XAI’s Grok feature was announced to be a part of Tesla’s 2 2025.26 software update. However, it will only be available for AMD-based vehicles, excluding older, Intel-based cars (how to tell which you have). While Grok is by far the most exciting feature in Tesla’s Summer Update, many were hoping it would arrive on all Tesla vehicles, especially given that it’s primarily a cloud-based feature. However, there may still be hope for Intel owners, based on some careful language by Tesla.
A series of recent clues from Tesla’s website, as well as a repost from Elon, suggest that this hardware limitation likely isn’t permanent, and it may just be a matter of time before Grok is available on Intel MCUs.
Reading Between the Lines
The first clues come directly from Tesla’s official homepage. The main banner on the homepage describing the feature stipulates that the current requirements are subject to change, and more keenly, that Grok “currently requires an AMD processor”. That sounds like temporary, flexible language to accommodate Grok making its way to Intel vehicles in the near future.
Over on the official Grok FAQ page, Tesla noted that “Grok may become available for additional Tesla vehicles with over-the-air software updates in the future.” This text is also placed immediately after the hardware requirements section. It seems that Tesla may already be working on a Grok version for Intel vehicles, or they’re at least going to try to add it to more vehicles.
Grok
All the heavy lifting for Grok is done on the server, where it transcribes the driver’s audio to text, finds an answer, and then translates text back into audio and sends it to the vehicle. Tesla did feature a Siri-like animation when Grok is talking in the vehicle, and this could be one feature that’s cut from older vehicles.
But Wait, There’s More
Adding fuel to the fire, Elon also reposted the following post from X, which suggests that older vehicles will also receive Grok in the future.
While we doubt that the original Tesla MCU (NVIDIA-based MCU 1) in a 2012 Model S would be updated to support Grok, MCU 1 vehicles can be updated to MCU 2 (Intel). While this is never a certainty that a feature is coming, it is a good hint that Grok may make its way to older vehicles in the future.
Just imagine a 2012 Model S getting Grok 4. 13 years later, it will still be the most intelligent vehicle out there in the world. This is going to be happening by latest next week. pic.twitter.com/3xVFGv9JU0
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) July 10, 2025
Logical Next Step
If Grok is set to expand to additional vehicles in the future, the next most logical candidates are the hundreds of thousands of Teslas on the road today equipped with the Intel Atom processor, also known as MCU2. These vehicles, built years prior to the switch to AMD (MCU 3), represent a huge chunk of the Tesla fleet.
While Intel units aren’t as powerful as the latest AMD units, they’re still a very capable unit that Tesla was able to add weather radar to, a feature many assumed would not be available on Intel MCUs.
Update 2025.26
Percent of Fleet
Installs on Sep 10
For now, Grok remains a US-only feature that just started rolling out yesterday. It’s currently only available to a very small fraction of owners, approximately 0.2%, but that number is expected to increase as Tesla rolls out additional waves. You can track the rollout on our statistics page. For owners with Intel-based vehicles, this is a glimmer of hope that Tesla isn’t abandoning you yet.
