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Tesla Top 5 Week in Review: TSLA surge, 0-60 mph 2.05 sec, neural nets, and more
Tesla has been in the news a lot this week, as usual, but the biggest headlines surrounded its unexpectedly strong stock market performance. Another event that made the Tesla crowd happy was the release of a new over-the-air software update which removed a power limiting safety feature. In a related story, a team of creative folks reverse engineered the maximum theoretical acceleration of a car; if you didn’t read this story, you’ll be amazed what they found out. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was a featured speaker in the UAE at the World Summit, which coincided with Tesla’s entrance into that market. And Musk also offered some fascinating insights about artificial intelligence and what the future might look like if humans don’t stay current with AI’s potential. Here are those stories.
Tesla (TSLA) shares surge across 52-week high as Model 3 production takes stage
Over a six month period, Tesla shares rose by nearly 25% and traded this week above $280. This is within grasp of the company’s all-time high, with a market cap that has grown by $10 billion. Investors have begun to give more weight to Tesla’s highly anticipated Model 3, which is slated to begin production on February 20. Development and planned timeline launch for the Model 3 look good and are critical to Tesla’s continued success moving forward. If all goes as hoped, the vehicle will help take the company from producing about 100,000 cars annually today to 500,000 annually in 2018.
Tesla removes performance restrictions in latest software update
Tesla’s policy on limiting the power output of its performance vehicles due to frequency patterns of launch mode engagement and maximum power levels has ended. This week, the car manufacturer pushed a software update to its customers that removes power limiting on Performance variants of its Model S and Model X. Tesla continued to remind its customers that prudent habits can prevent premature wear of components due to high stress launches. Tesla confirmed that they will now “monitor the condition of the powertrain and display an alert if service is needed so we can take proactive steps, such as by replacing parts if necessary, to maintain the vehicle’s performance.”
Math says, Tesla’s “Maximum Plaid” mode could achieve 0-60 mph in 2.05 seconds
In this article scoop, Teslarati related how a group of really creative folks at Engineering Explained decided to reverse engineer the maximum theoretical acceleration that a Tesla Model S could achieve. The team worked somewhat counter-intuitively. They began by calculating the maximum deceleration first. Then they moved back up to acceleration, focusing on a stock Model S with stock tires. The result? Tesla’s next generation Roadster with “Maximum Plaid” mode may have the ability to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.05 seconds.
Elon Musk presents at the Tesla Launch Event in the UAE (Video)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk was a celebrity speaker at this week’s World Government Summit in Dubai. In his remarks, Musk noted, “We expect to invest tens of millions of dollars in the UAE for charging, service and support infrastructures. By next year, you’ll be able to travel anywhere in the GCC with an electric vehicle.” As he spoke about sustainability, Musk acknowledged that EV availability wouldn’t necessarily translate into immediate sales, as the region still considers fossil fuel-powered cars to be the preferred method of transportation. Following Musk’s visit, the UAE announced that it had ordered 200 Model S and Model X vehicles for use as a limousine service.
Elon Musk says human brains need to merge with AI to stay competitive with machines
As artificial intelligence technology improves, as some point humans will become irrelevant. That’s why we must learn to merge with machines, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who explained some of his beliefs about the dangers of artificial intelligence this week. “I think we need to be very careful in how we adopt artificial intelligence and that we make sure that researchers don’t get carried away,” he stated. “Sometimes what will happen is a scientist will get so engrossed in their work that they don’t really realize the ramifications of what they’re doing.” Musk described how humans can mitigate those dangers through a type of merger of biological and machine intelligence, which he said would solve the problem of humans losing control over artificial intelligence.
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.”
Elon Musk’s X will start using a Tesla-like software update strategy
Tesla FSD Supervised wins MotorTrend’s Best Driver Assistance Award
