News
Tesla ‘production hell’ wasn’t all bad, it resulted in a ten-year lead
Tesla’s early production of the Model 3 has been referred to as “production hell” on many occasions. Elon Musk was sleeping at the Fremont factory, a makeshift tent was erected outside of the plant to make room for the mass-market sedan, and intense production bottlenecks made the process an unforgettable one.
But with adversity comes triumph, and Sandy Munro says that Tesla has benefitted from “production hell.” It may be tough to imagine that anything good could have come out of that Summer, but plenty did.
“In some cases, I think that in some areas of the [Model 3], Tesla is 10 years ahead, especially when it comes to the manufacturing,” Munro said during a conference with Bernstein last week, according to Business Insider.
Because of Tesla’s early struggles with production, the company has erupted into a powerhouse of automotive innovation and efficiency. “I don’t think they really quite understood or grasped the concept of making cars at production speeds,” Munro said.
One of the main bottlenecks was Musk’s focus on automation, according to Munro. “They ripped out a lot of robots. I think that Elon thought that somehow robots could take over everything, but in actuality, that’s been proven wrong in many, many cases,” he said.
Musk took his focus away from automation for the time being and realized the importance of the hard-working men and women who are fabricating and piecing together the all-electric cars daily. “Humans are underrated,” he said in a Tweet in 2018.
Tesla’s advantage does not come from stressing the importance of humans, however. Munro believes the company’s vertical integration is much more critical to the operation than many people think.
“So what Tesla’s done is it’s cranked out a product that’s probably 90%, 95% there. But they’ve got so many ways of investigating what’s going on in each car all the time that the feedback can say ‘Hey, what I think what we should do is X. Let’s make that engineering change and implement it on the vehicles from here going forward, and if or when a customer has a problem, bingo, we don’t know how to solve it, or we’ll replace the parts.’”
This mentality has been evident for some time, especially in terms of small additions or modifications that Tesla makes to its cars. If something is needed, they add it. Wireless chargers, for example, started appearing in the Model X just a month into the new year. There was no large announcement or coordinated effort to let people know. Tesla knew it was necessary, so it was added.
Years ago, when Munro performed a teardown of the Model 3, he stated that the car was a key factor in Tesla’s lead. “Tesla with the Model 3 was probably five to eight years ahead of everybody else,” he said. That lead has increased, and with car companies still not focusing specifically on EVs, the advantage will likely continue to widen as Tesla makes significant strides forward.
News
Tesla looks to upgrade Matrix Headlights with new features
According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.
Tesla is looking to upgrade its Matrix Headlights, a unique and high-tech feature that is available on several of its vehicles. The headlights aim to maximize visibility for Tesla drivers while being considerate of oncoming traffic.
The Matrix Headlights Tesla offers utilize dimming of individual light pixels to ensure that visibility stays high for those behind the wheel, while also being considerate of other cars by decreasing the brightness in areas where other cars are traveling.
Here’s what they look like in action:
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- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
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- Credit: u/ObjectiveScratch | Reddit
As you can see, the Matrix headlight system intentionally dims the area where oncoming cars would be impacted by high beams. This keeps visibility at a maximum for everyone on the road, including those who could be hit with bright lights in their eyes.
There are still a handful of complaints from owners, however, but Tesla appears to be looking to resolve these with the coming updates in a Software Version that is currently labeled 2026.2.xxx. The coding was spotted by X user BERKANT:
🚨 Tesla is quietly upgrading Matrix headlights.
Software https://t.co/pXEklQiXSq reveals a hidden feature:
matrix_two_stage_reflection_dip
This is a major step beyond current adaptive high beams.
What it means:
• The car detects highly reflective objects
Road signs,… pic.twitter.com/m5UpQJFA2n— BERKANT (@Tesla_NL_TR) February 24, 2026
According to the update, Tesla will work on improving the headlights when coming into contact with highly reflective objects, including road signs, traffic signs, and street lights. Additionally, pixel-level dimming will happen in two stages, whereas it currently performs with just one, meaning on or off.
Finally, the new system will prevent the high beams from glaring back at the driver. The system is made to dim when it recognizes oncoming cars, but not necessarily objects that could produce glaring issues back at the driver.
Tesla’s revolutionary Matrix headlights are coming to the U.S.
This upgrade is software-focused, so there will not need to be any physical changes or upgrades made to Tesla vehicles that utilize the Matrix headlights currently.
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.
Tesla looks to upgrade Matrix Headlights with new features
xAI’s Grok approved for Pentagon classified systems: report
