Items tagged with Elon Musk
Artificial intelligence is all the rage these days, as it's being used in everything from our smartphones to our digital assistants to even the vehicles we drive (or rather, are driven for us). However, as AI becomes even more powerful, there are those that say that the technology should have limits on where it can be applied. Most often, those limits are envisioned for robots that would be placed on the battlefield and would have the ability to target and potentially kill without human oversight. A group of researchers and companies that has expertise in the...
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Tesla has been fighting the media over the past few months as it has struggled to reach production milestones with the Model 3 mainstream electric sedan. Along the way, it has battled bad press surrounding Autopilot failures, and CEO Elon Musk has even questioned the journalistic integrity of some publications in what he sees as an "conspiracy" against Tesla. Now, a new result from the Luxembourg Testing and standardization authority (ILNAS) has Tesla screaming bloody murder about biased testing procedures. The testing and standards body put a 2015 model year Model S, which...
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In an excited email to employees, Tesla founder and chief executive officer Elon Musk wrote, "We did it!!," making sure to add an extra exclamation point for emphasis. What Tesla did, according to Musk's email, is finally achieve the automaker's goal of producing 5,000 Model 3 electric vehicles in a single week, hitting the goal in the last week of the quarter. But that's not all. "Not only did we factory gate over 5000 Model 3’s, but we also achieved the S & X production target for a combined 7000 vehicle week!," Musk added. 7000 cars, 7 days ♥️ Tesla Team ♥️ — Elon...
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We haven't heard much about the Tesla Semi in recent months, but development of the revolutionary electric vehicle (EV) is still ongoing and new interest in the vehicle sparked this week in a tweet. Despite the "production hell" that Tesla is currently experiencing with the Model 3 -- along with accusations of internal sabotage -- Elon Musk has given an update via Twitter on one peculiar feature that is under development for Autopilot: a Mad Max mode. Fully autonomous vehicles tend to take a more cautious approach when it comes to lane changes, leaving a few car lengths in between vehicles...
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It's not quite the Skynet that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has warned us about, but researchers from the Musk-based OpenAI initiative have made a breakthrough in AI algorithms using Dota 2 as a testbed. OpenAI's achievement is remarkable due in part to its scope. Most AI versus human matches -- be it go or a computer game -- involves a single computer against a single human (as was the case with OpenAI’s victory last year). But OpenAI has managed to train its AI to master competing against humans on a five-player team. The team of five neural networks that was developed is collectively...
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Ever since the original Model S launched back in 2012, one of the bedrocks of Tesla's forward-looking mission was the inclusion of integrated (and free) in-car internet. This cellular internet connection powers everything from vehicle navigation enhancements, to music streaming, to over-the-air updates that continually provide new functionality to the Tesla EV family. However, it looks as though Tesla has grown tired of giving away its full-fledged internet service to customers and will begin making some changes starting July 1st. We should come right out and clarify that the new policy that takes...
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There has been a massive cloud of negativity swirling around Tesla over the past few months as it ramps up production of the Model 3 mainstream EV. Over the weekend, CEO Elon Musk revealed that a [now former] employee admitted to "extensive and damaging sabotage" to the company. Today, Tesla has filed formal action against the former employee, Martin Tripp, in a lawsuit. The lawsuit, which was filed in a Nevada district court, alleges that Tripp wrote software to hack into the Tesla's proprietary manufacturing operating system (MOS) at its Nevada Gigafactory facility....
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Tesla is going through a critical phase in its existence at the moment. You can count that quarters that the company has reported a profit in its decade of existence on one hand; it has come under attack for Autopilot crashes (including some that resulted in death); and recently, a spontaneously combusting Model S made headlines. We have to keep in mind that all of this is going on as Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would be laying off 9 percent of its workforce right in the middle of Model 3 "production hell". That sure is a lot of negative news for one company,...
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Tesla recently welcomed a number of new faces to its executive team. The latest crop of executives have been drawn from corporations such as Apple, Amazon, and Snap. The new hires are part of Tesla’s major company reorganization to ensure increased production of the critical Model 3. The company recently hired Stuart Bowers as the Vice President of Engineering. He will oversee a number of facets of Tesla’s software and hardware engineering. Bowers was the Vice President of Monetization of Snap, where he focused on machine learning and advertisement infrastructure. Bowers has also...
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is famous for sharing details of coming vehicles on Twitter, and he has been doing just that this weekend with some bean-spilling on the company's forthcoming dual motor AWD Model 3 EV. Musk said that Tesla is hard at work on the Model 3 dual motor all-wheel drive and performance versions of the vehicle. He claims that the car's "driving feel is amazing" and offered up some release info and configuration details. Musk did directly answer one poster who wanted more details on specifics of the front and rear motors, Musk wrote, "AC induction front & switched reluctance, partial...
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We've reported over the past week on the "production hell" that has engulfed the Tesla Model 3. Yesterday, it was reported that Tesla will shut down Model 3 production this week in order to prepare the assembly line for a big ramp in output. Now, an email that CEO Elon Musk sent out to employees gives some greater insight into what changes the company has in store and outlined a new, lofty production target for the Model 3. For starters, Model 3 production (before the shutdown) stood at around 2,000 units per week earlier this month. Now, Musk is saying that the company...
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It's getting a bit hard to decipher what's going on over at Tesla these days. Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that "production hell" is in full effect as it attempts to ramp Model 3production numbers. Musk blamed the slow buildup of production on "excess automation". He went on to add that the miscalculation on a proliferation of robots on the assembly line was his mistake and that "humans are underrated". Now we're learning that Model 3 production is once again going to come to complete stop (the last production halt occurred in late February). According to BuzzFeed News,...
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Sometimes, too much technology can be a hindrance to production goals, and Tesla recently found this out the hard way. Tesla, which is well known for its groundbreaking Model S hatchback and Model X crossover electric vehicles, attempted to go full-tilt with robots and automation to reach lofty production goals with its mainstream Model 3. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has now admitted that the company's over-reliance on automation is actually the reason why the Model 3 is behind schedule. Speaking with CBS' Gayle King, Musk admitted, "We had this crazy, complex network of conveyor belts......
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Tesla is well on its way to ramping up production of its entry-level Model 3 electric vehicle, but what many people are wondering is when the all-wheel drive (dual motor) variant will finally reach production. After all, AWD has been extremely popular with the Model S and is what helps give the flagship sedan a staggering amount of horsepower and the ability to rip off sub-3 second 0-60 times. A Model 3 reservation holder (who opted for the AWD configuration) inquired to Tesla CEO Elon Musk when production would begin ramping of the dual-motor vehicles. Musk responded that Tesla will need...
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