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Tesla shareholders arrive at the Cyber Roundup

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

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Tesla’s Cyber Roundup shareholder meeting is happening today at 4:30 CST and Tesla shareholders are already arriving. My friend and fellow Baton Rouge citizen,

Will Sellers was one of the shareholders who was randomly selected to attend the Cyber Roundup. Will and I are both members of the Louisiana Tesla Ownes and Dreamers group on Facebook.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

This is Will’s first time attending a Tesla event and when he first got the invite, he called me to share how excited he was.

Having been invited to a few Tesla events, I told him to expect to have a lot of fun there.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

In the photo above, you can see a made-in-Texas Tesla Model Y with signatures on them. Will told me Tesla was allowing shareholders to autograph the Model Y and sign where they are from.

The photo below is a close-up of Will’s signature.

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Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

In the next photo, you can see the Tesla Semi with a mural on the trailer. Last month the Tesla Semi with the mural on its side was spotted going west on I-80 in California.Futurism noted that the horse was bucking as purple smoke billowed in the background extending all the way to the cab.

We now know where it was headed.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

And below is another angle of the Tesla Semi and its neat mural parked at Giga Texas.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

 

The Tesla Cybertruck was also there and it’s one of my favorites in Tesla’s vehicle lineup. One of the top questions that shareholders wanted to know was centered around the Cybertruck and its new pricing.

“When the Cybertruck pricing is released, will all who ordered before it was taken down be grandfathered in, or have to reconfigure? When will pricing be released?”

You can read more about the top questions here.

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Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

In the photo below, Will took a shot of the back of the Tesla Cybertruck. In the background, you can see a red Tesla Model Y and then a hanging Tesla Model Y sculpture that is similar to the one I saw at the Tesla Cyber Rodeo in April.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

Below is a better photo of the hanging Model Y sculpture.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

Below is the last photo that Will shared with me.  Tesla is giving shareholders a tour of Giga Texas.

According to @WholeMarsBlog who is also there, Giga Texas is in full production even though there is a tour happening as well as the shareholder meeting.

Photo Credit: Will Sellers/ Louisiana Tesla Owners

One thing that is really cool for Tesla to do is to transform Model Y hoods that were damaged during production into wall art.

@WholeMarsBlog said that the messed-up hoods being set up in production were made into art and you can see the photos in his tweet below.

 

Disclaimer: Johnna is long Tesla. 

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @JohnnaCrider1

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Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge writer covering Tesla, Elon Musk, EVs, and clean energy & supports Tesla's mission. Johnna also interviewed Elon Musk and you can listen here

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Tesla patent reveals strategy for solving major Full Self-Driving, Optimus issue

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Credit: Tesla

A new Tesla patent that has been granted to the company this week has revealed a potential strategy for solving a major issue that could impact both the Full Self-Driving suite and Optimus.

The patent, which is No. 12,636,684, describes a “Lens Cleaning System,” and was submitted by Tesla in May 2025.

The language in the patent details a lens cleaning system that can dispense fluid and wipe it away with a wiper assembly.

This would effectively clean any debris that would potentially impact the visibility of the cameras on Tesla automobiles or Optimus’s camera eyes. Perhaps the most pertinent example is through the Full Self-Driving suite, as debris that can accumulate on the vehicle’s exterior cameras can impact the suite’s ability to operate effectively.

This requires a remedy through manual cleaning, but this patent hints that Tesla could be planning to implement this new technology on its upcoming vehicles.

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Interestingly, we have started to see it on some Robotaxi vehicles, and it will likely be included in the Cybercab, especially as that vehicle will enable full autonomy.

Back in January, the first Model Y Robotaxi units were spotted with camera washers on the side repeaters, as the video below shows fluid squirting and rinsing off any debris that is limiting visibility.

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This hardware patent does bring up an interesting question for those of us who own Teslas with AI4 and have been told that our cars will one day be capable of full autonomy: Will this washer be available as a retrofit on already-built cars?

Perhaps the “Lens Cleaning System” patent is a good look at one way Tesla plans to combat one of the most obvious issues of autonomy that utilizes a camera-based system. For Optimus, it could be less needed as it could be manually cleaned by owners. For cars, it seems like a bigger necessity, especially as autonomy nears and Tesla gets close to launching a feature-complete FSD suite.

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SpaceX Starlink gets its latest airline adoptee, grabbing three of the ‘Big Four’

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Credit: American Airlines

SpaceX’s Starlink product has just gotten its latest airline adoptee, and the move marks the successful partnership of three of the “Big Four” U.S. airlines.

American Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would utilize Starlink in more than 500 narrowbody aircraft beginning in the first quarter of 2027. These include the Airbus aircraft in its fleet, including the new A321XLR and A321neo.

With the new partnership with American Airlines, Starlink is now present on three of the largest airlines in the country: American, United, and Southwest.

Starlink gets its latest airline adoptee for stable and reliable internet access

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Starlink’s VP of Enterprise Sales, Jason Fritch, said:

“We are proud to bring Starlink on board American Airlines, delivering fast and reliable internet to passengers and crew. Whether traveling for leisure or business, Starlink enables a fully connected experience gate to gate, making every flight smoother and more enjoyable.”

Additionally, American Airlines Chief Customer Officer, Heather Garboden, said:

“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want. The addition of Starlink solidifies American as a leading airline in keeping passengers connected in flight.”

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Starlink has been on a tear over the past year, as it has continued to be adopted by a wide variety of airlines as a more consistent and reliable way to provide WiFi to its passengers. It has already gained a great reputation among residential users, but its biggest commercial application appears to be how it is being used in the air.

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The only airline of the Big Four not to adopt Starlink thus far is Delta, which chose to opt for the alternative, which is Amazon Leo. CEO Ed Bastian said to Bloomberg that Delta chose Amazon’s product over Starlink’s because “the opportunities, in terms of the improved bandwidth with a much lower price point than what we’ve ever seen from Starlink, will make a big difference.”

Delta will not start installing Amazon Leo until 2028.

“Of course, we expect Starlink will be warning people that we’re going to go with an inferior product,” Bastian said. “But I’m not too worried about partnering with Amazon.”

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Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim is nearing its first deliveries

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim level is nearing its first deliveries just a few months after being offered for an incredible deal.

Back in February, Tesla officially launched a new trim of the Cybertruck, the All-Wheel-Drive, starting at just $59,990. It was a lot of truck for the money, especially considering what it offered the Rear-Wheel-Drive variant for last year, which was a total flop.

The $59,990 price that was offered initially was a deal due to its 325-mile range rating, powered tonneau, three bed outlets, Powershare capability, coil springs with adaptive damping for a refined suspension feel, Steer-by-Wire and four-wheel steering, a 6′ x 4′ composite bed, towing capacity of 7,500 pounds, and a powered frunk.

Tesla is now nearing deliveries of this trim, according to watcher Sawyer Merritt, as Tesla has officially started assigning VINs to people who ordered the vehicle initially:

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Earlier this month, we reported on units of the trim being spotted outside Gigafactory Texas by Joe Tegtmeyer.

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Tesla Giga Texas buzzing as new Cybertruck appears to enter production

This Cybertruck trim was interesting because it was released basically out of nowhere, priced incredibly well, and gathered many orders in a small amount of time. However, CEO Elon Musk noted just days afterward that the vehicle would only be priced at this bargain level for ten days.

Tesla fans were not happy.

However, the issues with the pricing strategy have blown over since the February unveiling event, and now that deliveries are near, Tesla fans are anticipating the truck making its way to their driveways soon.

The truck is currently priced at $69,990, and deliveries for new orders are slated for between August and September 2026.

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