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Tesla Uber notifications show that informational ads might be a good idea: Opinion

(Credit: Uber

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Through text notifications, Uber provides essential information to Model 3 and Model Y riders about Tesla vehicles. 

Since the Model 3 ramp, the Tesla brand gained significant prominence in mainstream culture. Many people can probably recognize a Tesla from afar now. Elon Musk, the Model Y, and Cybertruck have only increased Tesla’s popularity. 

However, there are still a few details about Tesla vehicles that most people don’t know. One of the main—and probably most important—details people still don’t know about Teslas is how to open their doors. 

Now that Tesla vehicles have started to join ride-hailing fleets, like Hertz and Uber, more people are exposed to them. But some still don’t know how to approach a Tesla. 

Uber decided to help their Model 3 and Model Y riders familiarize themselves with Teslas. To start, Uber sends a Tesla-specific notification to riders who book a Model 3 or Model Y. Through the messages, Uber riders learn to use Tesla’s door handles properly. The ride-hailing company also shared a video showing customers how to get into and out of a Tesla vehicle. 

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Uber’s Tesla-specific notifications suggest that there’s still information that many people don’t know about the EV manufacturer’s vehicles. Uber riders aren’t the only ones unfamiliar with Teslas. Some riders hailing the Tesla taxi cab in New York also didn’t know how the car’s door handles worked. So it might be a good idea to do fun, informational ads about the EV automaker’s cars.

By providing basic information about Tesla, Uber is helping the larger population get to know the brand and the cars it builds. While EVs are gaining traction in the auto market, there are still lots of people in North America and around the world that don’t know much about electric vehicles in general. As the reigning leader of the EV market, details about Tesla vehicles seem to be an excellent place to start for people just learning about electric vehicles. 

The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via Twitter @Writer_01001101.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Neuralink’s third brain chip patient shares first video edited with BCI

The third Neuralink brain chip patient is the trial’s first patient with ALS and its first non-verbal patient, and he has detailed his experience regaining speech and more.

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Credit: Neuralink

Elon Musk’s Neuralink has officially installed its brain-chip interface (BCI) into a third human patient, and the individual shared a video this week detailing his experiences gaining control of external devices and regaining the ability to talk through the use of AI.

On Monday, X user Bradford G Smith shared a video detailing his experience as the third person in the world to receive the Neuralink BCI, and as the first non-verbal patient and the first with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to receive the implant. In the video, Smith details how the BCI works, how it’s less limiting than his previous eye tracker technology, and how it has literally helped him regain his voice through AI.

“I am typing this with my brain,” Smith wrote. “It is my primary communication.”

The video, which he says is the first edited directly with a BCI, is narrated by an AI-generated version of his old voice. Prior to the BCI, he was also unable to leave the house using his eye tracker, as it made it difficult to communicate unless he was in dark or low-light settings.

The video also shows how he’s able to connect with external devices using the BCI, with a live shots of him controlling his computer using a cursor.

You can see the full update below, which runs a little under 10 minutes.

READ MORE ON NEURALINK: Elon Musk: over 1,000 humans with Neuralink implants in 2026 is feasible

The news follows Neuralink’s initial update with Brad and other initial BCI patients, as was shared in a post on the company’s website in February. In it, Brad also explained how groundbreaking it was to be able to communicate outside and see his son win a robotics award, along with being able to consider leaving the city area for the first time in half a decade:

The most significant thing that happened this week will sound strange to you: I got to use the computer on the porch, and it worked!!

I went to [my child’s] soccer game, and the referee thought I was sleeping. I was actually able to talk outside. I [am] actually thinking about traveling outside the [city] metro [for] the first time in 5 years.

Both of Neuralink’s studies focus on restoring autonomy to people who are paraplegic through the use of external devices. The company gained initial approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to install the first BCI in a human patient in May 2023, with Noland Arbaugh being the first, a patient named Alex being the second, and Brad being the third.

Neuralink opened its Patient Registry worldwide earlier this month, allowing participants to submit to take part in the company’s initial PRIME and CONVOY studies. The firm also announced plans to operate the PRIME study out of a second location in Miami, Florida in January, after an initial location was launched in Phoenix, Arizona.

Last week, it was reported by Bloomberg that Neuralink is currently targeting a $500 million funding round at a valuation of $8.5 billion. Meanwhile, Neuralink has also been constructing office buildings near Austin, Texas, which initially aimed to be completed in May 2025.

Neuralink human trial patient shares his progress

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Tesla fends off new attack that will hurt consumers more than anyone else

Consumers stand to be hurt the most by a new bill that aims to take away Tesla’s Direct-to-Consumer licensing

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is likely going to be forced to fend off a new attack that is much different than the petty vandalism, arson, and domestic terrorism it has faced from those who oppose the company and its CEO Elon Musk. It would hurt consumers more than anyone else.

Over the past several months, we have reported numerous instances of vandalism against Tesla. No victim is too big or too small to be a potential target, as everything from keying vehicles to having Molotov cocktails thrown at showrooms is sufficient in the eyes of perpetrators.

However, the latest attack appears to be politically motivated and could hurt Tesla, its consumers, and even other automakers, and it seems to be some form of retaliation against Musk due to his affiliation with President Trump.

The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

Lawmakers in New York state are now attempting to shut down Tesla showrooms in a move that would force the company to sell through dealer franchises, complicating the sales process and making the direct-to-consumer platform the company has used for years obsolete.

The New York Times reported that New York State Sen. Patricia Fahy is one of several lawmakers that is looking to hit Tesla where it hurts the most: its accessible and stress-free showrooms.

The problem is that this will hurt consumers more than Tesla.

Sen. Fahy said in March that the ease-of-sales platform Tesla uses has to be taken “from Elon Musk,” because “he’s part of an effort to go backwards.”

The licenses Tesla uses in the state allow it to sell cars directly to consumers instead of going through the traditional dealership model. These licenses, in Sen. Fahy’s perfect world, would be revoked from Tesla and given to other EV manufacturers. At one time, she was a proponent of Tesla and supported the company operating its D2C sales, stating it would cut emissions.

Now, Sen. Fahy believes Musk’s association with the Trump Administration is counterintuitive, as she says it is “killing all the grant funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, killing wind energy, killing anything that might address climate change.”

Tesla could face New York store ban under this legislation

She continued by stating:

“The bottom line is, Tesla has lost their right to promote these when they’re part of an administration that wants to go backwards. Elon Musk was handed a privilege here.”

The bill is with the Senate and Assembly Finance committees.

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Tesla posts Semi factory update, shares new Semi logo design

As per Priestley, there are a lot of exciting things coming to the Semi factory and the Tesla Semi itself.

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Credit: Tesla Semi/X

Tesla has posted an update video on the construction of its Semi factory near Giga Nevada. 

The electric vehicle maker also shared the new logo of its Class 8 all-electric truck, which is pretty slick and classic Tesla at the same time.

Semi Factory Update

In the video, Tesla Semi program lead Dan Priestley stated that the last few months were spent building the factory shell of the facility, from its walls to its columns to its concrete floors. With the Semi factory shell completed, it is now time to equip the facility with the necessary equipment that would allow it to mass produce the Tesla Semi. The Tesla executive also shared the facility’s target output.

“This factory is designed with an annual capacity of 50,000 units a year. So over the next several quarters, we’re going to be industrializing the factory, installing the equipment, and preparing for high volume production. First units are set to be on the line by the end of this year, and we’ll be ramping the factory through 2026,” Priestley stated in the video. 

The Tesla Semi is arguably Tesla’s most underrated product, with the vehicle operating in real-world fleets over the past years. As per Priestley, there are a lot of exciting things coming to the Semi factory and the Semi itself. These things, the Tesla executive noted, would prove that electric trucking is ready to scale.

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New Tesla Semi Logo

The end of the Tesla Semi factory update video featured a logo for the vehicle that had not been shared by Tesla before. Similar to the Cybertruck, it appears that Tesla will be giving the Semi its own stylized logo. Unlike the Cybertruck’s graffiti print, however, the Class 8 all-electric truck’s logo features the word “Semi” written in a futuristic, thin font. Interestingly enough, the “E” in the word “Semi” was written with three horizontal lines, similar to the Tesla Model 3’s original logo.

Below is the Tesla Semi’s new logo.

Credit: Tesla Semi/X

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