Tesla is preparing to expand its Grok AI assistant to the Middle East. The company has updated several regional support pages, referencing the upcoming 2026.32.6 software update as a prerequisite for the feature.
Supported Countries
The updated pages include Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. While Tesla’s official EMEA account announced earlier this week that Grok was rolling out in the Middle East and Morocco, it did not name individual countries or software version at that time.
Update 2026.32.6
The feature is tied to software update 2026.32.6, which has not yet been released to the public, but that’s expected to change in the next week or so. To run Grok, eligible vehicles must be equipped with an AMD Ryzen infotainment processor and have an active Premium Connectivity subscription or a Wi-Fi connection. Owners do not need to have a Grok account to use the in-car assistant.
What Grok Can Do
Once installed, drivers can launch Grok via the App Launcher, pressing the steering-wheel microphone button, or by using the “Hey Grok” voice activation. In Assistant mode, it handles core vehicle tasks including navigation, phone calls, media playback, climate adjustments, and answering questions using the digital owner’s manual. It can also set location-based reminders.
While the immediate focus of this rollout is regional expansion, Tesla continues to work on expanding Grok’s capabilities. Recent updates to the official owner’s manual reveal that the assistant will eventually be able to compose and send text messages via voice commands, though Tesla has not confirmed the release timing or which software build will introduce that functionality.
How to Access Grok
Owners in the supported regions will need to wait for software version 2026.32.6 (or later) to reach their vehicles, which can be checked by navigating to Controls > Software. Once the update is installed, the Grok app will show up in the App Launcher.
This marks another regional expansion for Grok, which is already active in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia. The next step is simply waiting to see how quickly the 2026.32.6 update begins hitting vehicles in these newly supported markets.
Whenever Tesla prepares for a major product launch, observers expect dramatic stage demos and bold performance claims. But for the upcoming next-generation Roadster reveal, preparations appear to be reaching into the sky. A newly established no-fly zone in central Texas suggests that the unveiling might involve hardware operating well off the asphalt.
Longtime Tesla watcher Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer), known for his regular aerial tracking of Giga Texas, recently flagged the airspace closure on X. A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) has been established over SpaceX’s rocket development and test facility in McGregor, located just outside Waco — the site of the much-anticipated Roadster unveil. The FAA notice, first spotted by @INiallAnderson, bars all aircraft and drones within a 1.5-nautical-mile radius from the surface up to 10,000 feet, effective from September 18 through October 2.
The public reveal has been nearly a decade in the making. First announced in late 2017, the halo sports car faced years of delays as Tesla prioritized mass-market models like the Model 3 and Model Y, along with the Cybertruck. After pushing back several target dates — including a tentative window earlier this spring and then deeper into the summer — Tesla recently reopened Roadster reservations for prospective buyers. A refundable $50,000 deposit now buys you a place in line ahead of next month’s presentation.
Not a Tesla App
A Ground Demonstration or Actual Liftoff?
Tesla doesn’t usually close down airspace for product debuts. Airspace shutdowns are generally reserved for rocket launches or hazardous altitude testing. Preventing drone footage leaks makes sense if Tesla plans on doing some testing out in the open that it wants to keep under wraps ahead of the public reveal, but it doesn’t make sense for the event itself since Tesla typically livestreams its major unveils anyway (this month’s Cybercab launch was an outlier).
What’s more, Elon Musk recently emphasized that people need to witness this reveal firsthand to believe what the car can do. “We actually need an audience to vouch for the fact that this is not AI,” he said at an event earlier this week.
Instead, the strict 10,000-foot ceiling points directly to long-standing promises surrounding the Roadster’s optional SpaceX Package. Musk has repeatedly claimed the supercar could be equipped with cold-gas thrusters powered by high-pressure composite tanks, enabling sub-one-second 0-60 mph sprints and, perhaps even more outlandishly, the ability to briefly “fly.”
Those wild claims gained fresh traction after video from SpaceX’s McGregor facility started making the rounds recently, showing a shrouded gantry testing what appears to be a vehicle firing thrusters and lifting off the ground. Firing pressurized thrusters creates massive acoustic pressure and debris risks, easily explaining why regulators would mandate an empty safety envelope overhead.
Whether the demonstration involves a short hover hop or an eye-watering thrust-assisted launch, the FAA filing indicates Tesla and SpaceX are staging something far beyond a standard vehicle demo. We’ll find out just how high the Roadster aims when the stage lights turn on in Waco. In the meantime, take a look at everything we know about the Roadster so far.
