

News
New batch of Tesla Model Y bodies spotted at Giga Berlin complex
Tesla Model Y bodies were spotted at Giga Berlin over the weekend, hinting at the beginning of pre-production operations at the plant.
Tesla Giga Berlin drone operator @Gf4Tesla spotted nine Model Y bodies at the plant’s site. He also spotted two unopened boxes that might have contained more Tesla Model Y bodies. According to the Tesla enthusiast and others observing Giga Berlin, the Model Y bodies will help calibrate the machines in the factory for pre-production.
About a day after the Model Y bodies were spotted, they disappeared from sight. Presumably, they were brought into the building for pre-production operations. This should allow Tesla to test the assembly line and paint shop in Giga Berlin’s Phase 1 facility.
The Model Y bodies hint that Giga Berlin is not too far behind Gigafactory Texas, which plans to start Model Y pre-production tests this month. Giga Berlin seems to have installed most of the machines necessary for test production. The next step would be calibrating the machines and training the employees who will closely work on the local Model Y production line.
Giga Berlin’s main stopgap seems to be its final permit, which has not been approved by Brandenburg’s State Office for the Environment (LfU) yet. However, Tesla remains hopeful that Model Y production in Giga Berlin can still start by year-end.
At the last Tesla earnings call, Elon Musk teased that the Model Ys in Giga Berlin and Giga Texas would be slightly different from the cars made at the Fremont Factory. Tesla aims to produce Model Ys featuring its structural battery pack with 4680 cells and a front-body cast at the new gigafactories.
“We’re also aiming to do a structural pack with 4680 cells, which is a mass reduction and a cost reduction, but we’re not counting on that as the only way to make things work. We have some backup plan with a non-structural pack and 2170s essentially,” Musk explained.
“But at a scale production, we obviously want to be using 4680s and structural pack. From a physics standpoint, this is the best architecture, and from an economic standpoint, it is the lowest-cost way to go, so the lightest, lowest cost,” he said.
Originally, Giga Berlin was supposed to start Model Y production in July, just in time to kick off local Q3 deliveries. Tesla still moved forward with Model Y deliveries this quarter, despite delays in Giga Berlin’s operations. Recently, news broke that some Tesla Model Y crossovers have already arrived in Europe.
Watch the video below to see Giga Berlin’s progress!
The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, reach out to me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.
Elon Musk
Tesla board reveals reasoning for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package
“Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.”

Tesla’s Board of Directors has proposed a new pay package for company CEO Elon Musk that would result in $1 trillion in stock offerings if he is able to meet several lofty performance targets.
Musk, who has not been meaningfully compensated since 2017, completed his last pay package by delivering billions in shareholder value through a variety of performance-based “tranches,” which were met and resulted in the award of billions in stock.
Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation
However, Musk was unable to claim this award due to a ruling by the Delaware Chancery Court, which deemed the payout an “unfathomable sum.”
Now, the company is taking steps to ensure Musk gets paid, as the Board feels that it is crucial to retain its CEO, who has been responsible for much of the company’s success.
This is not a statement to undermine the work of all of Tesla’s terrific employees, but a ship needs to be captained by someone, and Musk has proven he is the right person for the job.
The Board also believes that, based on a statement made by the company in its proxy, various issues will be discussed during the upcoming Shareholder Meeting.
Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson recognized Musk’s contributions in a statement, which encouraged shareholders to vote to approve the payout:
“We’re asking you to approve the 2025 CEO Performance Award. In designing the new performance award, we explored numerous alternatives. Ultimately, the new award aims to build upon the success of the 2018 CEO Performance Award framework, which ensure that Elon was only paid for the performance delivered and incentivized to guide Tesla through a period of meteoric growth. The 2025 CEO Performance Award similarly challegnes Elon to again meet a series of even more aspirational goals, including operational milestones focused on reaching Adjusted EBITDA targets (thresholds that are up to 28 times higher than the 2108 CEO Performance Award’s top Adjusted EBITDA milestone) and rolling out new or expanded product offerings (including 1 million Robotaxis in commercial operation and delivery of 1 million AI Bots), all while growing the company’s market capitalization by trillions of dollars.
Yes, you read that correctly: in 2018, Elon had to grow Tesla by billions; in 2025, he has to grow Tesla by trillions — to be exact, he must create nearly $7.5 trillion in value for shareholders for him to receive the full award.
In addition to these unprecedented performance milestones, the 2025 CEO Performance Award also includes innovative structural features, born out of the special committee’s considered analysis and extensive shareholder feedback. These features include supercharged retention (at least seven and a half years and up to 10 years to vest in the full award), structural protections to minimize stock price volatility due to administration of this award and, thereafter, incentives for Elon to participate in the Board’s continued development of a framework for long-term CEO Succession. If Elon achieves all the performance milestones under this principle-based 2025 CEO Performance Award, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”
Musk will have a lot of things to accomplish to receive the 423,743,904 shares, which are divided into 12 tranches.
However, the Board feels he is the right person for the job, and they want him to remain the CEO. This package should ensure that he stays with Tesla, as long as shareholders feel the same way.
News
Tesla Robotaxi app download rate demolishes Uber, Waymo all-time highs
After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi app to the general public yesterday, and the number of downloads is a testament to the platform’s high demand for testing.
After two and a half months of testing with a group of hand-picked Tesla influencers and some media, the company has officially launched Robotaxi rides in both Austin, Texas, and the California Bay Area to the public.
Tesla Robotaxi makes major expansion with official public app launch
Downloading the app is available to iOS users, so if you have an iPhone, you can get it and join the waitlist. Tesla has not yet launched the Robotaxi app for the Android platform, but did hint that it would be coming soon.
The testing phase with the group Tesla selected has gone well. In Austin, the City has only listed one “Safety Concern” with Robotaxi during the testing phase. For the most part, things have gone extremely well, and riders have had good things to say.
Tesla is still operating with some safeguards in place, such as Safety Monitors and Safety Drivers, but these are precautionary and temporary; CEO Elon Musk has said they should be removed by the end of the year.
Elon Musk says Tesla will take Safety Drivers out of Robotaxi: here’s when
Even still, Tesla Robotaxi is something that many people want to experience, and the app downloads prove it.
The Tesla Robotaxi app was downloaded at a rate that exceeded all rolling 30-day periods of both Uber and Waymo, according to Brett Winton of ARK Invest. Tesla’s Robotaxi’s first day on the App Store exceeded Uber’s by 40 percent and Waymo’s best download day ever by six times:
Today’s Tesla Robotaxi App downloads outpaced Uber across all rolling 30 day periods by 40% and bested Waymo’s best download day ever by >6x pic.twitter.com/s9s1XTsUu2
— Brett Winton (@wintonARK) September 5, 2025
The surge in downloads is a good indication of how in demand the Robotaxi suite was, as many people within the community had vocalized their requests to try the platform, but Tesla was not ready to expand it beyond its handpicked group.
The expansion of the program will result in more rides, provided Tesla continues to expand its fleet of vehicles. It has already admitted many of those who were initially placed on the waitlist.
News
Elon Musk’s xAI expands to Seattle with salaries up to $440,000
The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is opening a new office in Seattle as it accelerates its global expansion.
The move was announced by the artificial intelligence startup and Elon Musk on social media platform X. xAI is also hiring for its first positions in the new site.
New Seattle office
As could be seen on xAI’s Careers webpage, the Seattle office is currently hiring for three engineering roles. Each of the three technical roles tied to the new site carry salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000.
The new office adds to xAI’s growing presence, which now spans San Francisco, Austin, London, Dublin, New York, and Memphis. The Seattle-based roles focus on video and image generation systems, signaling Musk’s intent to challenge rivals like OpenAI and Meta in generative AI.
Pressures and challenges
Seattle also places xAI within reach of Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft has emerged as a central player in the AI race through its multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, making xAI’s move into the region notable. The competition for AI specialists has pushed salaries higher across the industry, with filings showing OpenAI staff earning up to $530,000 and Anthropic engineers as much as $690,000 annually, as noted by Insider.
The startup has also seen some high-profile departures in recent months, including cofounder Igor Babuschkin and general counsel Robert Keele. Still, xAI continues to grow aggressively, and its Grok large language model has been gaining momentum among mainstream users. Work also continues to be underway to further build out the company’s Colossus supercomputer cluster. Reports have also suggested that xAI has moved into San Francisco offices in the Mission District, a site Musk initially leased during OpenAI’s early years.
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