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Tesla Store in Santa Monica sells for a whopping $5,200 per sqft.

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Hundreds line up in front of the Tesla store in Santa Monica on March 31, 2016 to place a deposit for the Model 3

Model 3 reservation hopefuls that lined up on the day of Model 3 Mania in front of the manufacturer’s Santa Monica showroom are well acquainted with the tiny boutique-like space that bears the name to arguably one of the world’s most talked about brands – Tesla. Nestled amongst narrow two-story Art Deco buildings lies Tesla’s 3,000 square foot storefront on famed Third Street Promenade – a local hotspot for Los Angeleans and tourists alike.

The real estate purchased for $2.75 million, or $917 per square foot, in 2006 by Tigris Group, an entity registered in Pinecrest, Florida, was just sold for a whopping $15.6 million. That represents a near 570% gain with a single square foot priced at $5,200 for Tesla’s current landlord. The Real Deal reports that New York-based KLM Equities and Harlington Realty closed on the purchase of Tesla’s storefront late last month, according to a release from CBRE. According to CRBE’s Timothy Bower, there were multiple bids on the property due to popularity of the location which doesn’t often see real estate turnovers. Bower tells The Real Deal, “The real estate on the Third Street Promenade trades infrequently. When it does, it is in high demand. Sometimes these deals don’t even get to market. The moment we released this offering, we had a lot of interest in it.”

Tesla Showroom in Santa Monica [Source: Sharon VanderKaay | creative commons]

Tesla Showroom in Santa Monica [Source: Sharon VanderKaay | creative commons]

Though Tesla Motors will have a new landlord, the Silicon Valley automaker doesn’t have any plans on leaving and will keep its existing lease agreement, as is. In terms of a fallback plan for the real estate buyer, “It was an investment deal and as long as Tesla’s lease is in place, the property will be in its present form,” said Bower. “If they don’t stay, way down road, there is potential to redevelop. The evolution of the area is a two-story retail format, so that’s certainly a possibility in the future.”

The $5,200 per square foot price may seem exorbitant, but it’s not uncommon for storefronts lining the famed beachside attraction. Just a few doors down is Apple’s ubiquitous glass-front showroom which sold in 2014 to an affiliate of KLM for $100 million, or $5,700 a square foot.

By comparison, stores along the prestigious shopping streets in Beverly Hills demand almost four times as much. The Bijan store on Rodeo Drive recently sold for $122 million, or $19,405 a square foot.

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KLM also owns the famed Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and various storefronts in nearby Venice.

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Ford is charging for a basic EV feature on the Mustang Mach-E

When ordering a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, you’ll now be hit with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

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Credit: Ford Motor Company

Ford is charging an additional fee for a basic EV feature on its Mustang Mach-E, its most popular electric vehicle offering.

Ford has shuttered its initial Model e program, but is venturing into a more controlled and refined effort, and it is abandoning the F-150 Lightning in favor of a new pickup that is currently under design, but appears to have some favorable features.

However, ordering a new Mustang Mach-E now comes with an additional fee for one basic EV feature: the frunk.

The frunk is the front trunk, and due to the lack of a large engine in the front of an electric vehicle, OEMs are able to offer additional storage space under the hood. There’s one problem, though, and that is that companies appear to be recognizing that they can remove it for free while offering the function for a fee.

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Ford is charging $495 for the frunk.

Interestingly, the frunk size varies by vehicle, but the Mustang Mach-E features a 4.7 to 4.8 cubic-foot-sized frunk, which measures approximately 9 inches deep, 26 inches wide, and 14 inches high.

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When the vehicle was first released, Ford marketed the frunk as the ultimate tailgating feature, showing it off as a perfect place to store and serve cold shrimp cocktail.

Ford Mach-E frunk is perfect for chowders and chicken wings, and we’re not even joking

It appears the decision to charge for what is a simple advantage of an EV is not going over well, as even Ford loyal customers say the frunk is a “basic expectation” of an EV. Without it, it seems as if fans feel the company is nickel-and-diming its customers.

It will be pretty interesting to see the Mach-E without a frunk, and while it should not be enough to turn people away from potentially buying the vehicle, it seems the decision to add an additional charge to include one will definitely annoy some customers.

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Tesla to improve one of its best features, coding shows

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.

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Credit: @jojje167 on X

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:

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.

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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:

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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.

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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. 

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Credit: xAI

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.

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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.

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