Stories by Sarah Lee-Jones

Starlink will double peak download speeds for maritime customers using its $2,000 Performance Gen 3 terminal by the end of December, bringing shipboard throughput close to 1 Gbps. The speed increase was revealed in a message Starlink sent to enterprise customers Thursday morning. The company said maritime users on Performance Gen 3 hardware will receive...

After nine years of delays since its 2017 reveal, Tesla's Class 8 electric truck finally has a dedicated factory. On Thursday night in Sparks, Nevada, the Semi moved from pilot builds to high-volume production. Tesla announced that the Semi has entered high-volume production at its first dedicated Semi factory, a 1.8-million-square-foot plant in Sparks designed...

Three flags, one Dragon, and an International Space Station waiting for its next crew. NASA is already planning the next chapter of its long-running partnership with SpaceX. The announcement came Thursday, when NASA named the four astronauts who will fly the SpaceX Crew-14 mission to the International Space Station, with liftoff targeted no earlier than...

Prime Minister Mark Carney told the New York Times in an interview published Wednesday that Canada will reduce its reliance on Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, saying, "Starlink, we will diversify away from, no question." The prime minister described the move as part of a broader effort to reduce Canada's...

Elon Musk said Wednesday that SpaceXAI's Grok @Bot is getting a major set of new features, including voice calls, a 1Password vault, inline forms and inline drafts for email and Slack. Grok @Bot is SpaceXAI's assistant that lives inside X, where anyone can summon it from posts and direct messages to answer questions, draft text...

Airtel Uganda has launched Airtel Starlink, a satellite connectivity service designed to keep phones connected outside the reach of traditional cell towers. Announced in a post on X on September 24, the service is available to customers who opt in through the MyAirtel App, with 30 days free until October 23. The carrier describes Airtel...

Belgian road-safety group Johanna.be says Tesla's Full Self-Driving software exceeded speed limits throughout much of its three-day test program around Brussels, violating local rules in 55% of the 30 km/h road segments it examined. The group tested FSD Supervised across roughly 400 kilometres of Belgian roads in July, with a focus on 30 km/h zones,...

Elon Musk says SpaceX will reach "pole position" in AI within about six months if its current pace of development continues, pushing back against a critic who claimed the company had already fallen behind in the AI race. The exchange took place Thursday morning after Musk said he was "cautiously optimistic" that SpaceX will have...

Elon Musk called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "great leader" in interviews with Chinese state media Wednesday, one day before he is expected to join tech executives at a White House state dinner for Xi and President Donald Trump. Speaking to CGTN, Musk said China had "prospered immensely" under Xi's tenure, adding that he had...

SpaceX said Wednesday it is targeting Monday, September 28 for the launch of Starship Flight 14, the first company-confirmed date for a mission expected to make the program's first orbital attempt. The target date follows a fast-moving campaign at Starbase. SpaceX rolled Booster 21 out to the launch pad, and Ship 41 has since been...

Elon Musk confirmed Wednesday that AI researchers Troy Luhman and Eric Luhman are joining SpaceXAI, quote-posting news of the hires on X with the single word "SpaceXAI." The post quoted Will DePue, who wrote that the move was big and called the brothers truly world-class. DePue was in turn quoting a welcome message from SpaceXAI's...

A teardown of Tesla's Android app has surfaced references to a third-generation Optimus robot, with Tesla's own asset filenames labeling the hardware as "Gen 3". App sleuth Ming, who posts on X as @tslaming, said Wednesday he independently verified the discovery in Tesla's Android app version 4.60.5-4573. The app's signed asset package includes three image...

Starlink said Tuesday that rural schools across Argentina completed their first high-speed internet video call, a milestone in a project to connect 6,000 schools after students previously had to travel about 30 kilometres to get online. Students and teachers joined the call with Argentina's Ministry of Human Capital, experiencing high-speed internet in their classrooms for...

Tesla's Powerwall 2 owners can now expand their home battery systems with a Powerwall 3, a new capacity upgrade the company opened up to existing customers in North America and Australia on Tuesday. The option lets households with the older battery add the newer 13.5 kWh unit alongside it, rather than sourcing another Powerwall 2...

Starlink said Tuesday it is dropping the upfront cost of its home-use Mini rental kit to 0 yen in some areas of Japan, making it easier than ever for households to get online with satellite internet. In a Japanese-language post, the company said installation is quick in most regions across the country and delivers optimal...