel a single mission. Water ice at the lunar south pole is central to the base’s long-term viability, as it can be converted into drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel, directly reducing dependence on Earth resupply. That resource loop becomes far more practical if Starship can land and be refueled on or near the Moon itself.
Elon Musk has publicly stated that Starship V3, which recently completed its first flight, should be capable enough for initial Mars missions. The Moon Base plan announced Tuesday is the infrastructure layer that connects everything between those two ambitions, and SpaceX is the only American company currently contracted to build the rocket that gets humans to either destination.
A new Tesla patent that has been granted to the company this week has revealed a potential strategy for solving a major issue that could impact both the Full Self-Driving suite and Optimus.
The patent, which is No. 12,636,684, describes a “Lens Cleaning System,” and was submitted by Tesla in May 2025.
The language in the patent details a lens cleaning system that can dispense fluid and wipe it away with a wiper assembly.
Optimus can see you now… 🤖👁️
The patent for @Tesla_Optimus‘s eye structure just dropped. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/Jac4VhDmKH
— SETI Park (@seti_park) May 26, 2026
This would effectively clean any debris that would potentially impact the visibility of the cameras on Tesla automobiles or Optimus’s camera eyes. Perhaps the most pertinent example is through the Full Self-Driving suite, as debris that can accumulate on the vehicle’s exterior cameras can impact the suite’s ability to operate effectively.
This requires a remedy through manual cleaning, but this patent hints that Tesla could be planning to implement this new technology on its upcoming vehicles.
Interestingly, we have started to see it on some Robotaxi vehicles, and it will likely be included in the Cybercab, especially as that vehicle will enable full autonomy.
Back in January, the first Model Y Robotaxi units were spotted with camera washers on the side repeaters, as the video below shows fluid squirting and rinsing off any debris that is limiting visibility.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
This hardware patent does bring up an interesting question for those of us who own Teslas with AI4 and have been told that our cars will one day be capable of full autonomy: Will this washer be available as a retrofit on already-built cars?
Perhaps the “Lens Cleaning System” patent is a good look at one way Tesla plans to combat one of the most obvious issues of autonomy that utilizes a camera-based system. For Optimus, it could be less needed as it could be manually cleaned by owners. For cars, it seems like a bigger necessity, especially as autonomy nears and Tesla gets close to launching a feature-complete FSD suite.
SpaceX’s Starlink product has just gotten its latest airline adoptee, and the move marks the successful partnership of three of the “Big Four” U.S. airlines.
American Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would utilize Starlink in more than 500 narrowbody aircraft beginning in the first quarter of 2027. These include the Airbus aircraft in its fleet, including the new A321XLR and A321neo.
With the new partnership with American Airlines, Starlink is now present on three of the largest airlines in the country: American, United, and Southwest.
Starlink gets its latest airline adoptee for stable and reliable internet access
Starlink’s VP of Enterprise Sales, Jason Fritch, said:
“We are proud to bring Starlink on board American Airlines, delivering fast and reliable internet to passengers and crew. Whether traveling for leisure or business, Starlink enables a fully connected experience gate to gate, making every flight smoother and more enjoyable.”
Additionally, American Airlines Chief Customer Officer, Heather Garboden, said:
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want. The addition of Starlink solidifies American as a leading airline in keeping passengers connected in flight.”
Starlink has been on a tear over the past year, as it has continued to be adopted by a wide variety of airlines as a more consistent and reliable way to provide WiFi to its passengers. It has already gained a great reputation among residential users, but its biggest commercial application appears to be how it is being used in the air.
American Airlines will adopt Starlink on more than 500 of its narrowbody aircraft beginning in Q1 2027
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want,” said American Airlines Chief… pic.twitter.com/XY2wflycc0
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 26, 2026
The only airline of the Big Four not to adopt Starlink thus far is Delta, which chose to opt for the alternative, which is Amazon Leo. CEO Ed Bastian said to Bloomberg that Delta chose Amazon’s product over Starlink’s because “the opportunities, in terms of the improved bandwidth with a much lower price point than what we’ve ever seen from Starlink, will make a big difference.”
Delta will not start installing Amazon Leo until 2028.
“Of course, we expect Starlink will be warning people that we’re going to go with an inferior product,” Bastian said. “But I’m not too worried about partnering with Amazon.”
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
Tesla patent reveals strategy for solving major Full Self-Driving, Optimus issue
