Tesla recently released Smart Summon in China on Monday. With the feature, users can now have their vehicles pick them up at designated locations in parking lots. Tesla enthusiast @Tesla_Mania shared the news about the Smart Summon China release in a post about the company’s 2019.40.50 update.
The rollout of Smart Summon in China, aside from providing a new convenience feature for local customers, is also a good way for the U.S. electric car maker to collect more data and improve the feature. This is particularly important in China, since the country is expecting an influx of Teslas next year with the imminent deliveries of the Made-In-China Model 3.
Tesla initially released Smart Summon in September together with its V10 software update. While the feature’s initial iterations left much to be desired, improvements rolled out by Tesla through its over-the-air updates have made Smart Summon smoother and more reliable over the past few months.
Based on Tesla’s V10 Release Notes last September, Smart Summon is available for those who purchased Full-Self Driving or the Enhanced Autopilot. The feature allows the car to navigate a parking lot and go to its owner or a destination of choice. This is done without any driver controlling the vehicle from inside the car.
” t’s the perfect feature to use if you have an overflowing shopping cart, are dealing with a fussy child, or simply don’t want to walk to your car through the rain. Customers who have had early access to Smart Summon have told us that it adds both convenience to their trips and provides them with a unique moment of delight when their car picks them up to begin their journey. Those using Smart Summon must remain responsible for the car and monitor it and its surroundings at all times,” the Tesla release notes read.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier last week hinted at the imminent release of the company’s holiday software update that includes the much-awaited sneak preview of the FSD. The update is expected to roll out a “feature-complete” version of Full Self-Driving to an initial batch of its early access program, but so far, no reports have been shared about such a release so far.
Ultimately, the autonomous driving capabilities of Teslas will help fulfill its goal of having a fleet of self-driving Robotaxis. If that plan materializes in the near future, one can only expect the value of the company and its vehicles to go up dramatically and as Musk explained before, “a fully autonomous car that can function as a Robotaxi is several times more valuable than a non-autonomous car.” For a car to function well without driver input, it must be able to master dropping off and pickup up passengers from parking lots.
In the meantime, Tesla continues to perfect its Smart Summon. Just last week, an electric vehicle enthusiast demonstrated how Tesla has been improving the Smart Summon feature. Kevin Rooke tested if the vehicle can recognize moving objects such as a makeshift shopping cart in the experiment. Rooke proved impressed with how his Model 3 passed the tests, even carrying out more challenging tests such as rolling basketballs on the vehicle’s path.
Recently, another Tesla owner tested the Smart Summon capability of his Tesla. YouTuber Daniel Spalding used the Come To Me feature of the vehicle on a snow-covered parking lot. This was another challenging experiment aced by Tesla’s Smart Summon given the poor visibility in the area and the absence of road lines because of the weather condition. Much to the Tesla onwer’s pleasant surprise, Smart Summon was up to the task.
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Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla emerged as one of the most recognized automakers at MotorTrend’s 2026 Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Innovator Awards.
As could be seen in a press release from the publication, two key Tesla employees were honored for their work on AI, autonomy, and vehicle software. MotorTrend’s SDV Awards were presented during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
Tesla leaders and engineers recognized
The fourth annual SDV Innovator Awards celebrate pioneers and experts who are pushing the automotive industry deeper into software-driven development. Among the most notable honorees for this year was Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of AI Software, who received a Pioneer Award for his role in advancing artificial intelligence and autonomy across the company’s vehicle lineup.
Tesla also secured recognition in the Expert category, with Lawson Fulton, a staff Autopilot machine learning engineer, honored for his contributions to Tesla’s driver-assistance and autonomous systems.
Tesla’s software-first strategy
While automakers like General Motors, Ford, and Rivian also received recognition, Tesla’s multiple awards stood out given the company’s outsized role in popularizing software-defined vehicles over the past decade. From frequent OTA updates to its data-driven approach to autonomy, Tesla has consistently treated vehicles as evolving software platforms rather than static products.
This has made Tesla’s vehicles very unique in their respective sectors, as they are arguably the only cars that objectively get better over time. This is especially true for vehicles that are loaded with the company’s Full Self-Driving system, which are getting progressively more intelligent and autonomous over time. The majority of Tesla’s updates to its vehicles are free as well, which is very much appreciated by customers worldwide.
Elon Musk
Judge clears path for Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit to go before a jury
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder.
A U.S. judge has ruled that Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding nonprofit mission can proceed to a jury trial.
The decision maintains Musk’s claims that OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure violated early assurances made to him as a co-founder. These claims are directly opposed by OpenAI.
Judge says disputed facts warrant a trial
At a hearing in Oakland, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated that there was “plenty of evidence” suggesting that OpenAI leaders had promised that the organization’s original nonprofit structure would be maintained. She ruled that those disputed facts should be evaluated by a jury at a trial in March rather than decided by the court at this stage, as noted in a Reuters report.
Musk helped co-found OpenAI in 2015 but left the organization in 2018. In his lawsuit, he argued that he contributed roughly $38 million, or about 60% of OpenAI’s early funding, based on assurances that the company would remain a nonprofit dedicated to the public benefit. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages tied to what he describes as “ill-gotten gains.”
OpenAI, however, has repeatedly rejected Musk’s allegations. The company has stated that Musk’s claims were baseless and part of a pattern of harassment.
Rivalries and Microsoft ties
The case unfolds against the backdrop of intensifying competition in generative artificial intelligence. Musk now runs xAI, whose Grok chatbot competes directly with OpenAI’s flagship ChatGPT. OpenAI has argued that Musk is a frustrated commercial rival who is simply attempting to slow down a market leader.
The lawsuit also names Microsoft as a defendant, citing its multibillion-dollar partnerships with OpenAI. Microsoft has urged the court to dismiss the claims against it, arguing there is no evidence it aided or abetted any alleged misconduct. Lawyers for OpenAI have also pushed for the case to be thrown out, claiming that Musk failed to show sufficient factual basis for claims such as fraud and breach of contract.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers, however, declined to end the case at this stage, noting that a jury would also need to consider whether Musk filed the lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations. Still, the dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI is now headed for a high-profile jury trial in the coming months.
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Tesla Giga Shanghai celebrates 5 million electric drive unit milestone
The milestone was celebrated by the company in a post on its official Weibo account.
Tesla China has reached another manufacturing milestone at Gigafactory Shanghai, rolling out the facility’s 5 millionth locally produced drive unit.
The milestone was celebrated by the company in a post on its official Weibo account. In its post, the Giga Shanghai team could be seen posing with the 5 millionth drive unit.
Giga Shanghai’s major benchmark
The milestone drive unit was produced at Gigafactory Shanghai, which produces the Model Y and the Model 3. In a release, Tesla China noted that its three-in-one integrated electric drive system combines the motor, gearbox, and inverter into a single compact assembly. This forms a powerful “heart” for the company’s electric cars.
Tesla China also noted that its drive units’ integrated design improves energy conversion efficiency while reducing overall weight and complexity, benefits that translate into stronger performance, improved handling, and longer service life for its vehicles.
The new milestone builds on earlier achievements at the same site. In July 2024, Tesla announced that its 10 millionth electric drive system globally had rolled off the line at the Shanghai plant, making it the first self-produced Tesla component to reach that volume.
More recently, the factory also produced its 4 millionth China-made vehicle, a Model Y L. The factory has also continued hitting global production milestones, rolling out Tesla’s 9 millionth EV worldwide late last year, with the landmark vehicle being a Tesla Model Y.
Tesla China’s role
Construction of Giga Shanghai began in January 2019, with production starting by the end of that year. This made it the first wholly foreign-owned automotive manufacturing project in China. The facility began delivering Model 3 vehicles locally in early 2020 and added Model Y production in 2021. The plant is now capable of producing about 1 million vehicles annually.
Throughout 2025, Giga Shanghai delivered 851,732 vehicles, representing a 7.08% year-on-year decline, according to data compiled by CNEVPost. Even so, recent months showed renewed momentum.
In December alone, Tesla China recorded wholesale sales of 97,171 vehicles, including domestic deliveries and exports, making it the company’s second-best monthly total on record, per data from the China Passenger Car Association. Retail sales during December reached roughly 94,000 units, up about 13% year over year.
Tesla earns top honors at MotorTrend’s SDV Innovator Awards
Judge clears path for Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit to go before a jury
