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Volkswagen boss Diess tells execs third-party software fix isn’t an option
Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess is adamant that the German car company must develop its electric vehicle software in-house. In a recent meeting with executives, Diess outlined Volkswagen’s core needs in the topic of software, indicating that it must be developed in-house and that sourcing effective and dependable software from a notable tech company simply isn’t an option if the company wants to remain independent.
“If we want to retain our independence,” Diess told his top managers in a recent meeting, “we have to be able to develop the software in the car ourselves. This is the only way for us to guarantee long-term success.”
Volkswagen’s EV project, which has been catalyzed by the introduction of the ID. family of vehicles has been a thorn in the side of the world’s leading car company since its introduction. While Volkswagen has made electric models before, they have not been on the company’s new MEB (Modular electric drive matrix) platform designed for electric cars. The platform requires a robustly accurate and scalable software program, something that Volkswagen has encountered several problems with early on in its electric offensive.
But the roadblocks and bottlenecks in Volkswagen’s software are not issues that Diess is willing to have someone else fix. He expects his competent software engineers and other team members to figure out the shortcomings on their own in an attempt to remain free of dependence on another company, whether it would be a tech company like Apple or a fellow electric automaker like Tesla. “We must not hand over data sovereignty, the customer interface, and ultimately the “brain” of the car to the big tech players.”
The software essentially acts as the brain of the car. To give owners a more pleasurable ownership experience, the software needs to be free of any discrepancies. The issues can cause things as small as voice recognition to go awry or things as large as software updates to be uninstallable, making a vehicle outdated and, in some cases, unusable. Volkswagen has had its fair share of issues with the MEB platform, but it claims that many of the difficulties it has encountered are solved. Additionally, it has promised owners that software updates will be ready to be downloaded to cars regularly beginning Summer 2021.
Volkswagen's software issues with the ID.3 are worse than reported: 'It is an absolute disaster'
With automakers big and small fighting to keep pace with Tesla, Diess understands the urgency of the project at hand. “This is by far the most important project for this Group in the next five, probably ten years,” he said, according to Business Insider. Automakers are being forced to adapt or be left behind as Tesla extends its lead in the sector, especially in software. While other car companies like Ford are releasing highly-competitive vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E, which has proven to be a notable adversary to the Tesla Model Y, the sector is only becoming more concentrated on what seems like a daily basis. With new companies coming around, focusing purely on electric powertrains, legacy automakers have almost dragged their feet through the proverbial mud, only delaying the inevitable: they will fall behind if they do not focus on electrification.
Volkswagen is arguably the most invested legacy automaker in the EV transition. Diess has been extremely vocal regarding VW’s transition to electric cars, recognizing that the market will only become more competitive, more robust, and more concentrated. A lead now could extend into several decades and make Volkswagen more desirable than other car companies who will confront these same issues in a few years.
For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
Tesla revealed a major new Cybercab detail in a guide it released for First Responders, showing new territory in its beliefs and intentions for the ride-hailing-focused vehicle that entered production in April.
The First Responders Guide is released to give fire departments, paramedics, and other emergency personnel the proper guidance on what to do in the event of an accident, entrapment, or other situation that would require immediate attention.
On one of the pages of the First Responders Guide, Tesla revealed a stark detail about the Cybercab, which could help personnel enter the vehicle more easily in case of an emergency.
Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD
It shows Tesla has no intention of releasing any Cybercab units that were initially proposed for ride-hailing services for the general public with any manual controls, meaning a steering wheel or pedals:
“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or acceleration and brake pedals.”
New official Cybercab documentation from Tesla:
“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or… https://t.co/P6ut1mZyzr pic.twitter.com/yq6skl9s2J
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 27, 2026
This is a major development for those who continue to believe Tesla planned to release the Cybercab with any sort of manual controls so that passengers could take over if needed. However, when Tesla started manufacturing production versions of the Cybercab in Giga Texas earlier this year, they were spotted without a steering wheel or pedals.
It essentially confirms the company has no intentions of bringing manual controls to the car’s production versions. Some have argued that the likelihood of Tesla having something
There still are some Cybercab units out there with a steering wheel and pedals, and as Tesla said, these cars are engineering or test vehicles, which have Safety Monitors on board to help the car out of a precarious situation or emergency.
Tesla released the Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite to owners of Hardware 3 or AI3 vehicles today, adding several new features to the vehicles that were once believed to be capable of unsupervised self-driving.
Now, Tesla has released this modified suite to older Tesla vehicles, adding plenty of new features and capabilities.
Here are the full release notes for the suite:
- Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3. This allows HW3 to directly learn how to handle scenarios using HW4 V14 as a guide. This process unlocks the improvements that have been made to HW4 including Reinforcement Learning (RL) and offline models for HW3.
- Improved both proactive and reactive responsiveness across a wide variety of categories including navigation handling, merges and forks, pedestrian interactions, traffic lights, and vehicle cut-in scenarios.
- Improved general comfort in nominal scenarios through fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering and more consistent lane centering.
- Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities.
- Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, or at the Curbside.
- Speed Profiles are now available at all times, to further customize driving style preference.
These improvements, according to Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, help distill the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of AI3.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released
He added:
“It includes destination options and speed profiles on city roads, but more importantly significantly improved safety. We hope you’ll enjoy it, once the build ships wide.”
FSD v14 Lite is now rolling out to AI3 early-access customers. Based on the feedback, will rollout to more customers over the next few weeks.
This build distills the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute config of AI3. It includes destination…
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 29, 2026
Tesla will continue to roll out the v14 Lite suite more widely in the coming weeks, the company said.
Tesla Phone? Not quite, but close: analyst
Tesla reveals huge Cybercab detail in new guide for First Responders
