Tesla's Elon Musk faces unenthusiastic investors amid his company's pitch to have thousands of humanoid robots deployed into its factories and eventually around the world.

Musk, who once blamed over-reliance on robots for putting his factories in "production hell," is now working to build support for the new venture, Reuters reported.

The Tesla Bot or "Optimus" would serve as a "general purpose" assistant, performing actions like receiving items and other tasks.

Nancy Cooke, a professor in human systems engineering at Arizona State University, said the robots would have to prove they can do unscripted actions to be impressive.

“If he just gets the robot to walk around, or he gets the robots to dance, that’s already been done. That’s not that impressive,” Cooke said.

Musk says the robot will be there to perform boring or dangerous tasks.

He also joked that the robot would only be able to run around 5 miles per hour so that humans would be able to run from it.

Musk faces deposition with Twitter ahead of October trial

Updated: 11:34 PM EDT Sep 25, 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is scheduled to spend the next few days with lawyers for Twitter, answering questions ahead of an October trial that will determine whether he must carry through with his $44 billion agreement to acquire the social platform after attempting to back out of the deal.Related video above: Elon Musk cites whistleblower claims as another reason to back out of Twitter dealThe deposition, planned for Monday, Tuesday and a possible extension on Wednesday, will not be public. As of Sunday evening it was not clear whether Musk will appear in person or by video. The trial is set to begin Oct. 17 in Delaware Chancery Court, where it's scheduled to last just five days.Musk, the world’s richest man, agreed in April to buy Twitter and take it private, offering $54.20 a share and vowing to loosen the company’s policing of content and to root out fake accounts. Twitter shares closed Friday at $41.58.Musk indicated in July that he wanted to back away from the deal, prompting Twitter to file a lawsuit to force him to carry through with the acquisition.

Friday, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts insisted that Twitter reveal its process for verifying users who pay for a subscription.

A Washington Post reporter, with Markey's permission, set up a fake account impersonating the Senator under the username @realedmarkey.

After paying the subscription fee the account received a blue verification mark, The Hill reported.

In a letter from Markey to Twitter's new CEO, Elon Musk, the Senator heavily criticized the platform's process and launch of the new feature which allows users to pay for a blue check mark that is meant to verify their authenticity.

Twitter appeared to have paused the program shortly after the Washington Post ran the test.

Sen. Markey wrote in a letter, “Allowing an imposter to impersonate a U.S. Senator on Twitter is a serious matter that you need to address promptly.”

Markey asked Musk to respond to his inquiry by Nov. 25 regarding how an impersonation was allowed.

CNBC and other outlets said that Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.

Tesla delivers its first electric Semi trucks promising 500 miles of range

Updated: 11:39 PM EST Dec 1, 2022

Tesla made the first deliveries of its Semi truck to customers Thursday evening, five years after the heavy-duty hauler was first unveiled. The event included two truck cabs decked out in the livery of Pepsi and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo's snack foods subsidiary.The Tesla Semi was first shown as a prototype in 2017. At the time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said production would begin in 2019. But Musk didn't say during Thursday night's presentation at Tesla's factory in Sparks, Nevada, how many trucks were actually being delivered to PepsiCo, or how many were being produced, or at what rate.The fully electric semi truck features an unusual design in which the driver sits in the center of the cab rather than on one side. Tesla has boasted of the truck's performance — saying it accelerates much more quickly, even with a full load, than traditional diesel-powered semi trucks. A video during the presentation showed, according to Tesla, a fully loaded Tesla Semi accelerating up a steep grade and passing other trucks.Since it has no multi-geared transmission, as diesel trucks do, it's also much easier to drive than other semi trucks, Musk said. The truck can drive 500 miles on a single charge, according to Tesla. It has three electric motors, one of which drives the truck most of the time while the other two are used mostly for acceleration and hard pulling. The truck can pull up to 82,000 pounds, Tesla claims. Musk and Dan Priestley, Tesla's senior manager tor truck engineering, also boasted of new "megawatt" ultra-fast chargers that will be used to quickly refill the truck's batteries, but they did not say how long it would take to recharge the truck. These chargers will be made available for the use of Cybertruck drivers when Tesla's pickup truck goes on sale, Musk said.Regenerative braking — the way electric vehicles use their motors to slow down and recharge their batteries using the vehicle's own motion — will also be a safety benefit, Priestley said, because drivers won't have to downshift going down long hills and may not need to use the truck's actual brakes at all.Tesla's Autopilot system, touted in the original presentation five years ago as a benefit for long haul truck drivers, wasn't mentioned during the presentation, however.Replacing gasoline and diesel-powered trucks with those that are electric could greatly improve human health and even save tens of thousands of lives, according to a recent report by the American Lung Association. Musk also talked about those benefits during the presentation plus the benefit of noise reduction for people living near highways.But making things a bit awkward between Tesla and PepsiCo, Musk recently tweeted about his appreciation for Coca-Cola products. Coke is Pepsi's most prominent competitor. Musk, who now runs Twitter as well as Tesla, published a photo of his bedside table showing, among other things, four open cans of Diet Coke. On Monday, he tweeted in response to someone else's post about Diet Coke products, writing "Don't love the name, but the drink itself is amazing & brings me joy." When asked in the days before the presentation for its reaction to Musk's public displays of affection for Diet Coke, PepsiCo did not answer.Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America, and Kirk Tanner, CEO of PepsiCo Beverages North America, appeared toward the end of the presentation and thanked Musk for allowing them to participate in the Semi truck program.

Authorities in California believe a Tesla, with four people inside, was intentionally driven off the Pacific Coast Highway in San Mateo County.

The vehicle was found hundreds of feet below a cliff on Monday. Officials who responded to the incident said the vehicle appeared to flip several times and land on its four wheels.

California Highway Patrol identified the driver as Dharmesh A. Patel of Pasadena. He was arrested for attempted murder and child abuse after investigators said they interviewed witnesses and collected evidence from the scene. However, they did not provide specifics.

"Mr. Patel is being treated for his injuries and will be booked into San Mateo County Jail upon his release from the hospital," a statement from California Patrol says.

Officials called it a "miracle" after discovering that the four individuals, including two children, survived the fall.

Emergency crews rappelled down the cliffside and pulled the two children from the vehicle.

A helicopter was called in to assist with the extrication and rescue of the two adults.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk took the witness stand Friday to defend a 2018 tweet claiming he had lined up the financing to take Tesla private in a deal that never came close to happening.

The tweet resulted in a $40 million settlement with securities regulators. It also led to a class-action lawsuit alleging he misled investors, pulling him into court Friday.

The mercurial billionaire took the witness stand wearing a dark suit on the third day of a civil trial in San Francisco that his lawyer unsuccessfully tried to move to Texas, where Tesla is now headquartered, on the premise that media coverage of his tumultuous takeover of Twitter had tainted the jury pool.

The nine-person jury assembled earlier this week will be responsible for deciding whether a pair of tweets that Musk posted on Aug. 7, 2018 damaged Tesla shareholders during a 10-day period leading up to a Musk admission that the buyout he had envisioned wasn't going to happen.

A month later, Musk stepped down as Tesla's chairman while remaining CEO as part of the Securities and Exchange Commission settlement without acknowledging any wrongdoing.

In the first of those those two 2018 tweets, Musk stated “funding secured” for a what would have been a $72 billion buyout of Tesla at a time when the electric automaker was still grapping with production problems and was worth far less than it is now. Musk followed up a few hours later with another tweet suggesting a deal was imminent.

On the stand Friday, Musk — who last year bought Twitter for $44 billion — said tweeting is “most democratic way” to communicate with investors.

"I care a great deal about retail investors,” he said during questioning by shareholder attorney Nicholas Porritt.

But he acknowledged that investors can get more detail in a traditional corporate filing with securities regulators, given the character limits set on Twitter.

“I think you can absolutely be truthful" on Twitter, Musk said. “But can you be comprehensive? Of course not.”

Even before Musk took the stand, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen had declared that the jurors can consider those two tweets to be falsehoods, leaving them to decide whether Musk deliberately deceived investors and whether his statements saddled them with losses.

Musk has previously contended he entered into the SEC settlement under duress and maintained he believed he had locked up financial backing for a Tesla buyout during meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The trial over his Tesla tweets come at a time when he has been focusing on Twitter, which he acquired in October after trying to back out of that purchase.

Musk’s leadership of Twitter — where he has gutted the staff and alienated users and advertisers — has proven unpopular among Tesla’s current stockholders, who are worried he has been devoting less time steering the automaker at a time of intensifying competition. Those concerns contributed to a 65% decline in Tesla’s stock last year that wiped out more than $700 billion in shareholder wealth — far more than the $14 billion swing in fortune that occurred between the company’s high and low stock prices during the Aug. 7-17, 2018 period covered in the class-action lawsuit.

Tesla’s stock has split twice since then, making the $420 buyout price cited in his 2018 tweet worth $28 on adjusted basis now. The company's shares were trading around $133 Friday, down from the company’s November 2021 split-adjusted peak of $414.50.

After Musk dropped the idea of a Tesla buyout, the company overcame its production problems, resulting in a rapid upturn in car sales that caused its stock to soar and minted Musk as the world’s richest person until he bought Twitter. Musk dropped from the top spot on the wealth list after the stock market’s backlash to his handling of Twitter.

A Tesla Model S "spontaneously caught fire" on a California highway.

According to the Sacramento Fire Department, the Tesla Model S was engulfed in flames when crews arrived at the scene on Highway 50 on Saturday.

The fire department said battery cells continued to combust as they attempted to put the fire out.

It was eventually extinguished after crews used about 6,000 gallons of water, officials said.

Tesla warns about the dangers of a burning battery, saying it releases toxic vapors.

However, no injuries were reported.

The federal government has looked into concerns about Tesla batteries catching fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declined to investigate Tesla battery fires in 2019.

"The available data indicate that noncrash battery fires in Tesla vehicles are rare events," the agency noted.

A jury on Friday decided Elon Musk didn’t deceive investors with his 2018 tweets about electric automaker Tesla in a proposed deal that quickly unraveled and raised questions about whether the billionaire had misled investors.

The verdict by the nine jurors was reached after less that two hours of deliberation following a three-week trial. It represents a major vindication for Musk, who spent about eight hours on the witness stand defending his motives for the August 2018 tweets at the center of the trial.

Musk, 51, wasn't on hand for the brief reading of the verdict, after making a surprise appearance earlier Friday for closing arguments that drew starkly different portraits of him.

Alex Spiro, Musk's attorney, declined to comment as he walked out of the courtroom following the verdicts.

The trial pitted Tesla investors represented in a class-action lawsuit against Musk, who is CEO of both the electric automaker and the Twitter service he bought for $44 billion a few months ago.

Shortly before boarding his private jet on Aug. 7, 2018, Musk tweeted that he had the financing to take Tesla private, even though it turned out he hadn’t gotten an iron-clad commitment for a deal that would have cost $20 billion to $70 billion to pull off.

Musk's integrity was at stake at the trial as well part of a fortune that has established him as one of the world’s richest people. He could have been saddled with a bill for billions of dollars in damages had the jury found him liable for the 2018 tweets that had already been deemed falsehoods by the judge presiding over the trial.

Earlier Friday, Musk sat stoically in court during the trial’s closing arguments while he was both vilified as a rich narcissist whose reckless behavior risks “anarchy” and hailed as a visionary looking out for the “little guy."

The trial hinged on whether Musk's tweeting in 2018 misled Tesla shareholders, steering them in a direction that they argue cost them billions of dollars. The civil case centered on two tweets Musk posted Aug. 7, 2018 about a Tesla buyout that never happened.

The first tweet Musk declared he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. A few hours later, Musk sent another tweet indicating that the deal was imminent.

The tweets caused Twitter’s stock to surge during a 10-day period covered by the lawsuit before falling back after Musk abandoned a deal in which he never had a firm financing commitment, based on evidence presented during the trial.

Nicholas Porritt, a lawyer for the Tesla shareholders, urged the jurors to rebuke Musk for his “loose relationship with the truth.”

“Our society is based on rules,” Porritt said. “We need rules to save us from anarchy. Rules should apply to Elon Musk like everyone else.”

Alex Spiro, Musk’s attorney, conceded the 2018 tweets were “technically inaccurate.” But he told the jurors, “Just because it’s a bad tweet doesn’t make it a fraud.”

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, who presided over the trial, decided last year that Musk’s 2018 tweets were false and has instructed the jury to view them that way.

During roughly eight hours on the stand earlier in the trial, Musk insisted he believed he had lined up the funds from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private after eight years as a publicly held company. He defended his initial August 2018 tweet as well-intentioned and aimed at ensuring all Tesla investors knew the automaker might be on its way to ending its run as a publicly held company.

“I had no ill motive,” Musk testified. “My intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders.”

Spiro echoed that theme in his closing argument.

“He was trying to include the retail shareholder, the mom and pop, the little guy, and not seize more power for himself," Spiro said.

Porritt, meanwhile, scoffed at the notion that Musk could have concluded he had a firm commitment after a 45-minute meeting at a Tesla factory on July 31, 2018, with Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund, given there was no written documentation.

A text message that al-Rumayyan sent later in August that is part of the trial evidence also indicated that the Saudi fund was only interested in learning more about Musk's proposal to take Tesla private at a time the company was valued at about $60 billion.

“Apparently a $60 billion financing commitment was obtained and no one wrote down a single word," Porritt said, while asserting that amount was larger than the combined economic output of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.

Spiro, though, pointed to Musk's track record helping to start and run a list of companies that include digital payment pioneer PayPal and rocket ship maker SpaceX, in addition to Tesla. The automaker based in Austin, Texas, is now worth nearly $600 billion, despite a steep decline in its stock price last year amid concerns that Musk's purchase of Twitter would distract him from Tesla.

Recalling Musk's roots as a South African immigrant who came to Silicon Valley to create revolutionary tech companies, Spiro described his client “as the kind of person who believes the impossible is possible."

Porritt put a different twist on Musk's mindset during his presentation. “To Elon Musk, if he believes it, or just thinks about it, it's true.”

In his concluding remarks, Porritt told jurors their decision boiled down to their answer to one question: “Do the rules apply to everyone, or can Elon Musk do whatever he wants and not face the consequences?"

SpaceX is a big step closer to sending its giant Starship spacecraft into orbit, completing an engine-firing test at the launch pad on Thursday.

Thirty-one of the 33 first-stage booster engines ignited simultaneously for about 10 seconds in south Texas. The team turned off one engine before sending the firing command and another engine shut down — “but still enough engines to reach orbit!” tweeted SpaceX's Elon Musk.

Musk estimates Starship’s first orbital test flight could occur as soon as March, if the test analyses and remaining preparations go well.

The booster remained anchored to the pad as planned during the test. There were no signs of major damage to the launch tower.

NASA is counting on Starship to ferry astronauts to the surface of the moon in a few years, linking up with its Orion capsule in lunar orbit. Further down the road, Musk wants to use the mammoth Starships to send crowds to Mars.

Only the first-stage Super Heavy booster, standing 230 feet (69 meters) tall, was used for Thursday's test. The futuristic second stage — the part that will actually land on the moon and Mars — was in the hangar being prepped for flight.

Altogether, Starship towers 394 feet (120 meters), making it the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. It's capable of generating 17 million pounds of liftoff thrust, almost double that of NASA's moon rocket that sent an empty capsule to the moon and back late last year.

SpaceX fired up to 14 Starship engines last fall and completed a fueling test at the pad last month.

Flocks of birds scattered as Starship's engines came alive and sent thick dark plumes of smoke across the Starship launch complex, dubbed Starbase. It's located at the southernmost tip of Texas near the village of Boca Chica, close to the Mexican border.

Tesla is recalling more than 300,000 vehicles that are equipped with Full Self-Driving Beta software.

The recall includes certain 2016-2023 Model S and Model X vehicles as well as 2017-2023 Model 3 and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles.

According to documents filed with the National Transporation Safety Board, the beta system "may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections."

Examples specifically cited include traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane and going through an intersection during a steady yellow light "without due caution." The vehicles may also not recognize changes to posted speed limits.

Tesla says it has received 18 warranty claims that may be related to the software. The company notes that it's not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the software issues.

The automaker plans to release an over-the-air software update to address the problem.

Electric car giant Tesla will, for the first time, make some of its charging stations available to all U.S. electric vehicles by the end of next year, under a new plan announced Wednesday by the White House.The plan will make at least 7,500 chargers from Tesla's Supercharger and Destination Charger network available to non-Tesla EVs by the end of 2024, the White House said.The plan to open the nation's largest and most reliable charging network to all drivers is a potential game-changer in promoting EV use, a key component of President Joe Biden's pledge to fight climate change. Biden has set a goal that 50% of new U.S. car sales be electric by 2030, and he has promised to install 500,000 chargers across America and build a network of fast-charging stations across 53,000 miles of freeways from coast to coast."As President Biden said, the great American road trip will be electrified," said Mitch Landrieu, a White House aide who oversees implementation of the 2021 infrastructure law signed by Biden.Soon, charging an EV "will be as easy as filling up at a gas station,'' Landrieu told reporters Tuesday ahead of the White House announcement.The plan to open up Tesla's charging network was among a series of developments announced Wednesday by the White House, including new standards to make EV charging networks convenient and reliable for all Americans and made-in-America requirements for EV components.“No matter what EV you drive, we want to make sure that you will be able to plug in, know the price you’re going to be paying and charge up in a predictable, user-friendly experience,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.Standards imposed by the Transportation Department require that EV chargers funded through the infrastructure law be built in the United States, effective immediately. By July 2024, 55% of the cost of all components must come from the U.S.Automakers warned before the rules were issued that imposing made-in-America requirements on EV components could harm EV growth.Biden, who has clashed with Musk over a range of issues, praised the billionaire on Twitter, the social media platform Musk bought last year.Musk's decision to open up Tesla's charging network to all drivers is "a big deal, and it'll make a big difference,'' Biden tweeted late Wednesday.Musk tweeted his thanks to Biden, adding, "Tesla is happy to support other EVs via our Supercharger network."By opening up its network, Tesla will be eligible to compete for federal grants to help create a nationwide charging network. The infrastructure law blocks federal subsidies for chargers that only serve one brand.Tesla, General Motors, EVgo, Pilot, Hertz and other companies have agreed to add thousands of public charging ports in the next two years, using private funds and federal spending from the infrastructure law, "putting the nation’s EV charging goals even closer within reach,'' the White House said.Under the administration's plan, Tesla will set up charging sites at hotels, restaurants and other public spaces in urban and rural locations, the White House said. All EV drivers will be able to access these stations using the Tesla app or website, officials said. Tesla plans to triple its nationwide network of Superchargers over the next few years, the White House said.The developments come after Landrieu and another top White House aide, John Podesta, met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Washington last month. Biden did not attend the meeting, which centered on the EV industry and the broader goal of electrification of the U.S. economy, the White House said.A week later, the Treasury Department said it is making more electric vehicles — including SUVs made by Tesla, Ford and General Motors — eligible for tax credits of up to $7,500 under new vehicle classification definitions. The revised standards follow lobbying by Tesla and other automakers to change vehicle definitions to allow higher-priced EVs to qualify for a maximum tax credit.Tesla raised prices on its Model Y SUV within hours of the Treasury announcement.Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for Guidehouse Insight, said the agreement to open up Tesla chargers to non-Tesla EVs "is potentially a very big deal."The plan "should be a big help to non-Tesla EV drivers if they can use the Tesla network and if the network remains as reliable as it is today,'' he said. A lack of high-quality public chargers on U.S. roads has slowed the growth of EV sales and is often cited by potential buyers as a leading obstacle to purchase of an EV.While the White House said the Tesla network should be available through use of a company app or website, an adaptor — or even a new charger design — will likely be required for non-Tesla EVs, Abuelsamid said.Mike Ramsey, an analyst at Gartner, said the agreement with Tesla was important on its own, but also as a sign of relative peace between Musk and the Biden administration. Musk has repeatedly clashed with Biden and other Democrats, and as the new owner of Twitter, Musk has released a slew of company information showing internal debates among Twitter employees over a decision to block a story about Hunter Biden, the president’s son.“It's not good for the U.S. government to alienate the top seller of EVs," Ramsey said in an interview.The Biden administration “needs Musk's help to grow EV use” in the United States, he added, and the new agreement "is a sign the government is working with the world's most important EV maker.''

All of Ford Motor Co.'s current and future electric vehicles will have access to about 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in the U.S. and Canada starting next spring.

Video above: In February, the Biden-Harris Administration announced thousands of Tesla's charging stations would eventually open to other vehicles

Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the agreement Thursday during a "Twitter Spaces" audio chat.

"We think this is a huge move for our industry and for all electric customers," Farley said.

Musk said he didn't want Tesla's network to be a "walled garden" and that he wants to use it to support sustainable transportation.

"It is our intent to do everything possible to support Ford and have Ford be on an equal footing at Tesla Superchargers," Musk said.

Farley said there will be a cost to Ford owners, perhaps a monthly subscription, but he didn't give specifics. Details of any financial arrangement between Ford and Tesla were not announced.

At first, Ford's current electric vehicles will need an adapter to hook into the Tesla stations, which have their own connector. But Ford will switch to Tesla's North American Charging Standard connector with its second-generation EVs starting in 2025, Farley said.

Ford said Tesla's connector is smaller and lighter than those in use by other automakers.

Farley said Tesla's Superchargers have great locations.

"We love the locations. We love the reliability," he said. They will join Ford's own Blue Oval charging network which has about 10,000 fast-charging stations, he said.

Ford EV owners will be able to access the Tesla chargers seamlessly with Ford's app, Musk said.

Tesla has about 17,000 Supercharger stations in the U.S. There are about 54,000 public charging stations in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy, but many charge much more slowly than the Tesla stations.

The Ford-Tesla deal is separate from a plan to open part of Tesla's charging network to all EVs.

The White House announced in February that at least 7,500 chargers from Tesla's Supercharger and Destination Charger network would be available to non-Tesla electric vehicles by the end of 2024.

Video below: Tesla charging ports will soon be usable by other electric vehicles

The chat between Musk, who last fall bought Twitter for $44 billion, and Farley came off without the embarrassing technical glitches that plagued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' announcement Wednesday that he was running for president.

With Musk, DeSantis released the news that he would seek the Republican nomination, but the chat was delayed by glitches for nearly a half hour. Musk blamed it on straining of servers because so many were trying to listen in.

The Farley-Musk chat had a much smaller audience, than DeSantis, about 18,000 listeners at the start.

The number on the DeSantis chat topped out at 420,000, far from the millions who have watched televised presidential announcements. After the problems were fixed, the audience remained under 500,000.

A German teenager says he found a vulnerability in an app installed in some Teslas, which allowed him the ability to unlock doors, flash headlights and blast music. The hack highlights the relative lack of oversight in apps that some drivers can download to their cars.

David Colombo identified a vulnerability in TeslaMate, a third-party app that some Tesla owners use to analyze data from their vehicle. He was able to access 25 Teslas that use the app, and he did not have access to steering, braking or acceleration, which could be especially dangerous.

The exploit did unlock a litany of potential unwelcome possibilities for drivers, the hacker said.

"Imagine music blasts at max volume and every time you want to turn it off [sic] it just starts again or imagine every time you unlock your doors they just lock again," Colombo, the 19-year-old behind the hack, wrote in a Medium post. Colombo said that he could even track the location of Tesla vehicles as their owners went about their day.

Colombo told CNN Business that he immediately reported the vulnerability that enabled the hack to involved parties, including Tesla. Colombo leads a cybersecurity company, and it is not uncommon for security researchers to seek out software vulnerabilities for potential compensation. Tesla offers cash incentives to people who report flaws in its software, but Colombo said he wasn't paid as the vulnerability was in a third-party app, not Tesla infrastructure.

(TeslaMate and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.)

Cars, including Teslas, have been hacked before. But cybersecurity experts believe this is the first time a vehicle has been hacked through an app that has been granted access direct access to some vehicle controls and data. TeslaMate software is installed on a computer that is not the vehicle, and then accesses the vehicle through its interface for apps. Apps can delight drivers with services their car wouldn't otherwise have, as well as create new revenue for automakers through app-related fees.

But cybersecurity experts caution that the auto industry must mature, as there are growing risks as in-car apps become increasingly common in the years ahead.

"[Automakers] need to think about self-defending cars before self-driving cars," Srinivas Kumar, a vice president at the cybersecurity company DigiCert who leads efforts to protect connected devices, told CNN Business. "If a car can't defend itself from an attack, do you trust it to be self-driving?"

Colombo said that preventing future hacks will require collaboration between automakers, app makers and car owners.

One way to prevent a hack of this nature, he said, would be if Tesla more thoroughly restricted apps' access to data and commands. For example, an app could be restricted to only be able to view data, such as whether the doors are locked, but not be able to unlock them.

"In a perfect world those apps in an app store that you could download to your Tesla wouldn't have access to anything critical," Colombo said.

Third-party apps are increasingly becoming available in new cars. Some newer models offer a limited range of apps on their infotainment systems. Some Cadillac drivers can download Spotify, NPR and the Weather Channel, for instance. Newer Ford models offer apps like Waze, Domino's and Pandora.

Tesla has not officially launched a way for app creators to add apps to its vehicles. But tech-savvy Tesla enthusiasts have written about how to do so.

Moshe Shlisel, the CEO of Israeli cybersecurity company GuardKnox, said that automakers should scrutinize apps that end up on their vehicles to ensure safety. GuardKnox is developing a way for cars to monitor their apps and shut them down if they're doing something wrong, such as communicating to an off-limits part of the vehicle.

"It's a wake-up call to the entire industry," Shlisel said of Colombo's hack.

He expects that cars in the future will have hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from.

General Motors reviews apps and scans them for vulnerabilities, according to spokesman Darryll Harrison. Ford, which also allows a limited set of apps on some vehicles, declined to comment for this story.

But screening apps displayed on infotainment systems won't stop a person with sophisticated technical abilities from running an app on a vehicle independent of the automaker's approval. This could be done through a USB connection or an over-the-air vulnerability as occurred in the Tesla hack, according to cybersecurity experts.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released best practices for cybersecurity in 2016, but it hasn't created standards for apps installed in vehicles. Neither has the auto industry.

"Right now it's open season," Shlisel said.

DETROIT — Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 vehicles because their "Full Self-Driving" software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.

Documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators say that Tesla will disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update.

As The Verge reported last month, an October update to the cars' computer programs allowed drivers to pick from three driving "profiles" that dictated the car's performance on the road: "Chill," "Average" and "Assertive."

By selecting the "Assertive" profile, the driver allowed the car to go through intersections with all-way stop signs at up to 5.6 miles per hour as long as "no relevant moving cars, pedestrians or bicyclists are detected near the intersection."

According to Reuters, some state traffic laws dictate that drivers must come to a complete stop at all stop signs.

Tesla knows of no crashes or injuries that have happened because of the feature.

The recall covers Model S sedans and X SUVs from 2016 through 2022, as well as 2017 to 2022 Model 3 sedans and 2020 through 2022 Model Y SUVs.

Two leaders in motor vehicle safety testing said Thursday that they will rate the driver monitoring systems that are supposed to help make technologies like Tesla's Autopilot safe.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Consumer Reports are pushing for safeguards that go further than what the auto industry and regulators currently ask of the new technologies.

Driver-assist technologies like Autopilot, GM's Super Cruise and Ford BlueCruise, which combine active cruise control with lane-keeping assist features, have become increasingly common on vehicles in recent years. They can often steer cars in their lane, keep up with traffic and sometimes respond to traffic signs and signals. The technology can make driving more pleasant, but they also have limitations like contributing to distracted driving, which can turn deadly. New risks emerge once a task is automated, and they may offset dangers that the automation removed.

"There is no evidence that [driver-assist systems] make driving safer," IIHS President David Harkey said in a statement. "In fact, the opposite may be the case if systems lack adequate safeguards."

Research has shown drivers are more distracted while using Tesla Autopilot. Tesla has published data showing its crash rate is lower when its drivers are using Autopilot. However, critics caution that driver-assist systems like Autopilot are more likely to be used on highways where crash rates are already much lower, and a comparison of highway driving to all other types, including urban environments, is not valid.

Drivers need to be alert and prepared to take full control of their vehicle at any moment when using systems like Autopilot. So automakers have introduced driver monitoring systems to help keep people focused on the road. But there are no regulations for those systems, leaving consumers with a hodgepodge of varying and unverified claims around capability and safety.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, asked to comment on Thursday's news, said it was "actively researching driver monitoring technologies to establish benchmarks and collect data about driver behavior that may be used to inform potential future actions."

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents nearly all the largest automakers except Tesla, released principles for driver-assist systems last April. The principles call for automakers to consider using a camera to monitor drivers, but they aren't required.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will only give a "good" rating to systems that make sure the driver's eyes are on the road, and their hands are either on the wheel or ready to grab it at any time. It said that none of the driver-monitoring systems in vehicles today meet its pending criteria. (It's yet to finalize its rating system.)

The organization also said that for systems to get a good rating drivers will need to receive multiple alerts if they look away from the road or have gone too long without steering the vehicle. It also says that drivers should confirm or initiate any lane changes, which is not something all automakers require. Tesla's "full self-driving" beta includes automated lane changes, and Autopilot drivers can change a default setting so they don't have to confirm automated lane changes.

The driver-monitoring systems from Ford and General Motors use an in-car camera to monitor drivers and make sure they're watching the road. But the systems don't meet IIHS standards because they fail to ensure that a driver isn't holding something like a cellphone in one hand and coffee in another, which may make grabbing the wheel at a moment's notice challenging.

Ford did not respond to a request for comment. GM declined to comment on monitoring a driver's hand position.

Tesla measures torque on the steering wheel to ensure that drivers are engaged while using Autopilot. Its vehicles also sometimes sound audible alerts to keep drivers engaged. Tesla isn't broadly using its in-car cameras to monitor drivers but has begun to do so with drivers using the beta version of its "full self-driving" technology, which only a small percentage of its owners have access to.

Consumer Reports said it will reward automakers in its ratings whose driver-monitoring systems effectively encourage safe driving. It's tested the systems from five automakers: BMW, Ford, GM, Subaru and Tesla.

But it will only give extra points to Ford and GM when it releases it 2022 top picks.

"Cruise and now Ford's BlueCruise both have the right combination of helping drivers enjoy the convenience of automation while verifying that they're keeping their eyes on the road," Jake Fisher, senior director of Consumer Report's auto test center, said in a statement.

Starting in 2024, Consumer Reports will penalize vehicles that lack adequate driver-monitoring systems. It criticized Tesla and BMW because their driver-assist systems could be active when the in-car camera was covered. Subaru risks losing points because the camera in its driver-monitoring system can be turned off.

Consumer Reports said it may penalize automakers for privacy issues. Most automakers say they don't transmit in-cabin data or video from an in-car camera outside the vehicle, but Tesla leaves the possibility open. If there's a crash and a driver enables data sharing the car will share image and video with Tesla, according to the Model 3 owner's manual.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

The director of the United Nations' World Food Programme laid out a plan to spend $6.6 billion to combat world hunger — a direct response to a back-and-forth with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who claimed he would sell Tesla stock to fund a plan if the WFP could describe "exactly how" it would work.

David Beasley, the U.N. food program director and former Republican governor of South Carolina, tweeted a link on Monday to a 1,000-word "executive summary." It maps out how the UN would deploy $6.6 billion worth of meals and vouchers to feed more than 40 million people across 43 countries that are "on the brink of famine" — thereby averting what the WFP is calling a looming "catastrophe."

In the document Beasley posted, the WFP proposes dedicating $3.5 billion to buy and deliver food directly, $2 billion "for cash and food vouchers (including transaction fees) in places where markets can function," and spending another $700 million to manage new food programs that are "adapted to the in-country" conditions and ensure "the assistance reaches the most vulnerable."

Another $400 million would be used for "operations management, administration and accountability" and supply chain coordination.

"The world is on fire," Beasley wrote. "I've been warning about the perfect storm brewing due to Covid, conflict, climate shocks & now, rising supply chain costs. IT IS HERE."

"This hunger crisis is urgent, unprecedented, AND avoidable," Beasley wrote in a separate tweet, tagging Musk, who is the world's wealthiest person with a net worth of approximately $288 billion. "You asked for a clear plan & open books. Here it is! We're ready to talk with you - and anyone else - who is serious about saving lives."

As of Wednesday afternoon, Musk had not responded.

The back-and-forth between Musk and Beasley kicked off with a CNN interview last month in which Beasley asked billionaires to "step up now, on a one-time basis" to help combat world hunger, specifically citing the world's two richest men: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Beasley said giving $6 billion, or 2% of Musk's net worth, could help solve world hunger.

Musk responded on Twitter, writing, "If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it."

"But it must be open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent," Musk added.

Beasley previously replied to Musk's tweets, assuring him that systems are in place for transparency and open source accounting.

"For him to even enter into this conversation is a game-changer because simply put, we can answer his questions, we can put forth a plan that's clear," Beasley told CNN in a follow-up interview earlier this month. "Any and everything he asks, we would be glad to answer. I look forward to having this discussion with him because lives are at stake."

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world's hunger crisis was already exacerbated by climate change and conflict. The pandemic compounded the existing issues though, leaving "42 million people that are literally knocking on famine's door," Beasley said. "This is a worst-case scenario."

It's not clear if Musk or Bezos have seen the plan and will ultimately decide to lend their support. Spokespeople for Musk's companies did not respond to requests for comment. A representative for Bezos, Angela Landers, declined to comment on the WFP's proposal but pointed to other philanthropic donations Bezos has made to combating hunger.

Musk has previously made bold promises on Twitter, committing resources to charitable endeavors. In 2018, for example, he pledged to "fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels." Musk ended up donating about half a million dollars for installing water filters in the town's schools, according to an August article from a local news outlet.

Musk has made more sizable donations to certain projects. This year, he promised to donate $30 million to Brownsville, Texas, the city nearest to a massive rocket hub run by his company SpaceX, and local schools.

He also set up the Musk Foundation, which says it gives to efforts related to renewable energy expansion, human space exploration and safe uses of artificial intelligence. He's also signed The Giving Pledge, a promise to donate at least half of his wealth to charitable efforts during his lifetime, something Bezos has not done.

Elon Musk tweets to ask if he should sell some Tesla stock

Updated: 8:33 PM EDT Nov 6, 2021

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is asking on Twitter whether he should sell 10% of his stock in the electric-vehicle company amid pressure in Washington to increase taxes on billionaires like him.Some Democrats have been pushing for billionaires to pay taxes when the price of the stocks they hold goes up, even if they don't sell any shares. It's a concept called "unrealized gains," and Musk is sitting on a lot of them with a net worth of roughly $300 billion."Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock," he tweeted Saturday afternoon. "Do you support this?"By 5:40 p.m. Eastern time, a little more than two hours after Musk's initial tweet, 54% said yes out of a total of 876,189 votes.Much of Musk's wealth is held in shares of Tesla, which does not pay him a cash salary. "I only have stock, thus the only way for me to pay taxes personally is to sell stock," he tweeted.Musk, who is known for his sometimes flippant tweets, said he would "abide by the results of this poll."

SpaceX founder Elon Musk pledged to donate $50 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, helping exceed the $200 million fundraising goal set for last week's Inspiration4 space mission.

Musk tweeted, "Count me in for $50M" in response to a public call for donations from Inspiration4 on Saturday.

The capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida Saturday evening, concluding the first-ever flight to Earth's orbit carrying only space tourists.

"Thanks so much SpaceX, it was a heck of a ride for us," billionaire and Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman could be heard saying on the company's livestream.

Along with Musk, Isaacman financed the mission and arranged the trip. He billed the mission as a fundraiser for St. Jude, and by Saturday evening's splashdown it had reached $160 million. Isaacman personally donated $100 million to the fundraiser.

One of the passengers was Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old cancer survivor who works as a physician's assistant at St. Jude. The hospital selected Arceneaux for this mission at Isaacman's request.

There's also an upcoming auction to benefit St. Jude that will sell off some of the items the crew took into space, including signed collectibles and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.