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☆ Tesla prioritizes Musk's and other 'VIP' drivers' data to train self-driving software
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Business Insider has learned that those annotators focus their efforts on two high-profile categories of drivers: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a select set of "VIP" drivers. These drivers are internally referred to as "VIP" users and their data is at times put in VIP queues, according to the workers. Related storiesData collected from VIP users, including high-profile Tesla drivers who post on YouTube, is scrutinized more heavily and more likely to be labeled, three current and former workers said. They said they'd been specifically told by leads on their teams that they were working on "VIP data" and had received overtime pay to work on the data ahead of FSD updates. Tesla's self-driving in the regulatory spotlightTesla has come under increasing scrutiny from regulators over the self-driving software and the company's marketing of the service.

Persons: —, Elon Musk, Musk's Teslas, YouTubers, Musk, Tesla, Tesla's, John Bernal, Bernal, else's, annotators, Walter Isaacson's, Tesla influencers, FSD, they'd, Raj Balwani, Chuck Cook, Tesla Raj, Balwani, I've, Cook, he'd, they're, Missy Cummings, Cummings, Philip Koopman, Koopman Organizations: Service, Business, Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, California Department of Transportation, YouTube, National, Traffic Safety Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, US Justice Department Locations: Hillsborough , California, Tesla's Austin, Fremont , California, Hawthorne , California, California, San Francisco, Buffalo , New York, Los Angeles, Hawthorne, YouTubers, Lombard

☆ Tesla executive who led Cybertruck manufacturing leaves carmaker
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewThe director who helped launch Tesla's latest project is leaving the company. Renjie Zhu, the director of manufacturing engineering at Tesla's Austin Gigafactory, announced he'd left the company on Sunday. The executive wrote on LinkedIn that "after triumphing the epic launch of Cybertruck program," his "adventure with this great company has come to an end." Related storiesIt's unclear whether Zhu was part of a recent series of layoffs at Tesla or resigned on his own. The executive and a spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: —, Renjie Zhu, Tesla's Austin Gigafactory, he'd, Zhu, Tesla's, Tesla, Elon Musk Organizations: Service, Tesla's, LinkedIn, Business, Tesla Locations: Shanghai

☆ Elon Musk is a homeowner again, despite his claims of couch surfing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Grace Kay | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

As recently as April 2022, the billionaire Tesla founder claimed in an interview that he was couch surfing and didn't "even own a place right now." In redacted court filings from December, Musk said he purchased the home in February 2022 and that he still lives there. In 2023, the Austin property was appraised at nearly $7 million, county tax records show. Less than a year later, in April 2022, Musk said again that he didn't own a home and rotated between friends' spare rooms. Eight weeks later, the LLC that purchased the Austin house was formed.

Persons: —, Elon, Tesla, Grimes, Musk, Stefan Cassella, I'd, he'd, they'd, I'm, Austin, Ken Howery, Walter Isaacson, Tesla's Austin Gigafactory Organizations: Service, Business, Texas, State, Department of Justice, SpaceX, Street Journal, PayPal, Austin, Montessori Locations: Austin, Texas, California, San Francisco, Colorado, Bastrop , Texas, Tesla's

☆ GM wants to scoop up interns impacted by Tesla's cuts, recruiter says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

General Motors is seeking to recruit students impacted by Tesla's recent internship rescindments. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. "In light of recent industry news, GM is extending an invite to software students who may have been impacted from the changes in Tesla's upcoming summer internship cohort," the recruiter wrote. Del Amo and a spokesperson for GM did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider ahead of publication. On Monday, Tesla workers entered their fourth week of layoff notices.

Persons: Motors, Tesla, —, Laura del Amo, who'd, Del, Elon Musk, It's, Kurt Kelty, JP Clausen, Austin Gigafactory Organizations: GM, Service, LinkedIn, Business, Tesla Locations: Detroit, Del Amo

☆ Tesla layoffs impacted nearly 12% of its Texas staff
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla has laid off 2,688 workers at its Austin factory, nearly 12% of the site's staff. The layoffs have also impacted workers at Tesla's other US and international locations. The Texas site employed about 22,777 people before the layoffs — meaning Tesla cut nearly 12% of its staff at the site. The broader layoffs appear to have affected workers across the country, as well as some staff at Tesla's international offices. Last week, a WARN notice revealed the cuts had impacted 280 workers at a Tesla facility in Buffalo, New York.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, —, Elon, Tesla's Austin Gigafactory Organizations: Service, Lone Star State, Worker, Business Locations: Austin, Texas, Tesla, Buffalo , New York, California, Nevada

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Tesla, Netflix, Adobe, Amazon, Eli Lilly, Procter & Gamble & more
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Here are Monday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Morgan Stanley reiterates Nvidia as overweight Morgan Stanley said the stock is a top idea after coming out of the company's recent TMT conference. " Morgan Stanley downgrades Hyatt to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the stock that risk/reward is more balanced. Morgan Stanley reiterates Eli Lilly as overweight Morgan Stanley said the next catalyst for Eli Lilly is the results from the company's sleep apnea trial. Morgan Stanley initiates Phinia as overweight Morgan Stanley initiated the auto components and supplier company and says it's a "key beneficiary of the EV reset." Morgan Stanley reiterates Meta as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by shares of Meta.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, underperform Jefferies, Jefferies, Tesla, Evercore, Tesla's, Tesla's Austin Gigafactory, Wolfe, XEL, Morgan Stanley downgrades Hyatt, JPMorgan, Stifel, Eli Lilly, Truist, Guggenheim, it's, PDD, Locker, Meta, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Organizations: Netflix, Jefferies, Wyndham, Underperform, Wyndham Hotels, Adobe, & Highland, JPMorgan, Energy, Hyatt, Petrobras, Procter, Gamble, Guggenheim, Nike, ICE, UBS, Apple, Meta, & & / Locations: Tesla's, Texas, bullish, China, Kazakhstan, America

☆ Disappointed Tesla fans took aim at the Cybertruck over its 'cringe' launch, with one even saying their 'dream got crushed' by its unexpected price hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Cybertruck will start at $60,990, tens of thousands more than what Tesla promised in 2019. It was the opposite, horrible launch event, disappointing range, almost abusive pricing considering what was promised," wrote one Tesla fan on Reddit . "For me, this potential purchase was always always about two things, setting aside the design: range & price. The company is offering a "range extender" which it says will bring the Cybertruck closer to its promised range. Prominent tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee also criticized the discrepancy between what Tesla promised in 2019 and what it is offering now.

Persons: Elon Musk, Austin Gigafactory, Tesla, —, Austin gigafactory, Musk, Cybertruck subreddit, Elon, I've, it's, YouTuber Marques Brownlee Organizations: Service, Business

☆ Tesla factory workers reportedly say they're getting in shouting matches — and sometimes even fights break out
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some workers from the Texas factory told The Information that verbal fights occur at the facility on a near-daily basis — and even some physical fights have taken place, they said. Some workers told the publication that employees were taking Adderall and sleeping at the factory in order to keep up with Elon Musk's deadlines. Musk has been known to run his companies with high intensity, sometimes calling for work sprints and even sleeping on the factory floor at Tesla. Ahead of the 2017 release of the Model 3, Musk famously pushed workers at Tesla's Fremont factory through "production hell." "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our employees," A Tesla representative told Insider in 2018.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Tesla's Austin gigafactory, Elon, Tesla, Travis, Musk, Austin gigafactory, we've Organizations: Service, Local, Police, Occupational Safety, Health Administration, Austin, San Antonio Express, Business, Reuters, SpaceX, Bloomberg Locations: Texas, Tesla's, Travis County ( Texas, Tesla

☆ Grimes chased Elon Musk across at least 12 different locations to serve him custody papers, including X headquarters and a horse farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Grace Kay | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Grimes said she served her former partner Elon Musk with custody papers last month. Elon Musk with custody papers last month. One of the process servers even went to a horse farm that had been tied to the billionaire. One process server even tracked Musk's private jets in order to confirm the best place to contact the billionaire, Grimes' court papers state. Two process servers also attempted to serve Musk at Shivon Zilis' house.

Persons: Grimes, Elon Musk, Musk, —, Claire Boucher, Tesla's Austin gigafactory, she'd, Christopher Melcher, Walzer Melcher, Melcher, Amy Sussman, WWD, Grimes should've, he's, Tell Elon, Zilis Organizations: Service, Musk, SpaceX, Penske Media, Getty Locations: Texas, San Francisco, Boca Chica , Texas, Austin, Boca Chica, California

“We’re trying to make robots that can operate in human spaces.”Do we even need humanoids? Seemingly farther along is Tesla's Austin, Texas-based neighbor Apptronik, which unveiled its Apollo humanoid in an August video demonstration. “That led to development of a new robot that was not really a humanoid, but had several characteristics of a humanoid,” he said via an emailed message. Walking is "not the hardest problem to solve in humanoid robotics," said Geordie Rose, co-founder and CEO of British Columbia, Canada-based startup Sanctuary AI. “Forever more, human- centric robots like that are going to be part of human life.

Persons: hasn’t, Jonathan Hurst, “ We’re, Hurst, There’s, Brett Adcock, Elon Musk, —, “, Marc Raibert, Raibert, ”, Geordie Rose, Rose, ” Rose, Tye Brady, Damion Shelton, ” Shelton, Haleluya Hadero Organizations: Agility Robotics, tote, Amazon, Agility, Boston Dynamics, carmaker Hyundai, Robotics Locations: Oregon, Sunnyvale , California, Austin , Texas, British Columbia, Canada, Seattle

☆ Elon Musk and his kids with Grimes have strong ties to California, singer argues to get his Texas child custody case tossed
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Jack Newsham | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, asked a Texas judge to throw out Elon Musk's custody case. The musical artist Grimes has asked a Texas judge to throw out Elon Musk 's child-custody lawsuit filed last month, saying the case belongs in California, not Austin. In Musk's lawsuit , he claimed they lived together in Texas as recently as July 2023. He splits his time between six companies — with his private jets sometimes making multiple trips between Texas and California within a week. The lawsuit isn't the first sign of conflict between Musk and Grimes.

Persons: Claire Boucher, Grimes, Elon, —, Elon Musk, Tesla, Musk didn't, didn't, Chrisopher Melcher, Walzer Melcher, Melcher, Musk, Musk's, Walter Isaacson, Tesla's Austin gigafactory, Shivon Zilis Organizations: Service, SpaceX, Montessori, Twitter Locations: Texas, California, Austin, Los Angeles, Tesla's, San Francisco, Hawthorne , California, Boca Chica , Texas

☆ Elon Musk wanted to build a house that looked like it 'fell out of space,' new book reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk bought a horse farm in Texas near Tesla's Gigafactory, author Walter Isaacson wrote. The biographer said Musk envisioned a house that looked like "something fell out of space." The Wall Street Journal has reported Musk was building a glass house, but he has denied the reports. "He needs a place where his sole resides and that's what the horse farm will be for him." At the time, Musk denied living in the modular house, saying that he lives in a different small house in Texas.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla's Gigafactory, Walter Isaacson, Musk, Elon, —, Austin Gigafactory, Isaacson, Norman Foster, Steve Jobs, Foster, Foster didn't, Isaacson —, Tesla, Foc Kan, Omead Afshar, Afshar, Grimes, Robyn Beck, Zilis hasn't, Weeks, he'd Organizations: Elon, Service, Tesla, The Boring Company, Wall Street, Bloomberg, Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Getty, LinkedIn, SpaceX Locations: Texas, Tesla's, Wall, Silicon, Colorado, Austin, California, Mars

[1/6] Tundra trucks and Sequoia SUV's exit the assembly line as finished products at Toyota's truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. April 17, 2023. TOYOTA'S PAST SUCCESSWashington's push to accelerate the shift to battery-electric vehicles amplifies the threat posed by Tesla to Toyota's position as the world's largest automaker. Toyota San Antonio has weathered a series of challenges since it built its first truck in 2006. The future for factories like Toyota San Antonio will play out across the next several years. Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in San Antonio, Texas, Joseph White in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington Written by Joseph White Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The $25,000 electric vehicle is coming, with big implications for the auto market and car buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

And as the Biden administration pushes changes that seek to aggressively remake the car market in favor of EVs more quickly than previously anticipated. Tesla's lowest-priced model today is the Model 3 base MSRP of $41,990. There are also more financing options available in the auto loan market designed specifically for environmentally friendly cars. "There's nothing wrong with having a basic car as a first car. Tesla said its overall efforts have driven the cost of drive units, which include the car's electric motor, as low as $1,000.

Most carmakers said their battery packs are repairable, though few seem willing to share access to battery data. Lauterwasser said access to EV battery data is part of that fight. EV battery problems also expose a hole in the green "circular economy" touted by carmakers. Hill estimated at least 95% of the cells in the hundreds of EV battery packs - and thousands of hybrid battery packs - Synetiq has stored at Doncaster are undamaged and should be reused. 'PAIN POINTS'The British government is funding research into EV insurance "pain points" led by Thatcham, Synetiq and insurer LV=.

☆ Top auto analyst Jonas stays bullish Tesla, says investor day showed competition can't keep up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas remains bullish on Tesla even as shares drop following the electric vehicle maker's latest investor day. Tesla shares dropped more than 5% in Thursday premarket trading after the electric car maker's investor day, which was long on vision but short on specifics on any new Tesla products. Regardless, Jonas reiterated an overweight rating on Tesla, saying the Elon Musk-led company will fend off competitors as a pricing war heats up in the electric vehicle sector. He said the vertical integration in Tesla's Austin facility allows Tesla to "iterate far faster and with less waste" than its peers. Tesla shares surged 64% in 2023, after falling 65% last year.

Tesla did not respond to written requests for comment from Reuters sent to its Shanghai and global media relations accounts. Under Zhu, Tesla Shanghai rebounded strongly from lockdowns this year to bring Tesla close to its growth target for 2022 of 50% production growth. Among the projects the Shanghai team have worked on is Tesla's long-delayed Cybertruck, its next new model, a third person said. However, Zhu's colleagues in Shanghai believe he is in line for a more senior and wider-ranging role at Tesla, the two people said. The plant has excelled in applying cost-saving, factory-floor innovations for Tesla, including the use of massive casting machines to simplify production.

☆ Elon Musk's righthand man at Tesla has reportedly joined SpaceX after the electric-car maker launched an investigation into the top lieutenant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has brought in Omead Afshar to help lead Starship production, Bloomberg reported. In July, Tesla was reportedly investigating Musk's righthand man after he authorized the purchase of construction materials that the system flagged as items that could be for Elon Musk's personal use. At the time, Tesla had already terminated several employees as a result of the investigation and Bloomberg reported Afshar was likely to leave the company next. Though, David Searle — the legal chief that was reportedly investigating Afshar — left the company in August, Bloomberg reported. Do you work at Tesla, SpaceX, or have insight to share?

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