This morning Elon Musk announced on X that Tesla is releasing FSD v12.4.1 to employees today.
FSD v12.4 was released to employees on May 20th and was expected to go out to Tesla owners the following week. However, it looks like Tesla needed to fix some issues before rolling out the update publicly.
Improvements in FSD v12.4
FSD v12.4 is expected to be a vast improvement over the current version of 12.3.6. According to Musk, it's expected to include:
According to the release notes, there will also be an improved strike system in FSD v12.4. Tesla will start removing a strike for every week that you go without gaining any new strikes.
If you reach five strikes (or three with vehicles without a cabin camera), then you'll still be suspended for a week.
Improved Interventions
Musk previously said that FSD v12.4 will see a big decrease in interventions with Tesla’s estimates being a reduction of 5-10x. In his post today, he talked a little bit about FSD v12.5 and v12.6, saying that it’s getting to the point where interventions may be more than a year apart.
Musk also said that the improvements in v12.4.1 are so big that it should arguably be called v13. Although Musk is known for hyping FSD releases, the list of improvements above does indicate a massive release.
Who's Eligible to Receive FSD v12.4.1
There's a lot of confusion and frustration right now around Tesla branches.
Unfortunately, FSD v12.4 is update 2024.9.5, which means that only users on 2024.8.x and below would be eligible to receive this update. This is why if you're on update 2024.8.9 or 2024.3.25, you haven't been updated to the Spring Update (2024.14). Tesla wants to make sure you are eligible for FSD's latest release.
Since Tesla isn't updating FSD owners in the US and Canada to 2024.14, we expect FSD v12.4.1 to still be based on the 2024.9 branch. So unfortunately it appears that FSD users will have to wait a bit longer for Tesla's beautiful redesign in update 2024.14.
Updated Release Date
Musk also provided a new estimate for the release of FSD v12.4.1 to customers. He stated that if all goes well with the employee release today and during testing the update will start rolling out in a limited fashion to customers this coming weekend. This could mean that we just have to wait a few more days until a lucky few start receiving the latest FSD improvements.
For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.
Price Increase
The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.
The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series.
The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.
Free Lifetime Supercharging
For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.
There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.
We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.
Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.
Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.
Optimus is Blind
Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.
Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.
Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.
What’s Next?
Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.
Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.
There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.
We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.
![Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/optimus/optimus_fall.jpg/59ea0e3082db081e7473a1f0da1ed31c/optimus_fall.jpg)
![Tesla Updates Santa Mode & Rainbow Road to Use Ambient Lighting and Updates SteamOS [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/tesla-screen/ambient-lighting-santa-mode-rainbow.webp/bd6dd7459fc8963516a33efd3bd54466/ambient-lighting-santa-mode-rainbow.jpg)
![Tesla Builds Cybertruck Tunnel While Production Lines Pause [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/2024/cybertruck-tunnel.webp/822a2c10124f46fe13e0d45cefdd9d33/cybertruck-tunnel.jpg)
