News
Tesla gets first place in inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Report
ARC Advisory Group, a technology and research firm founded in 1986, recently released its inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 special report. The report analyzes companies across several industries and ranks them based on how well they excel at integrating digital technologies in all areas of their business. Tesla took the number one spot in ARC’s inaugural list.
As per ARC’s report, companies that do well in the integration of digital technologies fundamentally change the way they operate and deliver value to their customers. Marianne D’Aquila, ARC’s director of research, noted that companies that lead in digital transformations usually gain a competitive advantage in their respective industries.
“Digital transformation leaders across many different industries share common traits and visions, helping them overcome complex challenges to innovate and stay agile. Industrial innovation continues to accelerate, and leading companies have their transformation initiatives well underway. For those who succeed, the result is a competitive advantage, even during the most difficult economic times.” the director of research noted.
ARC developed a rather rigorous process to identify and rank the companies in its inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 report. The ranking covered three main components of a business — financial indicators, transformation indicators, and collective intelligence. Financial indicators were analyzed by studying a company’s publicly-available financial data, transformation indicators were scored based on software and Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) data, and collective intelligence was based on selection and ranking by ARC’s own analysts.
As noted by ARC in its report, the companies that made its Top 25 were from a variety of industries. “They share a common thread of leveraging digital technologies to transform business capabilities and outcomes, giving them a competitive advantage during challenging global circumstances. While some shifted their digital transformation efforts during the pandemic, all had some level of preparation prior and have an eye toward the future. For them, digital transformation is not an option, it is a necessity to survive and thrive,” the report read.
ARC Advisory Group describes its reasons for selecting Tesla as the number one company for its inaugural Digital Transformation Top 25 in the following section:
“Some may argue that Tesla started out as a transformative company rather than one that has recently transformed, given that its intent was to disrupt the automotive industry. The company’s growth has been fueled by several bold digital strategies. Founded in 2003, the company’s message from day one was not that an electric car could be good but that it could be better.
“Tesla’s fundamental philosophy internally and externally is to shift perception. Prior to Tesla, the market perception of electric vehicles was a slow, ugly juiced up car with little range. Tesla shifted this perception to one of being a sleek high performance and accelerated mode of transformation. This same strategy is used inside the organization to gain buy-in for digital initiatives and process. For example, when Tesla sets out to automate its internal processes, they try to build it better from the start rather than start a clunky project and hope to get better on revision 4 or 5. This orientation is fundamental in determining what KPIs the company values, as many of them are far different from metrics managed by manufacturers relying on traditional views of success.”
The advisory group also highlighted Tesla’s approach to vehicles, which sees cars more like computers on wheels than intricate machines that take people from Point A to Point B. This strategy, according to ARC, has allowed the company to deliver more value to its customers, making Tesla a distinct automaker whose products are near-incomparable to their competition.
“By showing value from the start and having internal stakeholders support initiatives, internal employee resistance is minimized. As ARC sees it, this is an example of a company that is comfortable with digital transformation and adapts to business challenges with greater ease quickly. Tesla’s digital connectivity has allowed the company to deliver more value to consumers. Their business model is built on the tenet that the vehicles are more like interactive computers with wheels, leading to the creation of an intelligent data platform and connected ecosystem, enabling Tesla to learn from and serve its customers.
“In Q3 2021, Tesla has publicly stated it plans to grow manufacturing capacity as quickly as possible. Over a multi-year horizon, Tesla expects to achieve 50 percent average annual growth in vehicle deliveries. This rate of growth will depend on Tesla’s equipment capacity, operational efficiency, and the capacity and stability of the supply chain.”
A copy of ARC Advisory Group’s inaugural Industrial Digital Transformation Top 25 report can be requested here.
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Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD
“Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes,” Musk said in regards to FSD v14.2.1 allowing texting and driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced a major update with texting and driving capabilities on Full Self-Driving v14.2.1, the company’s latest version of the FSD suite.
Tesla Full Self-Driving, even in its most mature and capable versions, is still a Level 2 autonomous driving suite, meaning it requires attention from the vehicle operator.
You cannot sleep, and you should not take attention away from driving; ultimately, you are still solely responsible for what happens with the car.
The vehicles utilize a cabin-facing camera to enable attention monitoring, and if you take your eyes off the road for too long, you will be admonished and advised to pay attention. After five strikes, FSD and Autopilot will be disabled.
However, Musk announced at the Annual Shareholder Meeting in early November that the company would look at the statistics, but it aimed to allow people to text and drive “within the next month or two.”
He said:
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
“I am confident that, within the next month or two, we’re gonna look at the safety statistics, but we will allow you to text and drive.”
Does anyone think v14.3 will enable this? pic.twitter.com/N2yn0SK70M
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 23, 2025
Today, Musk confirmed that the current version of Full Self-Driving, which is FSD v14.2.1, does allow for texting and driving “depending on context of surrounding traffic.”
Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2025
There are some legitimate questions with this capability, especially as laws in all 50 U.S. states specifically prohibit texting and driving. It will be interesting to see the legality of it, because if a police officer sees you texting, they won’t know that you’re on Full Self-Driving, and you’ll likely be pulled over.
Some states prohibit drivers from even holding a phone when the car is in motion.
It is certainly a move toward unsupervised Full Self-Driving operation, but it is worth noting that Musk’s words state it will only allow the vehicle operator to do it depending on the context of surrounding traffic.
He did not outline any specific conditions that FSD would allow a driver to text and drive.
News
Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet
The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.
The Tesla Semi is moving closer to broader fleet adoption, with Keller Logistics Group wrapping up a key pre-production planning session with the electric vehicle maker’s team this week.
The confidential meeting marks a major step for the mid-sized carrier in evaluating the electric truck for its regional routes.
Keller’s pre-production Tesla Semi sessions
Keller Logistics Group, a family-owned carrier with over 300 tractors and 1,000 trailers operating in the Midwest and Southeast, completed the session to assess the Tesla Semi’s fit for its operations. The company’s routes typically span 500-600 miles per day, positioning it as an ideal tester for the Semi’s day cab configuration in standard logistics scenarios.
Details remain under mutual NDA, but the meeting reportedly focused on matching the truck to yard, shuttle and regional applications while scrutinizing economics like infrastructure, maintenance and incentives.
What Keller’s executives are saying
CEO Bryan Keller described the approach as methodical. “For us, staying ahead isn’t a headline, it’s a habit. From electrification and yard automation to digital visibility and warehouse technology, our teams are continually pressure-testing what’s next. The Tesla Semi discussion is one more way we evaluate new tools against our standards for safety, uptime, and customer ROI. We don’t chase trends, we pressure-test what works,” Keller said.
Benjamin Pierce, Chief Strategy Officer, echoed these sentiments. “Electrification and next-generation powertrains are part of a much broader transformation. Whether it’s proprietary yard systems like YardLink™, solar and renewable logistics solutions, or real-time vehicle intelligence, Keller’s approach stays the same, test it, prove it, and deploy it only when it strengthens service and total cost for our customers,” Pierce said.
News
Tesla extends FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe by three months
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Tesla appears to be doubling down on its European Full Self-Driving (Supervised) push, with the company extending its demo ride-along program by three months until the end of March 2026. The update seems to have been implemented due to overwhelming demand.
Needless to say, it does appear that FSD fever is starting to catch in Europe.
Extended FSD demonstrations
Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager Ivan Komušanac shared on LinkedIn that the company is offering ride-along experiences in Germany, France and Italy while working toward FSD (Supervised) approval in Europe.
He noted that this provides a great feedback opportunity from the general public, encouraging participants to record and share their experiences. For those unable to book in December, Komušanac teased more slots as “Christmas presents.”
Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt highlighted the extension on X, stating that dates now run from December 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, in multiple cities including Stuttgart-Weinstadt, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf in Germany. This suggests that the FSD ride-along program in Europe has officially been extended until the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Building momentum for European approval
Replies to Merritt’s posts buzzed with excitement, with users like @AuzyMale noting that Cologne and Düsseldorf are already fully booked. This sentiment was echoed by numerous other Tesla enthusiasts on social media. Calls for the program’s expansion to other European territories have also started gaining steam, with some X users suggesting Switzerland and Finland as the next locations for FSD ride-alongs.
Ultimately, the Tesla EU Policy and Business Development Manager’s post aligns with the company’s broader FSD efforts in Europe. As per recent reports, Tesla recently demonstrated FSD’s capabilities for Rome officials. Reporters from media outlets in France and Germany have also published positive reviews of FSD’s capabilities on real-world roads.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announces major update with texting and driving on FSD
Tesla Semi just got a huge vote of confidence from 300-truck fleet
