Connect with us

News

These Tesla, X, and xAI engineers were just poached by OpenAI

The news is the latest in an ongoing feud between Elon Musk and the Sam Altman-run firm OpenAI.

Published

on

Credit: OpenAI | YouTube

OpenAI, the xAI competitor for which Elon Musk previously served as a boardmember and helped to co-found, has reportedly poached high-level engineers from Tesla, along with others from xAI, X, and still others.

On Tuesday, Wired reported that OpenAI hired four high-level engineers from Tesla, xAI, and X, as seen in an internal Slack message sent by co-founder Greg Brockman. The engineers include Tesla Vice President of Software Engineering David Lau, X and xAI’s head of infrastructure engineering Uday Ruddarraju, and fellow xAI infrastructure engineer Mike Dalton. The hiring spree also included Angela Fan, an AI researcher from Meta.

“We’re excited to welcome these new members to our scaling team,” said Hannah Wong, an OpenAI spokesperson. “Our approach is to continue building and bringing together world-class infrastructure, research, and product teams to accelerate our mission and deliver the benefits of AI to hundreds of millions of people.”

Lau has been in his position as Tesla’s VP of Software Engineering since 2017, after previously working for the company’s firmware, platforms, and system integration divisions.

“It has become incredibly clear to me that accelerating progress towards safe, well-aligned artificial general intelligence is the most rewarding mission I could imagine for the next chapter of my career,” Lau said in a statement to Wired.

Advertisement

READ MORE ON OPENAI: Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit clears hurdle as trial looms

At xAI, Ruddarraju and Dalton both played a large role in developing the Colossus supercomputer, which is comprised of over 200,000 GPUs. One of the major ongoing projects at OpenAI is the company’s Stargate program,

Advertisement

“Infrastructure is where research meets reality, and OpenAI has already demonstrated this successfully,” Ruddarraju told Wired in another statement. “Stargate, in particular, is an infrastructure moonshot that perfectly matches the ambitious, systems-level challenges I love taking on.”

Elon Musk is currently in the process of suing OpenAI for shifting toward a for-profit model, as well as for accepting an investment of billions of dollars from Microsoft. OpenAI retaliated with a counterlawsuit, in which it alleges that Musk is interfering with the company’s business and engaging in unfair competition practices.

Elon Musk confirms Grok 4 launch on July 9 with livestream event

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

News

Tesla China sees new vehicle registrations rise to 10,700 last week

This represented a 7.6% increase from the 9,900 units that were registered in the previous week.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Tesla China saw 10,700 new vehicle registrations in the week of July 21-27, 2025. This represented a 7.6% increase from the 9,900 units that were registered in the previous week, and it suggests that domestic demand for vehicles like the Model Y and Model 3 are holding steady. 

Tesla China’s Registrations

Despite the increase in weekly registrations, Tesla China’s current insurance registrations are still down 21.1% year over year. That being said, Q3 2025 is seeing quite a lot of momentum for Tesla, with the current quarter being 45.2% higher than Q2 2025. With 10,700 new vehicle registrations, the week ending July 27 also represented the second-highest registrations in the quarter so far. 

Tesla China does not report its weekly sales figures, though the company’s overall performance in the electric vehicle sector could be inferred from the new vehicle registrations. Fortunately, these registration figures are tracked closely by industry watchers and even automakers such as Li Auto.

Upcoming Developments

Tesla China sold a total of 71,599 vehicles wholesale in June, as per data from the China Passenger Car Association. This represents a small 0.83% increase from the 71,007 vehicles that were sold in the same period last year, and a 16.12% increase from the 61,662 vehicles that were sold wholesale in May, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Domestic sales in June were at 61,484, the second highest this year.

Tesla China’s sales in the coming months may see some improvement considering that the company is currently preparing to launch a six-seat, extended wheelbase version of its best-selling all-electric crossover called the Model Y L. The Model Y L is expected to be a true family hauler, allowing Tesla to compete more aggressively against rivals in the domestic auto market.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Energy

Tesla Shanghai Megafactory produces 1,000th Megapack for export to Europe

The Shanghai Megafactory was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the Megapack. 

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Asia/X

Tesla Energy has announced a fresh milestone for its newest Megapack factory. As per the electric vehicle maker, the Shanghai Megafactory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack battery. 

The facility was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the grid-scale battery system. 

New Tesla Megapack Milestone

As per Tesla Asia in a post on its official accounts on social media platform X, the 1,000th Megapack unit that was produced at the Shanghai Megafactory would be exported to Europe. As noted in a CNEV Post report, Tesla’s energy products are currently deployed in over 65 countries and regions globally. This allows Tesla Energy to compete in energy markets that are both emerging and mature.

To commemorate the 1,000th Megapack produced at the Shanghai Megafactory, the Tesla China team posted with the grid-scale battery with celebratory balloons that spelled “Megapack 1000.” The milestone was celebrated by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, especially since the Shanghai Megafactory only started its operations earlier this year.

Quick Megafactory Ramp

The Shanghai Megafactory, similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024, and it was hailed as Tesla’s first entry storage project outside the United States. Less than a year later, on February 11, 2025, the Shanghai Megafactory officially started producing Megapack batteries. And by March 21, 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.

Advertisement

While the Shanghai Megafactory is still not at the same level of output as Tesla’s Lathrop Megafactory, which produces about 10,000 Megapacks per year, its ramp seems to be quite steady and quick. It would then not be surprising if Tesla China announces the Shanghai Megafactory’s 2,000th Megapack milestone in the coming months.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Samsung AI6 deal can shake up chip industry’s power balance: Top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo

Tesla deal could reinvigorate the South Korean tech giant’s foundry business, the analyst noted.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Optimus/X

Renowned tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities has shared some insights on Tesla’s $16.5 billion AI6 deal with Samsung. As per the analyst, the deal is a valuable opportunity for Tesla to bolster its chip design and manufacturing expertise. 

Kuo’s endorsement, which was posted on X, highlighted the deal’s potential to reshape the electric vehicle maker’s supply chain and strengthen its standing in the semiconductor landscape.

Tesla’s Strategic Gain

Kuo, who widely regarded as the “best Apple analyst on the planet” due to his eerily accurate forecasts, noted that the Tesla-Samsung partnership is a game-changer. He emphasized that Tesla’s access to Samsung’s Texas foundry will enhance the EV maker’s chip design capabilities. This was highlighted by CEO Elon Musk on X, when he stated that he would be walking the line “personally to accelerate the pace” of the facility’s progress.

“For Elon Musk and Tesla, this represents a valuable opportunity to gain real-world foundry experience at an exceptionally low cost — something TSMC would never allow,” Kuo wrote in his X post

The deal tasks Samsung’s new Taylor, Texas, facility with producing Tesla’s AI6 chips, which are expected to be used for large volume products like the Cybercab and Optimus. Kuo’s analysis highlighted that the move diversifies Tesla’s reliance on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which has been contracted to produce the EV maker’s AI5 chip.

Advertisement

Challenges and Optimism

Kuo acknowledged risks in Samsung’s 2nm SF2 process, which has a lower yield compared to TSMC’s 2nm N2 node. Yet, he remains optimistic, noting that “Elon Musk’s execution is proven, and SF2’s adoption of the same GAA technology as SF3 should facilitate mass production.” 

Even if Samsung were to falter, Kuo noted that Tesla could simply shift its AI6 deal to TSMC, absorbing design know-how in the process. TSMC, after all, would likely accept Tesla’s business considering the scale of the company’s Cybercab and Optimus business. 

“If production falls short of expectations, the worst-case scenario for Tesla would be to shift the order back to TSMC and absorb the resulting delays to AI6. However, Tesla’s edge in real-world AI could significantly reduce the risk of AI6 delays. Regardless, Tesla still gains from enhanced design capabilities and deeper chip manufacturing know-how,” Kuo wrote.

For Samsung, Kuo sees the deal as a low-risk, high-reward scenario. The Tesla deal could then reinvigorate the South Korean tech giant’s foundry business, positioning Samsung as a viable TSMC rival.

“If AI6 reaches mass production smoothly, chip design and manufacturing could become a core competitive advantage across Elon Musk’s businesses — enabling greater flexibility and lower costs. While Samsung may not fully catch up with TSMC in advanced nodes, it has at least discovered a new business model that actively involves customers in the manufacturing process,” the analyst wrote.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending