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Tesla update 2024.26 introduces Parental Controls with “Night Curfew,” speed limits, and more

Credit: Tesla Asia/X

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Tesla is reportedly rolling out software update 2024.26 to its employees, and as per observations from the electric vehicle community, this particular update seems to include a number of interesting features. Most notable is Parental Controls, which arguably make Teslas the best vehicle for young drivers. 

As per Tesla software trackers like Tessie and NotATeslaApp, update 2024.26 is currently rolling out to company employees. Provided that the update’s rollout to employees is successful, 2024.26 would likely be released to the company’s greater fleet of vehicles soon. 

A number of features are quite notable in Tesla’s update 2024.26. Parental Controls, for one, include a “Night Curfew” feature that allows parents to receive notifications to their Tesla App when the vehicle is driven past a set curfew. It also allows users to set speed limits, set acceleration restrictions, and activate safety features. Tesla describes its new Parental Control features in 2024.26’s release notes. 

“You can now enable Parental Controls with a PIN on your vehicle. Set a maximum speed limit and limit acceleration to Chill. Turn on safety features, such as Speed Limit Warning, Automatic Emergency Braking, and Forward Collision Warning. Configure Night Curfew to receive notifications through your Tesla mobile app when the vehicle is driven past curfew.

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“Enable Parental Controls from the vehicle or the Tesla mobile app. Navigate to Controls > Safety > Parental Controls. Follow the instructions on screen and provide a PIN. Drivers can’t disable the controls or change the settings without re-entering the PIN.”

While Teslas have long been shipped with Valet Mode, which restricts a car’s speed and acceleration and disables Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), owners have long requested the EV maker to specifically release a “Teen Driver Mode” of sorts. Back in May, it seemed that the Tesla owners’ requests were being heard, with noted Tesla hacker @greentheonly stating that “restricted” driver profiles seem to be coming in a future update. This update appears to be 2024.26. 

Apart from Parental Controls, Tesla’s software update 2024.26 also includes a number of novel features that would most likely be appreciated by electric vehicle owners. Following are the other features that were included in software update 2024.26. 

YouTube Music

Listen to over 100 million songs with YouTube Music Premium. Access your Library to see all of your liked and added songs, playlists you created and artists and podcasts you subscribed to.

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Requires Premium Connectivity or an active WiFi connection.

Amazon Music 

Prime members get access to over 100 million songs in shuffle mode, All-Access playlists, plus the largest catalog of top ad-free podcasts. Upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited for full, on-demand access.

Requires Premium Connectivity or an active WiFi connection.

Navigate to Sub-Destinations 

Now when you enter a navigation destination you can select a sub-destination (such as a specific terminal at the airport) to get more accurate routing details.

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Weather Forecast and Air Quality 

Your vehicle status bar now shows the local weather conditions alongside the temperature. When air quality is poor, your vehicle also shows an AQI symbol and index value.

Tap the temperature on your touchscreen to see details about your local weather forecast, such as the weather condition, highs and lows of the day, and the chance of rain. Requires Premium Connectivity.

Schedule Charge and Preconditioning 

From the redesigned menu or the Tesla mobile app, schedule charging or preconditioning for your vehicle. You can select a location, schedule a one-off, repeat specific times or days of the week, and also control when charging starts and stops.

To schedule your charge and precondition, tap Controls > Schedule.

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Other Updates 

  • The Battle of Polytopia – ∑∫ỹriȱŋ ₼idŋighţ Skin Update – Create graves, build crypts, and summon demons from the graves in the dark forests with the special ∑∫ỹriȱŋ ₼idŋighţ skin.
  • Vampire Survivors – “Laborratory” Update – Discover the secrets to dark mysteries with a new character, power-up, achievements, stages, and weapons.
  • A redesigned climate panel allows you to select your comfort settings with ease.
  • When in Auto, the fan speed may now automatically lower to reduce the sound of ambient noise during a phone call.
  • Zoom meetings now default to full-screen when your car is in Park. You can also log in with QR code.
  • TeslaMic is now supported in conjunction with availability in the Tesla store.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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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.

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:

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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Elon Musk

Elon Musk denies Starlink’s price cuts are due to Amazon Kuiper

“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X.

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Credit: Starlink

Elon Musk has pushed back on claims that Starlink’s recent price reductions are tied to Amazon’s Kuiper project.

In a post on X, Musk responded directly to a report suggesting that Starlink was cutting prices and offering free hardware to partners ahead of a planned IPO and increased competition from Kuiper.

“This has nothing to do with Kuiper, we’re just trying to make Starlink more affordable to a broader audience,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “The lower the cost, the more Starlink can be used by people who don’t have much money, especially in the developing world.”

The speculation originated from a post summarizing a report from The Information, which ran with the headline “SpaceX’s Starlink Makes Land Grab as Amazon Threat Looms.” The report stated that SpaceX is aggressively cutting prices and giving free hardware to distribution partners, which was interpreted as a reaction to Amazon’s Kuiper’s upcoming rollout and possible IPO.

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In a way, Musk’s comments could be quite accurate considering Starlink’s current scale. The constellation currently has more than 9,700 satellites in operation today, making it by far the largest satellite broadband network in operation. It has also managed to grow its user base to 10 million active customers across more than 150 countries worldwide. 

Amazon’s Kuiper, by comparison, has launched approximately 211 satellites to date, as per data from SatelliteMap.Space, some of which were launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Starlink surpassed that number in early January 2020, during the early buildout of its first-generation network.

Lower pricing also aligns with Starlink’s broader expansion strategy. SpaceX continues to deploy satellites at a rapid pace using Falcon 9, and future launches aboard Starship are expected to significantly accelerate the constellation’s growth. A larger network improves capacity and global coverage, which can support a broader customer base.

In that context, price reductions can be viewed as a way to match expanding supply with growing demand. Musk’s companies have historically used aggressive pricing strategies to drive adoption at scale, particularly when vertical integration allows costs to decline over time.

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