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Tesla Semi’s future rivals get teased in Ford’s F-Vision electric truck concept
Each vehicle that Tesla has released to date holds the distinction of being disruptors in their respective segments. This is true for the Model S, the Model X, and the Model 3 — all of which have seemingly helped push established automakers to explore cleaner forms of transportation.
The Tesla Semi is no different, particularly since the electric truck is entering a segment where electrification is still a relatively novel idea. As the trucking market prepares for the arrival of the Tesla Semi, some legacy automakers are now exploring electrified concepts of their own, the latest of which is Ford with its F-Vision, a zero-emissions truck built with autonomy in mind.
The Ford F-Vision was unveiled last Thursday at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Germany. The vehicle is built by Ford Ottosan, the legacy automaker’s Turkey-based vehicle production base. During its unveiling, Ford noted that the F-Vision is meant to feature Level 4 self-driving capabilities. Being a concept vehicle, Ford was tight-lipped about the concept truck’s estimated power and range, but the company did stress the F-Vision’s autonomous capabilities.
Ford designed the F-Vision in such as way that it could either be driven by a human driver or operate on its own. The truck has quite a few tricks up its sleeve as well, such as an adaptable windshield that automatically tints to counteract the sun’s brightness, or raise and lower to maximize or minimize the driver’s view of the road. The truck is also equipped with an interactive front end, which can display different designs and communication methods. Linking to a trailer is designed to be seamless with the F-Vision as well, as the vehicle features an automated link system with its trailer.
Just like the Tesla Semi, the F-Vision is optimized for safety. Ford even announced that a feature not unlike Tesla’s “Convoy Mode” for the Semi would be available, as drivers of the F-Vision can “platoon” with other vehicles to optimize safety. Inasmuch as the F-Vision is a compelling step towards electrification though, Ford has noted that the vehicle is strictly a concept for now. It could very well be the basis of Ford’s other electric trucks in the future, but it might be a while before the veteran automaker starts producing and releasing its lineup of zero-emissions trucks. Ultimately, by the time Ford’s fleet of electrified long-haulers hit the market, the Tesla Semi would likely be as ubiquitous as the Tesla Model S, X, and now, the Model 3. Nevertheless, the idea of more electric trucks on the road means that Tesla’s push towards cleaner transportation is working.
During the vehicle’s unveiling, Elon Musk announced that the Semi would start production in 2019. Just recently, this timeline was clarified by Tesla head of investor relations Martin Viecha, who noted that the company aims to begin producing the Semi “earnestly” by 2020. Ahead of its release, the Semi is currently undergoing real-world testing, with the vehicle being spotted in several states across the US. Just recently, the Semi was spotted near the company’s office in Draper, UT, where it surprised Tesla enthusiasts with its unearthly sound while it was accelerating.
Here is Ford’s preview for the F-Vision concept, as well as a recent sighting of the Tesla Semi.
https://youtu.be/BMlrXaIk0WE
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X will start using a Tesla-like software update strategy
The initiative seems designed to accelerate updates to the social media platform, while maintaining maximum transparency.
Elon Musk’s social media platform X will adopt a Tesla-esque approach to software updates for its algorithm.
The initiative seems designed to accelerate updates to the social media platform, while maintaining maximum transparency.
X’s updates to its updates
As per Musk in a post on X, the social media company will be making a new algorithm to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users. These updates would then be repeated every four weeks.
“We will make the new 𝕏 algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days. This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed,” Musk wrote in his post.
The initiative somewhat mirrors Tesla’s over-the-air update model, where vehicle software is regularly refined and pushed to users with detailed release notes. This should allow users to better understand the details of X’s every update and foster a healthy feedback loop for the social media platform.
xAI and X
X, formerly Twitter, has been acquired by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI last year. Since then, xAI has seen a rapid rise in valuation. Following the company’s the company’s upsized $20 billion Series E funding round, estimates now suggest that xAI is worth tens about $230 to $235 billion. That’s several times larger than Tesla when Elon Musk received his controversial 2018 CEO Performance Award.
As per xAI, the Series E funding round attracted a diverse group of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, and Baron Capital Group, among others. Strategic partners NVIDIA and Cisco Investments also continued support for building the world’s largest GPU clusters.
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Tesla FSD Supervised wins MotorTrend’s Best Driver Assistance Award
The decision marks a notable reversal for the publication from prior years, with judges citing major real-world improvements that pushed Tesla’s latest FSD software ahead of every competing ADAS system.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has been named the best driver-assistance technology on the market, earning top honors at the 2026 MotorTrend Best Tech Awards.
The decision marks a notable reversal for the publication from prior years, with judges citing major real-world improvements that pushed Tesla’s latest FSD software ahead of every competing ADAS system. And it wasn’t even close.
MotorTrend reverses course
MotorTrend awarded Tesla FSD (Supervised) its 2026 Best Tech Driver Assistance title after extensive testing of the latest v14 software. The publication acknowledged that it had previously criticized earlier versions of FSD for erratic behavior and near-miss incidents, ultimately favoring rivals such as GM’s Super Cruise in earlier evaluations.
According to MotorTrend, the newest iteration of FSD resolved many of those shortcomings. Testers said v14 showed far smoother behavior in complex urban scenarios, including unprotected left turns, traffic circles, emergency vehicles, and dense city streets. While the system still requires constant driver supervision, judges concluded that no other advanced driver-assistance system currently matches its breadth of capability.
Unlike rival systems that rely on combinations of cameras, radar, lidar, and mapped highways, Tesla’s FSD operates using a camera-only approach and is capable of driving on city streets, rural roads, and freeways. MotorTrend stated that pure utility, the ability to handle nearly all road types, ultimately separated FSD from competitors like Ford BlueCruise, GM Super Cruise, and BMW’s Highway Assistant.
High cost and high capability
MotorTrend also addressed FSD’s pricing, which remains significantly higher than rival systems. Tesla currently charges $8,000 for a one-time purchase or $99 per month for a subscription, compared with far lower upfront and subscription costs from other automakers. The publication noted that the premium is justified given FSD’s unmatched scope and continuous software evolution.
Safety remained a central focus of the evaluation. While testers reported collision-free operation over thousands of miles, they noted ongoing concerns around FSD’s configurable driving modes, including options that allow aggressive driving and speeds beyond posted limits. MotorTrend emphasized that, like all Level 2 systems, FSD still depends on a fully attentive human driver at all times.
Despite those caveats, the publication concluded that Tesla’s rapid software progress fundamentally reshaped the competitive landscape. For drivers seeking the most capable hands-on driver-assistance system available today, MotorTrend concluded Tesla FSD (Supervised) now stands alone at the top.
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Elon Musk’s Grokipedia surges to 5.6M articles, almost 79% of English Wikipedia
The explosive growth marks a major milestone for the AI-powered online encyclopedia, which was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI just months ago.
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia has grown to an impressive 5,615,201 articles as of today, closing in on 79% of the English Wikipedia’s current total of 7,119,376 articles.
The explosive growth marks a major milestone for the AI-powered online encyclopedia, which was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI just months ago. Needless to say, it would only be a matter of time before Grokipedia exceeds English Wikipedia in sheer volume.
Grokipedia’s rapid growth
xAI’s vision for Grokipedia emphasizes neutrality, while Grok’s reasoning capabilities allow for fast drafting and fact-checking. When Elon Musk announced the initiative in late September 2025, he noted that Grokipedia would be an improvement to Wikipedia because it would be designed to avoid bias.
At the time, Musk noted that Grokipedia “is a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe.”
Grokipedia was launched in late October, and while xAI was careful to list it only as Version 0.1 at the time, the online encyclopedia immediately earned praise. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger highlighted the project’s innovative approach, noting how it leverages AI to fill knowledge gaps and enable rapid updates. Netizens also observed how Grokipedia tends to present articles in a more objective manner compared to Wikipedia, which is edited by humans.
Elon Musk’s ambitious plans
With 5,615,201 total articles, Grokipedia has now grown to almost 79% of English Wikipedia’s article base. This is incredibly quick, though Grokipedia remains text-only for now. xAI, for its part, has now updated the online encyclopedia’s iteration to v0.2.
Elon Musk has shared bold ideas for Grokipedia, including sending a record of the entire knowledge base to space as part of xAI’s mission to preserve and expand human understanding. At some point, Musk stated that Grokipedia will be renamed to Encyclopedia Galactica, and it will be sent to the cosmos.
“When Grokipedia is good enough (long way to go), we will change the name to Encyclopedia Galactica. It will be an open source distillation of all knowledge, including audio, images and video. Join xAI to help build the sci-fi version of the Library of Alexandria!” Musk wrote, adding in a later post that “Copies will be etched in stone and sent to the Moon, Mars and beyond. This time, it will not be lost.”