News
Tesla Gigafactory 3 gets high-profile official visit as bay doors near completion
Recent reports from China have revealed that Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 complex in Shanghai was recently visited by deputy director of the Municipal Economic and Information Committee Zhang Jianming. The official was accompanied by Tesla VP for worldwide sales Ren Yuxiang (Robin Ren), as well as fellow executives Zhu Xiaotong (Tom Zhu), and Tao Lin (Grace Tao).
Following an introduction of Gigafactory 3’s overall progress from the Tesla executives, Zhang emphasized the need for the electric car maker and its construction partners to undertake the buildout of the electric car production factory in a safe and orderly manner. The official also highlighted the importance of completing the plant construction, key equipment installation, and production line commissioning in Gigafactory 3 within the aggressive target timeframes of the project.
Zhang’s visit comes as the latest gesture of support of Gigafactory 3 from China’s government. Prior to the Municipal Economic and Information Committee deputy director, Tesla’s upcoming electric car production facility was also visited by the Shanghai Mayor, as well as Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang, a key government official in the region. Tesla is also expected to benefit from China’s recent decision to formally add the Lingang area, where Gigafactory 3 is located, to Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone.
Amidst these visits and developments, the construction of Gigafactory 3 continues to move at a rapid pace. Despite the typhoon season starting in China, work on the facility’s interior and exterior appear to be continuing without pause. A recent flyover from Tesla enthusiast and drone operator Jason Yang, who has been chronicling the construction of Gigafactory 3 since January, has shown that some bay doors on one side of the general assembly building recently received some interesting modifications.
As could be seen in the drone flyover, what appears to be floor-to-ceiling glass extensions to some of the bay doors have been added to Gigafactory 3. The purpose behind these components remains unannounced by the electric car maker, though their angle suggests that the extensions are designed to make it easier for semi-trailers to conduct deliveries and/or take shipments from the upcoming facility.
Gigafactory 3 is expected to go online and begin the initial production of the Model 3 by the end of the year. Being the first wholly-owned foreign vehicle factory in China, Gigafactory 3 is expected to produce around 500,000 vehicles per year once its operations are fully optimized, though for its first production, an annual rate of 150,000 electric cars is expected. Reports from China have also pointed to trial production runs of the Model 3 to begin as early as September, barring any unexpected delays.
Watch the most recent drone flyover of Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in the video below.
H/T Ray4Tesla.
News
Tesla seeks engineer to make its iOS Robotaxi app feel “magical”
It appears that Tesla is hard at work in ensuring that users of its Robotaxi service are provided with the best user experience possible.
Tesla is hiring an iOS Engineer for its Robotaxi app team, with the job posting emphasizing the creation of polished experiences that make the service not just functional, but “magical.”
Needless to say, it appears that Tesla is hard at work in ensuring that users of its Robotaxi service are provided with the best user experience possible.
Robotaxi App features
As observed by Tesla community members, Tesla has gone live with a job listing for an iOS Engineer for its Robotaxi App. The job listing mentions the development of a “core mobile experience that enables customers to summon, track, and interact with a driverless vehicle. From requesting a ride to enabling frictionless entry, from trip planning to real-time vehicle status and media control.”
Interestingly enough, the job listing also mentioned the creation of polished experiences that make the Robotaxi more than just functional. “You will take full ownership of features—from architecture design to robust implementation—delivering delightful and polished experiences that make Robotaxi not just functional, but magical,” Tesla noted in its job listing.
Apple’s “magical” marketing
Tesla’s use of the word “magical” when referring to the Robotaxi app mirrors the marketing used by Apple for some of its key products. Apple typically uses the word when referring to products or solutions that transform complex technology into something that feels effortless, simple, and natural to daily life. Products such as the AirPods’ seamless pairing with the iPhone and FaceID’s complex yet simple-to-use security system have received Apple’s “magical” branding.
With this in mind, Tesla seems intent on developing a Robotaxi app that is sophisticated, but still very easy to use. Tesla already has extensive experience in this area, with the Tesla App consistently being hailed by users as one of the best in its segment. If Tesla succeeds in making the Robotaxi app worthy of its “magical” branding, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if the service sees rapid adoption even among mainstream consumers.
News
Tesla is coming to Estonia and Latvia in latest European expansion: report
Tesla seems to be accelerating its regional expansion following its recent launch in Lithuania.
Recent reports have indicated that Tesla has taken a step toward entering the Baltic states by registering new subsidiaries in Latvia and Estonia.
Filings suggest that Tesla is accelerating its regional expansion following its recent launch in Lithuania, with service centers likely coming before full sales operations.
Official entities in Latvia and Estonia
Tesla has established two new legal entities, Tesla Latvia SIA and Tesla Estonia OÜ, both owned by Tesla International B.V., as noted in an EV Wire report. Corporate records show the Estonian entity was formed on December 16, 2025, while the Latvian subsidiary was registered earlier, on November 7.
Both entities list senior Tesla executives on their boards, including regional and finance leadership responsible for new market expansion across Europe. Importantly, the entities are registered under “repair and maintenance of motor vehicles,” rather than strictly vehicle sales. This suggests that Tesla service centers will likely be launched in both countries.
The move mirrors Tesla’s recent Baltic rollout strategy. When Tesla entered Lithuania, it first established a local entity, followed by a pop-up store within weeks and a permanent service center a few months later. It would then not be surprising if Tesla follows a similar strategy in Estonia and Latvia, and service and retail operations arrive in the first half of 2026.
Tesla’s European push
Tesla saw a drop in sales in Europe in 2025, though the company is currently attempting to push more sales in the region by introducing its most affordable vehicles yet, the Model 3 Standard and the Model Y Standard. Both vehicles effectively lower the price of entry into the Tesla ecosystem, which may make them attractive to consumers.
Tesla is also hard at work in its efforts to get FSD approved for the region. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Tesla rolled out an FSD ride-along program in several European countries, allowing consumers to experience the capabilities of FSD firsthand. In early December, reports emerged indicating that the FSD ride-along program would be extended in several European territories until the end of March 2026.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X will start using a Tesla-like software update strategy
The initiative seems designed to accelerate updates to the social media platform, while maintaining maximum transparency.
Elon Musk’s social media platform X will adopt a Tesla-esque approach to software updates for its algorithm.
The initiative seems designed to accelerate updates to the social media platform, while maintaining maximum transparency.
X’s updates to its updates
As per Musk in a post on X, the social media company will be making a new algorithm to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users. These updates would then be repeated every four weeks.
“We will make the new 𝕏 algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days. This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed,” Musk wrote in his post.
The initiative somewhat mirrors Tesla’s over-the-air update model, where vehicle software is regularly refined and pushed to users with detailed release notes. This should allow users to better understand the details of X’s every update and foster a healthy feedback loop for the social media platform.
xAI and X
X, formerly Twitter, has been acquired by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI last year. Since then, xAI has seen a rapid rise in valuation. Following the company’s the company’s upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, estimates now suggest that xAI is worth tens about $230 to $235 billion. That’s several times larger than Tesla when Elon Musk received his controversial 2018 CEO Performance Award.
As per xAI, the Series E funding round attracted a diverse group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group, among others. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco Investments also continued support for building the world’s largest GPU clusters.