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Twitter Blue to have an ad-free subscription option

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Twitter will have a higher-priced version of its opt-in Twitter Blue subscription service that allows zero ads, Elon Musk said on Saturday. When he purchased the platform, Elon Musk made several changes to it, including merging the verification system with its paid subscription option that allows users to edit tweets and organize bookmarks into folders.

Although Twitter Blue has never had a fully ad-free experience, one of the key features was access to ad-free articles, which cost the platform when readers used it. Subscribers would read articles without ads from participating publishers, and the platform would give a portion of Twitter Blue’s revenue to those sites. This was discontinued when the platform changed ownership.

On its website, the social media website currently says that it is working on a feature that will reduce the number of ads Blue subscribers see. The company noted that the initial features were designed for a specific segment of its users, and its goal is to provide enough value that people feel that it is worth the price.

“And we hope to offer fewer ads for Twitter Blue subscribers in the future,” it also said in the FAQ section.

Advertising is a key source of revenue for the platform, which has been working to recapture the interest of companies that use it for advertising.

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Twitter recently launched several new content deals with several news outlets, sports publishers, and other media companies for 2023. In 2022 when Elon Musk bought the platform, several advertisers paused their ad campaigns, citing uncertainties.

When he initially purchased the platform, Elon Musk told advertisers that he wanted advertising to be as relevant as possible for Twitter’s users.

“I also very much believe that advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you; it can show you a service or product or medical treatment that you never knew existed but is right for you,” he said while emphasizing that low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are content.

That said, Elon Musk wants to make Twitter a valuable tool for both companies and their individual users. For the latter, he plans to implement more changes, including the frequency of ads on Twitter and its size. In a response to Allesandro Perilli, Elon Musk confirmed the plan was to make ads less intrusive while offering features that appeal to visual communities.

Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.

Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. You can also follow Teslarati on LinkedInTwitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

 

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Tesla races strange, compact Model Y on Fremont Test Track: affordable model?

Tesla was zipping around a strange, covered, compact Model Y at Fremont this week.

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tesla affordable model prototype on fremont factory test track
Credit: Met God in Wilderness | YouTube

Tesla was racing a compact, short, and stocky Model Y with front and rear end covers around its Fremont Factory’s test track today, potentially giving us a look at the upcoming affordable model.

On Thursday, Met God in the Wilderness on YouTube posted a flyover of the Fremont Factory, a weekly occurrence for the channel. This week’s video featured a smaller, more compact Model Y racing around the Test Track at Fremont, trailed by a Cybertruck:

While both bumpers are covered, it still seems to be a much more compact version of the Model Y. There is also the potential that this is the upcoming Model Y Performance, but it seems that this vehicle is smaller than the traditional Model Y. Tesla would not reduce its size this much for the Performance configuration.

With that, it seems more likely it is one of the affordable models.

Tesla still on track to release more affordable models in 1H25

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It also plays into the idea that Tesla is planning to launch vehicles very similar to the Model Y and Model 3. During the last Earnings Call, Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy stated that the affordable models the company planned to launch would be of the same form and factor as the Model Y, indicating potentially a stripped-down version of the all-electric crossover:

“I will say it’s important to emphasize that, as we’ve said all along, the full utilization of our factories is the primary goal for these new products. And so flexibility of what we can do within the form factor and, you know, the design of it is really limited to what we can do on our existing lines rather than building new ones.”

This was essentially a read-between-the-lines moment for investors as they took it as the affordable models would not be much different than the Model Y.

This vehicle seems to fit the bill of what Moravy described: it is eerily similar to the Model Y without the lengthened front and rear. While it is still tough to determine exactly what it is, it surely does look to be something that Tesla is keeping under wraps for the short term.

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Teslas will self-deliver to customers, Elon Musk says: here’s when

Teslas will soon drive themselves to customers, Elon Musk says

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has an extremely busy month for himself and his company in June if all goes according to plan.

Not only is Tesla planning to launch its Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas, next month, but Musk is also now indicating that Teslas will self-deliver to customers in June as well.

Musk has said for some time that Tesla vehicles would soon be capable of driving to customers without a driver within the car. Initially, it seemed like the company would do this in the areas close to its U.S. factories – the Greater Austin, Texas, area, and potentially in Northern California’s Bay Area of San Francisco, where the company’s Fremont Factory operates.

Upon confirmation that Tesla has been testing driverless Robotaxi rides in Austin for the past several days, Musk brought forth a new detail that fans of the company will love to hear: Teslas will soon drive themselves to customers, eliminating the need for trips to the showroom for delivery.

How soon? Musk says next month:

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There is no doubt that the bigger news within Musk’s X post is that it is on track for the launch of the Robotaxi platform. Tesla has been touting its prowess in self-driving for several years. As other companies have executed, Tesla has taken a more unorthodox approach by utilizing only cameras and being much more reserved with its rollout of driverless software.

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While Full Self-Driving is consistently ranked at the top of the current Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), it is not fully autonomous. That is set to change, and not only will it yield the results of what will hopefully be a successful Robotaxi fleet, but also a vehicle delivery process that makes buying a vehicle more convenient than it already is from Tesla, with no hassle, no dealership jargon, and no negotiating.

The launch of the Robotaxi platform is set for Austin on June 12, according to Bloomberg, where roughly 10 Model Y SUVs will make their way around the city initially. Tesla will expand as safety is proven, which is the utmost priority.

Musk also said later on X that people should be able to fly to Austin and hail a Robotaxi by the end of June.

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Tesla lands on date for Robotaxi launch in Austin: report

Tesla has reportedly landed on a tentative date to launch the Robotaxi platform in Austin.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has reportedly landed on a set date for its launch of the Robotaxi platform in Austin, Texas.

Bloomberg is reporting that Tesla has discussed June 12 internally, and there is still the potential for it to change.

The date comes after Tesla tested the driverless ride-sharing platform on public roads in Austin, and has been for several weeks. The report said that Tesla started doing it this week, and CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X by saying:

“For the past several days, Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars (no one in driver’s seat) on Austin public streets with no incidents.”

The report indicates a person was in the vehicle, but not in the driver’s seat. Instead, a Tesla engineer sat in the passenger seat of a Model Y, “which drove autonomously with no remote operation.”

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Tesla set for ‘golden age of autonomous’ as Robotaxi nears, ‘dark chapter’ ends: Wedbush

The testing has successfully gone on a month ahead of the company’s deadline of June 30.

Currently, Tesla’s plans for the initial rollout of the suite are extremely limited. There will only be ten vehicles at first, and the riders will be invited by the company. This is an effort that puts safety at the forefront of this trial period, and will expand as time goes on.

It could be sooner than expected, as Musk also said that anyone would likely be able to visit Austin and take a ride in the Robotaxi by the end of June.

The report and subsequent announcement come after many media outlets reported Tesla was not testing Robotaxi in any capacity. Some had even considered the project a total failure even before the June launch date, a typical tone most media take with the company.

Tesla Robotaxi deemed a total failure by media — even though it hasn’t been released

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Tesla has not been great at meeting its own timelines, but it has been adamant that it would reach this June deadline for several months.

Now that it appears Tesla is at an all-systems-go mentality for the Robotaxi launch, it will be interesting to see how quickly it can expand from its initial testing.

Shares are up just over 1.3 percent as of 10:30 a.m. on the East Coast. They are up 24 percent over the past 30 days, and down just 4.5 percent for the year so far.

The Robotaxi fleet will help to bolster Tesla’s position as a leader in autonomy, something it has already essentially achieved through its successful operation of the Supervised Full Self-Driving suite.

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