“Humanity still doesn’t know how to ask the right questions…” – Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
■ TESLA ($446.74, +4.08%):
– Here are the four Optimus videos by Ric Burton (@_ricburton) at NeurIPS 2025 in Vancouver, yesterday.
Plus, Tesla’s Patrick Cho (@patrick_cho_1), Vision Team Engineering Manager, with attendees “driving around in our synthetic world,” a neural sim environment!
– Giga Shanghai posted that they do not have dedicated storage space for parts and retrieve parts directly from containers and load them onto the production line. “We achieve exceptional efficiency from supply chain to production line. The localization rate of parts at Giga Shanghai exceeds 95%, and on average, a complete vehicle rolls off the production line every 30 seconds.”
– The Electric Vehicle Council conducted month-long road tests of FSD capability in Brisbane and Melbourne using a Model Y as part of an Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)-funded strata-charging project in partnership with NOX Energy. The vehicle successfully completed site assessments for multi-unit residential charging infrastructure while demonstrating strong performance as a corporate fleet option, offering comfort, safety, and versatility across urban environments with capacity for the entire team. The Council highlighted Tesla’s rollout of FSD in Australia as a significant step forward for clean, connected, and autonomous transport.
– Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer) reported that construction at Cortex 2 in Giga Texas has progressed to installing chiller plant piers, platforms, and conduit. A suspected water tank enclosure may be on the east side. And Robotic Avenue is being extended. Follow/subscribe to Joe and support his work!
– Robotaxi validation testing spotted on Interstate 95 North, just south of Portland, Maine. Pic by reddit u/GRADIUSIC_CYBER.
– Andrea Stroppa (@andst7) reported that Tesla hosted Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Mobility Assessor Eugenio Patanè for a demonstration of FSD in Rome. This marked the first time an Italian mayor personally tested the system. The drive navigated typical Roman traffic challenges including complex intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings, and mixed traffic with cars, bicycles, and scooters. Assessor Patanè stated Rome’s administration is open to pragmatically evaluating innovations that enhance road safety and mobility quality while respecting existing rules and driver responsibility.
– Tesla Thailand is at the Motor Expo 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand, at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, Challenger Hall 2, Booth B09 until December 10th 25. The display highlights Optimus, Supercharger Network, and explains why the Model Y and 3 remain the world’s best-selling EVs.
– Tesla Semi spotted in Fresno, California, by reddit u/sunnydance8888.
FLYOVERS:
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Giga Texas: Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer), 2nd of December, ‘25.
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Giga Texas & Taylor Logistics Railyard: Airwave Dynamics (@AirwaveDynamics), 1st of December, ‘25.
■ SPACEX:
– Yesterday evening, gorgeous launch 160 of Falcon 9 Starlink 6-95 took place from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. B1077 This was the 25th flight for first stage booster B1077. It previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-52, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, TD7, and 17 Starlink missions. The booster landed on a drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. 29 Starlinks were deployed.
Video of Starlink 6-95’s second stage by Rough Riders Show (@RoughRidersShow).
– What remains of Super Heavy Booster 18 at Massey’s as of yesterday. Pic by Carlos (@cnunezimages). Follow/subscribe to Carlos and support his work!
– Raptor 3 Validation testing performing a Starship V3 ascent burn. The test focused on the engine’s performance under conditions experienced by Starship’s three central inner engines during the initial ascent phase to space. Multiple iterations of this test will replicate varying environmental factors, such as thrust levels, thermal loads, and pressure profiles encountered by these engines, which operate continuously from liftoff through main engine cutoff.
– Odd removal of the left chopstick actuator at Pad 2.
Starbase City Commission Meeting (Located at The Hub, 39046 LBJ Blvd, Unit 2, Brownsville, TX 78521):
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City Commission Regular Meeting, January 8, 2026 7:00 PM
Countdown to 180 (155 – Falcon 9, 0 – Falcon Heavy, and 5 – Starship):
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Launch 160! Tuesday, 2nd of December, at 3:16 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 6-95 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
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Launch 161! Thursday, 4th of December, at 10:12 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-25 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
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Launch 162! Sunday, 7th of December, at 8:13 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 11-15 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
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Launch 163! Sunday, 7th of December, at 4:40 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 Starlink 6-92 will launch from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
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Launch 164! Tuesday, 9th of December, at 2:16 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 NROL-77 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The booster will return to launch site (RTLS) and land at Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is a classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office.
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Launch 165! Wednesday, 10th of December, at 12:54 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 Starlink 15-11 will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The booster will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
■ THE BORING COMPANY: N/A… boring.
■ NEURALINK:
– DJ Seo (@djseo), Neuralink’s Co-Founder, President, and COO, delivered a presentation at multiple schools outlining the company’s history since 2016, including early Tesla integrations and brain-machine interface advancements. He details the next-generation surgical robot’s upgrades; covers robot components like insertion arms, cameras, and grippers; and enhanced neural signal recording with reduced noise and improved bandwidth. Highlights include:
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Over 10,000 people are on the PRIME Study wait list.
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New HQ is being built in Austin. Not sure if this is the location at 2200 Caldwell Lane in Del Valle.
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The next-gen surgical robot will insert threads into the brain in 1.5 seconds, achieving compatibility with 99% of the global human population.
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The needle will extend to depths exceeding 50mm from the brain’s surface, enabling access to additional areas.
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The needle cartridge production costs 95% less than the prior version.
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Electrode arrays have 1,024 channels at 10-micron sites.
Per DJ, “We’ve made great progress so far and are working hard to end the year with 20 participants. But this is just the beginning. We still have a long way to go…”
■ STARLINK:
– SpaceX will launch Starlink in South Korea starting tomorrow, December 4th, with a residential plan providing unlimited data for 87,000 KRW/mo. ($59/mo.) and kit costs of 550,000 KRW ($375). This will include a 30-day free trial for new subscribers. Sales occur through resellers SK Telink and KT Sat.
– The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has invited public and stakeholder feedback on Starlink’s telecommunications and spectrum license applications, with submissions due by December 12th. CRAN Executive for Communication and Consumer Relations Mufaro Nesongano explained that the review process evaluates the application under Section 39 of the Communications Act, covering ministerial-approved ownership, technical and financial capabilities, service neutrality, standards compliance, and national security.
– The Emirates’ new Starlink-powered 777-300ER (A6-EPF) at the Dubai Airshow. The onboard connection delivered fast, stable, and responsive performance with consistent coverage enabled by six new access points throughout the cabin.
– Data Lake Inc. collaborated with Melco Resorts Foundation and the Philippines Department of Education to deliver Starlink High-Performance kits, gigabit routers, Omada access points, and structured cabling to 100 remote public schools across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The project enables virtual classes, access to DepEd resources, online meetings, and digital assessments. This has positioned schools as community digital hubs for parent communication, LGU coordination, and disaster response.
■ 𝕏:
– According to X Head of Products, Nikita Bier (@nikitabier), the About This Account feature has been used over 360 million times since its launch, “one of the highest DAU of any new feature we’ve launched this year (only behind the new link experience).”
– X Chat integration with Grok will soon enable users to query Grok directly about specific messages within chats for contextual analysis or summaries. Additionally, a missed call notification button will appear in X Chat, allowing one-tap callbacks to streamline voice communication without exiting the interface. H/T Iorel (@Iorel_X).
■ xAI:
– Grok 4.1 Fast ranking (H/T @teslaownersSV):
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No.1 on $tau^2$-Bench Telecom
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No.1 on Berkeley Function Calling Benchmark
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No.1 in Programming Usecase
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No.2 on OpenRouter Overall Leaderboard
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No.2 in LegalBench
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No.2 in HealthBench
– Grok Code Fast 1 ranking:
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No.1 in Token Usage across all models.
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No.1 in Market Share on OpenRouter (37.8%)
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No.1 on Kilo Code Leaderboard
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No.1 on Cline Leaderboard
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No.1 on Roo Code Leaderboard
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No.1 on BLACKBOXAI Leaderboard
– Anthropic’s AI tool is citing Grokipedia instead of Wikipedia. Australian data scientist Jeremy Howard observed this via Anthropic’s search API and questioned if an agreement existed between Anthropic and xAI. Elon replied, “Grokipedia.com is open source and free to be used by anyone with no royalty or even acknowledgement required. We just ask that any mistakes be corrected, so that it becomes more objectively accurate over time.”
– xAI is developing a permission-based conversation sharing feature on Grok web. Shared browser links will trigger an access request; the owner receives an email with an approval button. The feature can be toggled in settings. H/T @blankspeaker.
– Grok 4.1 Fast Reasoning achieved a top score of 82.71% on the Tau2-Bench-Verified benchmark, surpassing all other frontier models in agentic tasks across airline, retail, and telecom domains. The benchmark evaluates policy-compliant tool-augmented reasoning in simulated customer-service scenarios using a human-verified dataset that corrects original inconsistencies in task definitions, actions, and evaluations. H/T Alejandro Cuadron (@Alex_Cuadron).
– xAI is hiring for AI Legal and Compliance Tutors to train Grok on legal topics with a hourly range of $45/hr – $75/hr. The role involves annotating data for regulatory compliance, contracts, legal research, and disputes; labeling complex legal texts; collaborating with engineers on annotation tools; and tracking legal developments.
■ ELON NEWS: N/A…
Thanks for reading! As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or would like point out an error in the reporting, please do so in the comments.
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■ SOURCES:
SpaceX:
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Starlink Mission 6-95
Starlink:
Elon News:
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Elon Quote: From the Nikhil Kamath interview