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White House wants Twitter to explain how it's protecting Americans' data White House wants Twitter to explain how it's protecting Americans' data

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White House wants Twitter to explain how it’s protecting Americans’ data

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The White House called on Twitter to explain how it is protecting “the safety of Americans’ online data,” Oliver Darcy, a reporter for CNN, tweeted. He noted that a White House official told him, “Twitter should speak to how they are ensuring that happens.”

Twitter’s former safety head, Yoel Roth, noted in a recent op-ed in the New York Times that Twitter was safer under Elon Musk than it was before. He wrote, “Before my departure, I shared data about Twitter’s enforcement of hateful conduct, showing that by some measures, Twitter was actually safer under Mr. Musk than it was before.”

He added that Elon Musk empowered his team to “move more aggressively to remove hate speech across the platform,” which led to the censoring of more content. Although it hasn’t been a month since Elon Musk took ownership of the social media platform, he’s made many changes and some have made some of his political enemies uncomfortable. Seven Democratic Senators are pressuring the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Elon Musk and Twitter.

“We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breaches or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate. As you recently noted in Senate testimony, “no CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees,” the letter stated.

Although the White House denied reports of an investigation into Elon Musk by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), President Biden said that the Chief Twit’s relationships with other nations were “worthy of being looked at.”

CFIUS chair and U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, said that there wasn’t any basis for an investigation. She said there’s “no basis,” to the best of her knowledge, “to examine his finances of his company.” She added that she wasn’t aware of any concerns that would trigger such an investigation.

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In 2020, several hackers hijacked verified Twitter accounts and tweeted out crypto scams. Twitter has had several problems with crypto scammers–especially with verified accounts being hacked and pushing these scams. After Elon Musk took over Twitter, the number of verified crypto scammers or hacked verified accounts pushing crypto scams seems to have gone down drastically. Despite that, there are still non-verified accounts pushing various crypto scams.

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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Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge writer covering Tesla, Elon Musk, EVs, and clean energy & supports Tesla's mission. Johnna also interviewed Elon Musk and you can listen here

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Elon Musk hints at Tesla Cybercab’s next market

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(Credit: Teslarati)

After launching in Austin, Texas, last week, Tesla is looking to expand the Cybercab to new parts of the United States in an effort that will see the driverless, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less vehicle chauffeur people around as part of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service.

However, the expansion will go far beyond the United States, and CEO Elon Musk revealed he hopes Europe will be the next market where Cybercab will be operational.

Musk has publicly expressed hope that Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi will reach Europe in the near future.

On September 8, Tesla’s Chief Executive quoted a German rider who had just completed a trip in Austin, Texas, and wrote that he hoped the vehicle would not take years to arrive in Germany. Musk replied with a short but notable message: “Hopefully soon in Europe too.”

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The comment arrived only days after Tesla opened Cybercab ride-hailing to the public in Austin. The two-seat vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and relies entirely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. Early passengers have described the rides as quiet, smooth, and more stylish than competing robotaxis such as Waymo.

Austin is currently the only city where members of the public can hail a Cybercab through Tesla’s Robotaxi app. The initial fleet is small; Texas registration records show only a few dozen of the purpose-built vehicles on the road.

Tesla set to open Cybercab rides to the public, with no steering wheel or pedals

Tesla has also been operating a larger number of conventional Model Y robotaxis in the same area, but the Cybercab itself represents the company’s first dedicated, controls-free taxi design.

Europe presents a different regulatory picture. The European Union does not permit manufacturers to self-certify vehicles the way Tesla did in the United States.

Type-approval rules and a small-series limit of 1,500 automated vehicles per type per year apply across the bloc.

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Supervised Full Self-Driving has gained provisional approval in several member states through national recognition of Dutch certification, yet unsupervised robotaxi operation remains a separate and more distant step. Tesla has not announced a European launch city, date, or approval pathway for the Cybercab.

Musk himself has previously cautioned that the company does not control European regulators. In an earnings call earlier in 2026, he noted that even supervised FSD took an “immense amount of time” to clear and that unsupervised service would be “somewhat at the mercy of the governments in Europe and the EU.”

The latest social-media remark therefore functions more as an expression of intent than a timetable.

If the Cybercab eventually reaches European streets, it would mark a significant expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions beyond the United States. For now, the vehicle remains an Austin-only experience, and the gap between Musk’s hope and actual deployment will be decided by regulators rather than by engineering alone.

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Tesla Cybercab improvements are already on the minds of company engineers

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East | X

Tesla Cybercab might have just rolled out to the public as it entered the company’s Robotaxi suite in Austin this past week. However, the vehicle might already be on its way to becoming even better, as the company is asking riders to describe what they’d like to see improved with the Cybercab.

Tesla sent a rider experience survey to Cybercab passengers only days after paid rides began in Austin. The questionnaire asks how satisfied riders were with the overall trip. Then it requests star ratings for availability and wait time, door functionality, vehicle touchscreen, mobile app experience, seat comfort, interior space, ride comfort, cleanliness, and cargo space.

A later section asks which features riders would most like to have and allows selection of up to three items from a list that includes heated seats, ventilated seats, fully reclining seats, a tray table, a wireless phone charger, a better sound system, and more storage. Respondents may also choose none of these or write in another idea. The survey closes with a recommendation score from zero to ten.

This rapid request for input illustrates Tesla’s habit of treating early users as collaborators rather than mere customers. The company has long refined vehicles through software updates and hardware changes informed by real-world use across its passenger cars.

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Collecting structured opinions so soon after commercial service started shows the same mindset applied to a purpose-built autonomous taxi. The questions themselves reveal an openness to cabin changes even after the first vehicles reached public streets, which is no surprise.

Tesla has always hoped to cater a great experience to anyone in its vehicles, which is why so many fan-requested features have made it into its vehicles.

Replies already circulating online favor reclining seats, tray tables, wireless charging, improved audio, and extra room when seats fold back.

Tesla Cybercabs narrowly miss deadly Amazon cargo plane crash

Those preferences point toward comfort upgrades that Tesla can implement in later production batches or through cabin revisions. Because the Cybercab is designed around software first principles, many requested amenities can arrive faster than in traditional automakers.

Tesla’s willingness to survey riders immediately after launch therefore makes near-term cabin and experience improvements likely as the team reviews responses and iterates toward a more refined robotaxi people will choose daily.

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Tesla Cybertruck engineer reveals new changes in ‘constantly evolving’ pickup

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | YouTube

Tesla Cybertruck Lead Engineer Wes Morrill revealed the company has made several changes to the all-electric pickup, which he calls a “living thing, constantly evolving and improving.”

Cybertruck is manufactured at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas just outside of Austin, and over the past few years, Tesla has continued to make small changes to the pickup to improve everything from cost, reliability, serviceablility, and manufacturability.

“The finish line isn’t getting to production. A product is a living thing, constantly evolving and improving,” Morrill added.

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Tesla Cybertruck AWD is a steal at $60k, is it still at $75k? Full Review

Some of those changes are yet to be revealed, but perhaps the most notable one was the change Tesla made to the aero shield that sits underneath the truck. In the past, it was aluminum, but now the Cybertruck is using a self-reinforcing polypropylene.

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Morrill said that the polypropylene is “stretched into fibers and then laminated into the form,” and is much more durable, much lighter, and significantly cheaper than aluminum when it is manufactured this way.

It also enabled some improvements in the geometry of the Cybertruck, improving the manufacturing around the bolts and edges, in addition to minor form changes. These all benefitted the Cybertruck in more ways than one: specifically with durability and improved drag.

Typically, Teslas are not necessarily identified by model year because these changes are fluid and occur when the company sees fit to implement them. It is not like other automotive companies, which usually make sweeping manufacturing changes when building a new model year.

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Instead, Teslas are recognized by their “generation” or “era.” For example, those with a newer Model Y might refer to their car as a “Juniper.” This is the same with Model 3, as many refer to the new body style as the “Highland.”

Tesla’s manufacturing changes are proof of the company’s constant need to improve its products and move things forward with its vehicles. There is no need to drag one’s feet and wait until next year if the product can be made better right now, and that’s precisely what Tesla did with the Cybertruck.

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