tech

Rani Molla3/4/25

Another indication Cybertruck sales aren’t going well: Tesla is offering free charging for life on Foundation models

Tesla is offering new buyers of the Foundation Series Cybertruck free charging for as long as they own the vehicle — potentially an indication the company is having trouble moving the $95,000-plus “apocalypse-proof” pickups.

Early on in Tesla’s existence as a public company, the company offered free supercharging for life for purchasers of its Model S. It started phasing out that promotion in 2017, as Tesla sales started to really take off and a year before its Model 3 became the bestselling luxury car in the US.

Since then, the company has occasionally offered the promotion as a way to boost sales. It offered a promotion similar to the Cybertruck one in December for the Model S, as it tried and failed to reach its 2024 sales goals.

Another way to move more Cybertrucks: selling them to the Trump administration — a plan that is currently on hold after NPR reported on it.

Tesla will give you lifetime free charging if you pay $100,000 for a Cybertruck

Early on in Tesla’s existence as a public company, the company offered free supercharging for life for purchasers of its Model S. It started phasing out that promotion in 2017, as Tesla sales started to really take off and a year before its Model 3 became the bestselling luxury car in the US.

Since then, the company has occasionally offered the promotion as a way to boost sales. It offered a promotion similar to the Cybertruck one in December for the Model S, as it tried and failed to reach its 2024 sales goals.

Another way to move more Cybertrucks: selling them to the Trump administration — a plan that is currently on hold after NPR reported on it.

More Tech

Megazord

If having multiple CEOs is better for stock market returns, Oracle is quadrupling down

But buyer beware: the last time Oracle had co-CEOs, shares underperformed.

tech

Ives raises Apple price target to Wall Street high of $310, citing a “real upgrade cycle” for iPhones

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives raised his Apple price target to $310 from $270 thanks to “early strong demand signs” for the iPhone 17, which he says is tracking 10% to 15% ahead of the iPhone 16 at this point.

That $310 price target is the highest among Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Ives said the Street’s estimate of about 230 million iPhone unit sales for Apple’s upcoming fiscal year is conservative and instead thinks the company is on track to sell 240 million to 250 million units in FY26. Ives wrote:

“The combination of a pent-up consumer upgrade cycle with our estimates of 315 million of 1.5 billion iPhones globally not upgrading their iPhones in the last 4 years, coupled with some design changes/enhancements have been the magical formula out of the gates.”

Sherwood News reported last week that redesigned iPhone models, which went on sale Friday, are seeing more interest than they have in three years — a phenomenon we speculate might have less to do with the iPhone itself and more to do with a natural upgrade cycle, as the rush of phones purchased in 2020 and 2021 become obsolete.

tech

Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are among the US tech companies most affected by Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee

President Trump’s proclamation on Friday charging a new $100,000 fee for high-skilled tech visas has sent the country’s biggest tech companies scrambling. Firms warned their H-1B workers not to travel outside the US and are weighing what the steep cost could mean for future hiring, given their heavy reliance on the program to bring in top talent.

Data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows the top beneficiaries of H-1B visas this year include Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google.

So far, the leaders of these tech companies, many of whom recently attended a White House dinner praising the president, have been mum on the new fee, except for Netflix’s Reed Hastings. He wrote on X that he considers it a “great solution.”

“It will mean H1-B is used just for very high-value jobs, which will mean no lottery needed, and more certainty for those jobs,” he said. Netflix is not among the top 100 beneficiaries of H-1B visas this year.

tech

Jon Keegan9/19/25

OpenAI reportedly poaching key Apple designers, using Apple manufacturing partners for AI gadgets

New details are emerging about the mysterious AI gadgets being designed by former Apple design chief Jony Ive since OpenAI purchased his startup “io” in May.

According to a report by The Information, Ive’s team has recruited several key Apple design and hardware employees to work on the gadgets. The Information reported some details of the devices:

“One of the products OpenAI has talked to suppliers about making resembles a smart speaker without a display, the people said. OpenAI has also considered building glasses, a digital voice recorder and a wearable pin, and is targeting late 2026 or early 2027 for the release of its first devices, one of the people said.”

OpenAI is also turning to Apple’s Chinese manufacturing partners to build the products, having signed contracts with Luxshare, and has been in talks with Goertek, per the report.

OpenAI Raids Apple for Hardware Talent, Manufacturing Partners

OpenAI Raids Apple for Hardware Talent, Manufacturing Partners

“One of the products OpenAI has talked to suppliers about making resembles a smart speaker without a display, the people said. OpenAI has also considered building glasses, a digital voice recorder and a wearable pin, and is targeting late 2026 or early 2027 for the release of its first devices, one of the people said.”

OpenAI is also turning to Apple’s Chinese manufacturing partners to build the products, having signed contracts with Luxshare, and has been in talks with Goertek, per the report.

Mark Zuckerberg at Meta Connect 2025

Are Ray-Ban Meta glasses really a hit?

We checked how it stacks up to iconic gadgets, and the results are mixed.

Jon Keegan, Rani Molla9/19/25

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