Tesla FSD Beta 10.2: Who got it and what's new

The first FSD Beta public expansion is finally here. Some of us have been waiting since April for this day. It's fashionably late, as they say. Tesla has released FSD Beta 10.2 with the release of 2021.32.25 to testers. This is also the first beta to see a public expansion. It was released to owners with the highest Safety Scores.

Tesla releases FSD Beta 10.2

DirtyTesla/YouTube

Elon previously tweeted that there were about 1,000 users with a perfect Safety Score, and they would be receiving the FSD Beta, although it looks like not everyone with a score of 100 has received it yet. It's up to interpretation what a perfect score with 100/100 could mean, but it could be that a 100 score isn't enough and you need to be under a certain threshold for some of the events that the Safety Score keeps track of. Interestingly, Elon specified that it was only released to owners who had a score of 100 and over 100 miles driven.

NDA

Up until today, everyone who received the FSD Beta also needed to agree to an NDA. The NDA stated that you can not post images, videos or discuss the FSD Beta. With the release of 10.2 Tesla has dropped this requirement and owners are no longer prevented from sharing videos and discussing the beta. Previously, there were many YouTubers that posted videos of the beta online, but it appears that there were no consequences for doing so.

Tesla may have been trying to protect itself from negative publicity related to the beta and prevent any bad mouthing. It seems Tesla already received plenty of unwarranted negative attention any time there is an accident or fire.

Removing the NDA requirements shows that Tesla is showing increasing confidence in its FSD program.

Cabin Camera

With the release of 10.2, Tesla no longer allows you to use Autopilot with the cabin camera obscured. If you cover the interior camera Tesla will flash a warning on screen and Autopilot will be disabled.

Tesla has relied on steering wheel tension to detect driver inattention ever since they introduced Autopilot v1. It was clear they could do better and introducing the cabin camera with it's active driver monitoring is a big step in the right direction.

Covering the cabin camera now prevents the use of Autopilot

DirtyTesla/YouTube

By actively monitoring the driver Tesla can reduce nag screens and alert the driver the moment they become distracted instead of waiting to test for tension on the steering wheel again.

I understand many people are going to have a problem with a camera that's always recording, but the truth of the matter is that similar devices are already around you today. If you have a smartphone then you may already have “Hey, Siri" or “Hey, Google" activated, which is constantly monitoring the audio in the room. In your home you may have Alexa or Google Assistant devices. Your smartphone may do face scans like Face ID, instead of using a fingerprint.

These devices exist because they're convenient and they work well. Tesla's implementation is similar or in some ways safer than these other devices. All recordings from Tesla's cabin camera to check for driver inattention are processed in the car and are never sent to Tesla. Tesla's driver monitoring system is a better way of detecting whether the driver is paying attention and it's keeping you safer as well.

Car Visualizations

Many testers are reporting that the car visualization on screen appears slightly different. The color of the car appears shinier and more metallic and is a more accurate representation of the paint job on the car.

NickWHoward/Twitter

Single Stack

Unfortunately it does not appear that the stack to rule them all is in this release. We know that Tesla is working on combining the tech stacks for highway and city driving. Elon has said this was close to being released several betas ago, but it's understandable that this is complicated and Tesla could be running into edge cases.

Tesla was initially going to include the single-stack in version 10.1 of the FSD Beta, but we may have to wait until the next major release (v11) before seeing it implemented.

Release Notes

Tesla's FSD Beta comes in as release 2021.32.25, but the release notes packaged with the firmware are the same as previous betas. It's possible that Elon may offer technical release notes like we saw with the release of the 9.2, but we haven't received any thus far.

Update: We take a look at some of the latest FSD Beta 10.2 videos and first impressions of new testers.

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Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

Not a Tesla App

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.

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Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

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.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

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.

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