XAI recently launched Grok 3, the latest version of their AI model. Shortly after releasing Grok 3, xAI introduced their AI-powered voice assistant. This new voice assistant gives us a glimpse into Tesla’s upcoming smart assistant, which will also be powered by Grok.
What the Grok?
Grok, described by Elon during the Grok 3 unveiling as xAI’s “Maximally truth-seeking AI,” is designed to help answer some of humanity’s biggest questions—such as: Where are the aliens? What is the meaning of life? How does the universe end? But it’s so much more than that. It can also be used to answer your everyday questions, such as ‘What time is sunset today?’ and ‘What is Tesla’s stock price?’ (try not to look).
The name “Grok” comes from Robert Heinlein’s iconic science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. In the book, Grok is a term used by Martians to describe the deep, profound understanding of something. This mirrors xAI’s goal with Grok—to develop an AI that grasps and comprehends in ways that were previously unimaginable.
What sets Grok apart is its lack of a “cut-off date,” meaning the model doesn’t rely on precaptured information. This enables Grok to actively source and summarize real-time data from the internet, including recent news stories, making it a powerful tool for tapping into recent events.
Why Use Grok?
Grok has already shown its impressive capabilities in just the past few days. For example, while I was stopped at a Supercharger, I shared my location, told it how long I’d be charging, and asked for the nearest, best-rated coffee shop with the shortest line at this time of day.
Grok quickly pulled up a list of local coffee shops and made suggestions based on ratings, proximity, and even average wait times. It used this data to formulate the most efficient recommendation. Below is a screenshot of the entire interaction:
To the Timmies!
Not a Tesla App
Supported Vehicles
Grok is set to replace Tesla’s current voice commands in the near future, a change that Elon has confirmed multiple times, including just recently. This is incredibly exciting news, as it will unlock a bunch of new capabilities for your current vehicle. MCU 2 and MCU 3 vehicles are expected to be able to take advantage of Grok since all the heavy lifting is completed server-side and not in the vehicle.
Much like the quick interaction I had with Grok on the web to gather information, Grok will be able to fetch data, make recommendations, and adjust settings on the fly in your vehicle. The best part is that it’ll continue to get better and better, even without software updates, since it’s completely server-based.
Grok Voice
Grok has its own voice, and upon integration into Tesla vehicles, it’s expected that you’ll actually get an audible response when asking a question, which should make keeping your eyes on the road easier. The voice mode is expected to be very similar to what’s available in the Grok app today. An example of that is shown in the video below.
Cost of Tesla Grok?
Currently, access to Grok on X requires a Premium Account, with Grok 3 access being limited to Premium+ subscribers at a steep $40 USD/month. A standalone plan for Grok that doesn’t include an X subscription is expected to be available in the future for about $30/month — still a steep price.
The big question is, how much will Grok cost in your Tesla? We expect basic vehicle commands to remain free, similar to the current setup; however, users will benefit from vehicle commands being powered by Grok, which will improve voice recognition and the ability to say commands in a more natural way.
The biggest advantage to having Grok in the vehicle will be to ask general knowledge questions and have back-and-forth conversations about any topic. We expect this to come at a premium price. It may require a subscription to Grok, or more likely, it’ll require Tesla’s Premium Connectivity package or potentially even a new Tesla Premium+ Connectivity subscription.
Rivian supports hotspot connectivity with their Connect+ connectivity package, so it’s possible Tesla may introduce a new tier with hotspot connectivity and Grok support.
Release Date
Alright, so you’re excited about Grok, and so am I. But when can we expect it in our Teslas? The answer seems to be “soon.” Elon has consistently mentioned Grok support for Tesla with the word “soon,” but if you know Elon’s timelines, that could range from tomorrow to 2030.
That said, with xAI showcasing voice mode already and a clear push for more real-world data to improve the model, we’re optimistic that it could be sooner rather than later. We’ve already seen some promising voice-related updates recently—so, fingers crossed, we could see Grok integration as early as the 2025 Spring Update.
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With Tesla’s first major expansion of the Robotaxi Geofence now complete and operational, they’ve been hard at work with validation in new locations - and some are quite the drive from the current Austin Geofence.
Validation fleet vehicles have been spotted operating in a wider perimeter around the city, from rural roads in the west end to the more complex area closer to the airport. Tesla mentioned during their earnings call that the Robotaxi has already completed 7,000 miles in Austin, and it will expand its area of operation to roughly 10 times what it is now. This lines up with the validation vehicles we’ve been tracking around Austin.
Based on the spread of the new sightings, the potential next geofence could cover a staggering 450 square miles - a tenfold increase from the current service area of roughly 42 square miles. You can check this out in our map below with the sightings we’re tracking.
If Tesla decides to expand into these new areas, it would represent a tenfold increase over their current geofence, matching Tesla’s statement. The new area would cover approximately 10% of the 4,500-square-mile Austin metropolitan area. If Tesla can offer Robotaxi services in that entire area, it would prove they can tackle just about any city in the United States.
From Urban Core to Rural Roads
The locations of the validation vehicles show a clear intent to move beyond the initial urban and suburban core and prepare the Robotaxi service for a much wider range of uses.
In the west, validation fleet vehicles have been spotted as far as Marble Falls - a much more rural environment that features different road types, higher speed limits, and potentially different challenges.
In the south, Tesla has been expanding towards Kyle, which is part of the growing Austin-San Antonio suburban corridor spanning Highway 35. San Antonio is only 80 miles (roughly a 90-minute drive) away, and could easily become part of the existing Robotaxi area if Tesla obtains regulatory approval there.
In the East, we haven’t spotted any new validation vehicles. This is likely because Tesla’s validation vehicles originate from Giga Texas, which is located East of Austin. We won’t really know if Tesla is expanding in this direction until they start pushing past Giga Texas and toward Houston.
Finally, there have been some validation vehicles spotted just North of the new expanded boundaries, meaning that Tesla isn’t done in that direction either. This direction consists of the largest suburban areas of Austin, which have so far not been serviced by any form of autonomous vehicle.
Rapid Scaling
This new, widespread validation effort confirms what we already know. Tesla is pushing for an intensive period of public data gathering and system testing in a new area, right before conducting geofence expansions. The sheer scale of this new validation zone tells us that Tesla isn’t taking this slowly - the next step is going to be a great leap instead, and they essentially confirmed this during this Q&A session on the recent call. The goal is clearly to bring the entire Austin Metropolitan area into the Robotaxi Network.
While the previous expansion showed off just how Tesla can scale the network, this new phase of validation testing is a demonstration of just how fast they can validate and expand their network. The move to validate across rural, suburban, and urban areas simultaneously shows their confidence in these new Robotaxi FSD builds.
Eventually, all these improvements from Robotaxi will make their way to customer FSD builds sometime in Q3 2025, so there is a lot to look forward to.
For years, the progress of Tesla’s FSD has been measured by smoother turns, better lane centering, and more confident unprotected left turns. But as the system matures, a new, more subtle form of intelligence is emerging - one that shifts its attention to the human nuances of navigating roads. A new video posted to X shows the most recent FSD build, V13.2.9, demonstrating this in a remarkable real-world scenario.
Toll Booth Magic
In the video, a Model Y running FSD pulls up to a toll booth and smoothly comes to a stop, allowing the driver to handle payment. The car waits patiently as the driver interacts with the attendant. Then, at the precise moment the toll booth operator finishes the transaction and says “Have a great day”, the vehicle starts moving, proceeding through the booth - all without any input from the driver.
If you notice, there’s no gate here at this toll booth. This interaction all happened naturally with FSD.
While the timing was perfect, the FSD wasn’t listening to the conversation for clues (maybe one day, with Grok?) The reality, as explained by Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI, is even more impressive.
It can see the transaction happening using the repeater & pillar cameras. Hence FSD proceeds on its own when the transaction is complete 😎
FSD is simply using the cameras on the side of the vehicle to watch the exchange between the driver and attendant. The neural network has been trained on enough data that it can visually recognize the conclusion of a transaction - the exchange of money or a card and the hands pulling away - and understands that this is the trigger to proceed.
The Bigger Picture
This capability is far more significant than just a simple party trick. FSD is gaining the ability to perceive and navigate a world built for humans in the most human-like fashion possible.
If FSD can learn what a completed toll transaction looks like, it’s an example of the countless other complex scenarios it’ll be able to handle in the future. This same visual understanding could be applied to navigating a fast-food drive-thru, interacting with a parking garage attendant, passing through a security checkpoint, or boarding a ferry or vehicle train — all things we thought that would come much later.
These human-focused interactions will eventually become even more useful, as FSD becomes ever more confident in responding to humans on the road, like when a police officer tells a vehicle to go a certain direction, or a construction worker flags you through a site. These are real-world events that happen every day, and it isn’t surprising to see FSD picking up on the subtleties and nuances of human interaction.
This isn’t a pre-programmed feature for a specific toll booth. It is an emergent capability of the end-to-end AI neural nets. By learning from millions of videos across billions of miles, FSD is beginning to build a true contextual understanding of the world. The best part - with a 10x context increase on its way, this understanding will grow rapidly and become far more powerful.
These small, subtle moments of intelligence are the necessary steps to a truly robust autonomous system that can handle the messy, unpredictable nature of human society.
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