A new all-electric cyberpunk truck may be hitting the streets in the somewhat near future, and it’s being designed and built by Tesla, the company most responsible for the current electric vehicle revolution.
CEO Elon Musk tweeted a teaser image of a part of the Tesla Truck following last week’s Model Y unveiling (after no one noticed during the unveiling), but there wasn’t much to be said about what was actually being portrayed. Musk didn’t provide additional details, and the image itself wasn’t any obvious part of a vehicle, but that hasn’t stopped the Tesla community from tapping into its collective imagination. Several renderings of the upcoming electric truck have been created, and here we’ve compiled a few of our faves.
In a somewhat conventional version that incorporates Tesla’s Aero Wheels, this photo imagines the teaser pic as a bed cover. The glowing trim seems to simply have an aesthetic purpose.
Going for a more robotic vision of the future truck, a render posted by an account naming itself representative of the “Tesla Truck Club” community displayed the teaser pic as the front of the vehicle. The glow lines appear to take the place of traditional headlights, and the truck cab completely boxes in the hood/frunk portions.
Finally, the same Twitter account also posited that the teaser pic was just a more detailed version of a truck render already released by Tesla during the Tesla Semi unveiling. The overall suggestion is that the truck will just be a variation of the Tesla Semi itself, using the Semi’s architecture.
Gathering a few clues about the final Tesla truck look obviously came to order prior to the rendering designs. Perhaps the most well-known description given of the truck is a tie-in to Blade Runner. Musk has famously described it as a vehicle that would not be “out of place” in the film. If you haven’t seen it, “futuristic”, “cyberpunk”, “dystopia”, and “80s” are all the adjectives you need.
The tech-inspired CEO took to Twitter last year to ask the community what it would like to see in a Tesla Truck. Plenty of suggestions followed from the online crowd, but even more importantly were the further truck details provided by Musk:
- Dual motor all-wheel drive
- Crazy torque
- Suspension that dynamically adjusts for load
- Power outlets allowing use of heavy duty, 240V, high power tools in field (no generator needed)
- Cameras
- Onboard neural net
- Ultrasonics
Other details that were revealed over the last year include six seats, 400-500 miles of range per charge, and 300,000 lbs of towing capacity (yes, that’s 300 thousand pounds of torque). Regardless of what the Tesla Truck will look like, its features are certainly impressive, and members of the traditional truck crowd will likely take its credentials seriously once they see what it can do for themselves.
In an appearance on Recode’s Decode Podcast, Musk touted that Tesla’s cyberpunk truck was awesome, amazing, and heart-stopping; however, he also acknowledged that some reconfiguration might be in order if the design isn’t appealing to a wide enough audience. “If there’s only a small number of people that like that truck, I guess we’ll make a more conventional truck in the future,” he said. Musk has also commented about the “look” of Tesla’s truck, warning that it might be “too futuristic for most people, but [he] love[s] it”.
If the Tesla Truck is designed to be compelling enough to do well in the market, the company will have its latest industry disruption at hand. The truck market is currently dominated by vehicles like the Ford’s F-Series which it sold nearly 1 million of in 2018, Chevy’s Silverado, and Dodge’s Ram, each of which sold over half a million vehicles in 2018. All-electric startup Rivian has also noticed the possible potential in the truck market, and has its own R1T truck scheduled for deliveries in 2020. It should also be noted that Ford itself is looking to produce an all-electric version of its popular F-Series as well.
So, when will everyone get to see the actual Tesla Truck? According to Musk, later this year.
Elon Musk
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
Elon Musk’s xAI has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to allow Grok to be used in classified military systems.
Previously, Anthropic’s Claude had been the only AI system approved for the most sensitive military work, but a dispute over usage safeguards has reportedly prompted the Pentagon to broaden its options, as noted in a report from Axios.
Under the agreement, Grok can be deployed in systems handling classified intelligence analysis, weapons development, and battlefield operations.
The publication reported that xAI agreed to the Pentagon’s requirement that its technology be usable for “all lawful purposes,” a standard Anthropic has reportedly resisted due to alleged ethical restrictions tied to mass surveillance and autonomous weapons use.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to meet with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in what sources expect to be a tense meeting, with the publication hinting that the Pentagon could designate Anthropic a “supply chain risk” if the company does not lift its safeguards.
Axios stated that replacing Claude fully might be technically challenging even if xAI or other alternative AI systems take its place. That being said, other AI systems are already in use by the DoD.
Grok already operates in the Pentagon’s unclassified systems alongside Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google is reportedly close to an agreement that will result in Gemini being used for classified use, while OpenAI’s progress toward classified deployment is described as slower but still feasible.
The publication noted that the Pentagon continues talks with several AI companies as it prepares for potential changes in classified AI sourcing.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Elon Musk has pushed back on claims that Starlink’s recent price reductions are tied to Amazon’s Kuiper project.
In a post on X, Musk responded directly to a report suggesting that Starlink was cutting prices and offering free hardware to partners ahead of a planned IPO and increased competition from Kuiper.
“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “The lower the cost, the more Starlink can be used by people who don’t have much money, especially in the developing world.”
The speculation originated from a post summarizing a report from The Information, which ran with the headline “SpaceX’s Starlink Makes Land Grab as Amazon Threat Looms.” The report stated that SpaceX is aggressively cutting prices and giving free hardware to distribution partners, which was interpreted as a reaction to Amazon’s Kuiper’s upcoming rollout and possible IPO.
In a way, Musk’s comments could be quite accurate considering Starlink’s current scale. The constellation currently has more than 9,700 satellites in operation today, making it by far the largest satellite broadband network in operation. It has also managed to grow its user base to 10 million active customers across more than 150 countries worldwide.
Amazon’s Kuiper, by comparison, has launched approximately 211 satellites to date, as per data from SatelliteMap.Space, some of which were launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Starlink surpassed that number in early January 2020, during the early buildout of its first-generation network.
Lower pricing also aligns with Starlink’s broader expansion strategy. SpaceX continues to deploy satellites at a rapid pace using Falcon 9, and future launches aboard Starship are expected to significantly accelerate the constellation’s growth. A larger network improves capacity and global coverage, which can support a broader customer base.
In that context, price reductions can be viewed as a way to match expanding supply with growing demand. Musk’s companies have historically used aggressive pricing strategies to drive adoption at scale, particularly when vertical integration allows costs to decline over time.
News
Tesla Giga Berlin makes a statement of solidarity amid IG Metall conflict
The display comes as tensions between Tesla and IG Metall continue to escalate.
Tesla Giga Berlin is sending a strong message of solidarity amid its ongoing legal dispute with German union IG Metall.
In a post on social media platform X, Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig shared an image of the facility’s lobby covered with a large banner that reads: “Progress. Innovation. Success.” He added that the slogan reflects what the facility has stood for since Day One.
“Our lobby at Giga Berlin covered in a huge banner these days. Progress. Innovation. Success – this is what we stand for since we started production in 2022 and how we will go into our future!” Thierig wrote in his post on X.
The display comes as tensions between Tesla and IG Metall continue to escalate.
The dispute began after Tesla accused a union representative of secretly recording a works council meeting at Giga Berlin. Tesla stated that it filed a criminal complaint after the alleged incident. Police later confirmed they had seized a computer belonging to an IG Metall member as part of their investigation.
“What has happened today at Giga Berlin is truly beyond words! An external union representative from IG Metall attended a works council meeting. For unknown reasons he recorded the internal meeting and was caught in action! We obviously called police and filed a criminal complaint!” Thierig wrote on X at the time.
IG Metall denied the accusation and characterized Tesla’s move as an election tactic ahead of upcoming works council elections. The union subsequently filed a defamation complaint against Thierig. Authorities later confirmed that an investigation had been opened in connection with the matter.
Giga Berlin began production in 2022 and has since become one of Tesla’s key European manufacturing hubs, producing the Model Y, the company’s best-selling vehicle. The facility has expanded capacity over the past years despite environmental protests, labor disputes, and regulatory scrutiny.
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper
