Lifestyle
Tesla can help solve Human Trafficking: A survivor explains how
Eliza Bleu went to the Vans Warped Tour with some friends. After meeting a photographer, she set her sights on the big city of Los Angeles, a far cry from her humble beginnings in rural Illinois.
When she got to LA, her visit wasn’t exactly what she expected it to be. It turned out that the photographer she had met was actually a recruiter for a human trafficking ring, and Bleu found herself in the middle of a trap, not knowing how she would get out.
Eliza was sex trafficked for nine years total before gaining the courage to attempt an escape one night from her apartment. Now, she is a survivor advocate and a voice for those who don’t have one. Her primary focus is fighting to alleviate the highly-concentrated number of websites that harbor child sexual abuse and human trafficking materials. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 2019, there were nearly 17 million reported cases of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), 94% of which were found on Facebook and its platforms. According to The New York Times, there were over 45 million photos and videos of children being abused online in 2018, doubled from the previous year. Big Tech has a major problem with human trafficking material shared on social media websites, she says.
Fighting human trafficking imagery and videos isn’t going to be successful through human intervention alone; things move too quickly. Human intervention and current technology are not capable of tackling a problem of this scale. Bleu, who came across Tesla and Elon Musk a few years ago, believes that the key to ending online exploitation lies within a company with cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence capabilities, brilliant engineers, and software that can filter harmful imagery faster than it can be uploaded. She believes that company could be Tesla.
“AI can save people from being trafficked,” Bleu says. “Human trafficking has moved predominately to a digital platform, and the tech space needs to get involved in the fight.”
Eliza Bleu attended the Tesla Parade Against Human Trafficking in Atlanta, Georgia, in December. She had the Tesla logo shaved into her head for the event.
Why Tesla?
“If traffickers saw Elon working on this issue, they would be terrified of the possibilities,” Bleu said in an interview with Teslarati.
While many websites have filters that try to remove some of the content once it’s been uploaded, it isn’t a 100% fix because most content slips through the cracks. Since so many sites with massive amounts of traffic have accessible imagery, it will be a difficult fix. However, Bleu believes that some real progress can be made if the right team is working on the issue. It starts with software and AI development that would have the ability to filter out harmful content. Once child sexual abuse and sex trafficking material are reduced online, it may lead to the beginning of the end of human trafficking as resources can be refocused to the fight on the ground.
Bleu knows it’s an uphill climb, and she knows that it will be difficult. But, her motto is a quote of Elon Musk’s, and every day she reminds herself that just because the odds aren’t in your favor doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
“I think about Elon a lot because my mission, to me, is the equivalent of getting to Mars,” she adds. “It seems impossible, and I know the odds aren’t in my favor. But, I think it’s important, and I think it’s worth fighting for.”
Bleu was a speaker at a recent Tesla rally in Atlanta, Georgia, which raised money for the fight against human trafficking. She traveled to the event on her own dime and took time away from her day job as a human trafficking survivor advocate to speak at the event to raise awareness for this important issue.
Tesla has always been a draw to Eliza because of how brilliant the company is. Its research has culminated into an automotive empire that goes far beyond building a car frame and putting wheels and a motor on it. It’s about the brain of the vehicle, and Bleu thinks that there is enough talent at Tesla to take on the task. Additionally, AI is already being used to combat human trafficking, as described in the article from Forbes. Survivors are also learning to code through the Annie Cannons nonprofit program, and many choose to work on solving this problem (Wired).
Even after survivors of human trafficking are given the opportunity to be set free, the battle doesn’t end there. They may still be harassed or trafficked through images and video.
My former trafficker still follows me on social media and messages me.
I have a message for you. Kiss my whole ass. ??
— Eliza (@elizableu) December 31, 2020
What Can Tesla Do?
The possibilities of what Tesla can do, Bleu says, are endless. “I know that Tesla employs some of the most brilliant people in the world. That is who we need to fight this problem. It is our children we are talking about here,” she says. Some of the things that Eliza described to me during this interview were jaw-dropping and wouldn’t be suitable to include in this piece. But trust me, it would be enough to influence you to get involved as well.
“There are so many forms of human trafficking, too. It’s not just about sex,” she says. “I see people with Nike shoes and Apple products, and I think, ‘Whoever made that was exploited for cheap labor.’” There is no limit to who Bleu wants to help, but she needs assistance in her journey to overcome the predators, the pimps, and the evildoers who use trafficking as a means of living.
Tesla can certainly help with code writing and AI work. It is a company that learns fast. It’s evident through several things: accelerating scalability, the constantly improving Full Self-Driving suite, and the company’s overwhelming domination as a software entity. All of these things speak to Bleu in a way where she was able to put 2 and 2 together and make 4. Tesla could be the answer to all of her prayers and is exactly the company she was looking for.
“I know Elon has held Hack-a-Thons in the past, and I think that could be very beneficial,” she says. “Putting a bunch of sharp minds in a room to figure out some of the world’s biggest problems seems like a great idea.”
What Has Brought Eliza Bleu’s Mission to Light?
The fight against human trafficking became a household conversation with the high-profile arrests of Jeffrey Epstein and later Ghislaine Maxwell. Bleu’s mission started to gain some momentum when survivors of Epstein, who she now works with as a part of Victims Refuse Silence, started to come forward. “That was a huge step in the right direction,” she says. “But we have to keep going, and people won’t know the truth about human trafficking unless you tell them.”
What is the Solution?
Bleu wants the world’s brightest minds to come together and work on a solution to this problem. While she is a firm supporter of AI because it has been proven to help in the past, there is no boundary on what she will do to end human trafficking. Nevertheless, she is looking at her hero, Elon Musk, who she has gained inspiration from, to help find a solution.
So, Elon, if you are reading this, consider talking to Eliza Bleu. She believes your help, and your mind, along with all of the brilliant minds at Tesla, could finally help solve the issue of human trafficking before it gets worse.
Elon Musk
Tesla’s golden era is no longer a tagline
Tesla “golden era” teaser video highlights the future of transportation and why car ownership itself may be the next thing to change.
The golden age of autonomous ridesharing is arriving, and Tesla is making sure we can all picture a future that looks like the future. A recent teaser posted to X shows a Cybercab parked outside a home, and with a clear message that your everyday life may soon look like this when the driverless vehicles shows up at your door.
Tesla has begun the rollout of its Robotaxi service across US cities, and the production of its dedicated, fully-autonomous Cybercab vehicle. The first Cybercab rolled off the Giga Texas assembly line on February 17, 2026, with volume production now targeted for this month. Additionally, the Robotaxi service built around it is already running, without human drivers, in US cities.
Tesla Cybercab production ignites with 60 units spotted at Giga Texas
The Cybercab is built without a steering wheel, pedals, or side mirrors, designed from the ground up for unsupervised autonomous operation. Musk described the manufacturing approach as closer to consumer electronics than traditional car production, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds at full scale.
Drone footage from April 13, 2026 captured over 50 Cybercab units on the Giga Texas campus, with several clustered near the crash testing facility. Musk has noted that Tesla plans to sell the Cybercab to consumers for under $30,000, and owners will be able to add their vehicles to the Tesla robotaxi network when not in personal use, potentially generating income to offset the vehicle’s purchase cost. That model changes the math on vehicle ownership in a meaningful way, making a car something closer to a depreciating asset that can also earn by paying itself off and generate a profit.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call, the company confirmed plans to expand the Robotaxi program to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas. The service already runs without safety drivers in Austin, and public road testing of the Cybercab has expanded to five states, including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts.
Golden era pic.twitter.com/AS6pX2dK8N
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) April 16, 2026
Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.
The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.
Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.
Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.
Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.
Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.
Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.
Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
Lifestyle
Tesla hit by Iranian missile debris in Israel
A Tesla in Israel absorbed a direct hit from missile debris, and the glassroof held.
On March 30, 2026, Lara Shusterman was in Netanya, Israel when Iranian ballistic missiles triggered air raid sirens across the city. While she remained in safety, her 2024 Tesla Model Y did not escape untouched. A heavy piece of missile debris struck the car’s massive glass roof, leaving a deep crater but without shattering. In a Facebook post to the Tesla Israel community the following morning, Shusterman described what happened: “The glass did not shatter into dangerous shards. She stopped the damage and pushed the metal part to the ground.” She closed by thanking Elon Musk and the Tesla team for building what she called “security and a sense of trust even in extreme situations.”
Netanya is a coastal city in central Israel, roughly 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and has been among the areas most frequently struck during Iran’s ongoing missile campaign, following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles is a common occurrence.
-
- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
-
- A piece of Iranian missile debris that struck Lara Shusterman’s Tesla Model Y in Netanya, Israel on March 30, 2026, after being intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
-
- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
Source: Tesla Israel Facebook Group
The incident is a testament to Tesla’s structural engineering. Tesla’s glass roof is designed to support over four times the vehicle’s own weight. That strength has shown up in real-world accidents too. In 2021, a Model Y in California was struck by a falling tree during a storm, with the glass roof holding firm and the cabin remaining intact. In another widely reported incident, a Tesla Model Y plunged 250 feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide in California in January 2023, with all four occupants, including two young children, surviving.
Disturbing details about Tesla’s 250-foot cliff drop emerge amid initial investigation
Tesla officially launched sales in Israel in early 2021 and captured over 60 percent of Israel’s EV market in the first year. The brand’s foothold in Israel remains significant. Tens of thousands of Teslas are now on Israeli roads, making incidents like Shusterman’s easy to corroborate. On the same week her Model Y took the hit, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million contract to launch missile tracking satellites, a separate but fitting reminder of how intertwined the Musk ecosystem has become with the realities of modern conflict.
Tesla expands Unsupervised Robotaxi service to two new cities
Tesla is pushing Robotaxi features to owner cars with Spring Update
