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Tesla Optimus dance video showcases the company’s quick progress

Elon Musk shares a new video of Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, dancing with improved flexibility and control.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Elon Musk recently shared a Tesla Optimus dance video, showcasing the humanoid robot’s light feet and the company’s quick progress.

In 2021, Tesla announced it would develop a humanoid robot during AI Day. At the time, the company didn’t even have a prototype. To celebrate the announcement, a human dressed as a humanoid robot came out and danced for the crowd at the event. Fast forward a few years, and Tesla’s Optimus bot finally has some moves to show off.

The first time anyone got a real preview of Optimus was in 2022, when Tesla debuted semi-functional prototypes at AI Day. One Tesla Optimus bot walked on stage while another performed some arm movements. At the time, critics noted the Tesla Optimus bot’s reliance on teleoperation for some tasks.

By 2023, Tesla unveiled Optiumus Gen 2, demonstrating advanced tasks like sorting colored blocks, maintaining yoga poses, and some dancing. Tesla also noted that the robot’s hands improved to 11 degrees of freedom (DoF). Tesla Optimus hands in production units have 22 degrees of freedom.

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Late last year, Tesla Optimus robots attended the company’s “We, Robot” event, performing tasks like serving drinks and interacting with people in the crowds. Teslarati played rock, paper, scissors with Optimus at “We, Robot.” The Tesla bots danced in synchronicity at the event with their arms and torsos.

Tesla’s progress with Optimus has been quite a ride over the past few years. Now Optimus can add to its dance moves with more flexibility and control over its legs. The recent Tesla Optimus dance video marks the beginning of the next phase for the humanoid robot: production.

According to Tesla’s Q1 2025 updated letter, the company has already started limited production of the Optimus bot at Tesla’s Fremont Factory. Elon Musk announced plans to produce over 1,000 units of Tesla Optimus for internal use in 2025 and external sales by 2026.

Elon Musk claims Tesla Optimus could be “more significant than Tesla’s vehicle business,” with a potential market value of $25 trillion. By automating low-skill, repetitive jobs, the Tesla bot could reshape economies, which Musk believes could lead to an “age of abundance” where goods and services are cheaper.

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

Elon Musk

First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more

Tesla is using a Robotaxi section of its normal smartphone application to enable access to driverless vehicles roaming around Austin.

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Tesla has officially launched the Robotaxi platform to a limited number of people, giving them the ability to ask for a ride from a driverless Model Y in Austin, Texas. But how do you hail a ride?

Through the Tesla Robotaxi app, which officially launched on June 22 as the company initiated the first rides for non-employees, people can request rides from driverless cars that are traveling around Austin. Teslarati gained access to the app as we are members of the Early Access Rider program.

There are only a very limited number of vehicles operating within the fleet currently, as Tesla has said the number is between 10 and 20 vehicles.

Tesla is using a Robotaxi section of its iOS smartphone app for the launch, confirming what the company said prior to the program’s maiden voyage: there would not be a separate app for the Robotaxi.

First Look at the Robotaxi App

The Tesla Robotaxi app, similar to the official Tesla App, features a simple interface that should be familiar to anyone who has used a ride-sharing app in the past. Downloading the app brings users to a sign-in page, which features a Tesla Model Y Robotaxi as a header image. Users can then log in or create an account to access the service.

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A Clean, Simple UI

Upon logging in, users are presented with a clean user interface that allows them to select a destination and pickup point. Upon booking, users are provided with a real-time update on when their Robotaxi will arrive. Users could also select some settings for their upcoming ride, such as their preferred temperature in the cabin.

Smart Suggestions

If there is one evident thing about Tesla’s Robotaxi App, it is the fact that it is smart and designed to make driverless ride sharing services feel as normal as possible. While waiting for their ride, customers are presented with a number of tips that should help them understand their robotaxi better.

These include tips on how to use the Model Y’s door handles, as well as information about the vehicle’s light signals. The app also includes smart suggestions on destinations that riders can visit using their Robotaxi. These include cafes, restaurants, parks, shopping centers, and other pertinent locations.

Credit: @BLKMDL3/X

Cybercab Theme

Another thing that is evident with the Robotaxi App is its Cybercab-inspired color theme. This is evident from the login page, which already features the golden hues of the dedicated two-seater autonomous car. The golden Cybercab color theme is used to great effect inside the app itself as well.

No Tips, at Least for Now

As observed by Tesla owner-enthusiast @BLKMDL3, Tesla is not accepting anything more than the service’s flat $4.20 rate per ride for now. If customers wish to leave a tip for the service, they would be presented with a page featuring Tesla’s hedgehog mascot saying “Just Kidding.”

Tips will likely be an option in the future, but for this stage of the Robotaxi rollout, it appears that the service really will follow a flat rate system.

 

 

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Tesla to launch in India in July with vehicles already arriving: report

Tesla is finally making serious moves toward launching in India, with showrooms opening in July, a report claims.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is finally bringing its business to India, a new report indicates, as the company is already shipping vehicles from China to the market where it has attempted to launch business for several years.

We first heard of Tesla planning to launch in India about a decade ago when CEO Elon Musk and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in California at the Fremont Factory in 2015.

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Over the years, the two have hinted that the automaker would eventually land in India, but issues with import duties have delayed Tesla’s attempts.

Now, there seems to be some serious movement in Tesla’s plans, as it has reportedly shipped the first batch of vehicles from China to India, according to Bloomberg. The outlet says these are Model Y Rear-Wheel-Drive configurations.

Tesla is also planning for other parts of the launch, like preparing for Supercharging, aftermarket parts and merchandise purchasing for vehicle owners and fans, and spare parts from various regions, including the United States, China, and the Netherlands.

The company and the Indian government must have come to some sort of agreement that was catalyzed by Musk and Modi’s meeting in February in the U.S.

It is a long time coming, and it now gives Tesla access to an incredibly vast market in India, where a very small percentage of 2024’s total automotive sales were comprised of electric vehicles.

Another interesting tidbit about the launch is that the vehicles will be coming from Gigafactory Shanghai and not Gigafactory Berlin as previously thought. Reports from other publications, like Reuters, indicated the German production facility was building vehicles for India early last year.

India has a very strict policy that favors domestic manufacturing, which is why the import duties were so high for foreign automakers looking to bring their product into the market. These duties were reduced from 110 percent to just 15 percent, as long as companies aim to invest in India and meet certain investment and sales targets.

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xAI’s Grok 3 partners with Oracle Cloud for corporate AI innovation  

Elon Musk’s xAI partners with Oracle to deliver Grok 3 to enterprise users via OCI. The move boosts Grok’s reach.

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

xAI’s Grok 3 is partnering with Oracle Cloud to deliver its advanced AI model to corporate customers.

Oracle announced its collaboration with xAI earlier this week. The partnership leverages Oracle’s robust infrastructure to offer xAI’s Grok 3, positioning it as a transformative tool for business applications.

“Today, we announced xAI has selected Oracle to offer xAI’s Grok models via OCI Generative AI service for a wide range of use cases and will use OCI’s leading AI infrastructure to train and run inferencing for its next-generation Grok models,” said Clay Magouyrk, Executive Vice President at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, via LinkedIn.

Oracle’s cost-effective AI capabilities will support xAI’s demanding workloads, enabling faster processing for enterprise users.

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Oracle’s Karan Batta told Reuters: “Our goal here is to make sure that we can provide a portfolio of models – we don’t have our own.” Oracle will host Grok 3 alongside models from Meta, Mistral, and Cohere, ensuring corporate data remains secure within existing Oracle protections.

Oracle’s strategy focuses on integrating popular AI models into corporate software, and xAI’s Grok 3 enhances this portfolio. The collaboration expands Grok’s reach to businesses seeking secure, high-performance AI solutions for diverse use cases.

Elon Musk’s xAI launched Grok 3 in February. It competes with models from DeepSeek and OpenAI. Grok 3 is free for all X users, but features are limited. X offers Premium and Premium+ subscribers access to Grok 3’s advanced capabilities like DeepResearch and Think modes. Users who are not paid subscribers have access to Grok 3’s basic features.

Elon Musk’s companies have a longstanding relationship with Oracle. In 2018, Tesla appointed Oracle founder Larry Ellison to its board, a move Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives called a “home run appointment.”

In 2023, Ellison–who is no longer on Tesla’s board but still close with Musk–revealed plans for a Tesla Cybertruck police car.

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“Our next-generation police car is coming out very soon,” Ellison said at the 2023 Oracle CloudWorld conference in Las Vegas. “It’s my favorite police car. It’s my favorite car, actually. It’s Elon’s favorite car.”

Grok 3’s integration into Oracle Cloud strengthens xAI’s position in the corporate artificial intelligence market. By combining Oracle’s infrastructure with Grok’s cutting-edge capabilities, this collaboration could redefine enterprise AI adoption, driving innovation across industries.

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