tech

Bank of America upgrades Tesla, expecting it to “quickly become a leader in robotaxi services”

Tesla jumped in premarket trading after Bank of America reinstated coverage of the EV maker and upgraded it to “buy” from “hold,” with a price target of $460.

“We expect TSLA to quickly become a leader in robotaxi services, given its ability to scale more profitably than competitors,” analyst Alexander Perry wrote, noting that Tesla’s approach eschews more expensive (but more robust) technology like lidar.

Currently, Tesla’s Robotaxi service operates in two markets with heavy human oversight. In Austin, most of the rides involve a safety monitor sitting in the front seat, and in the Bay Area, all rides are driven by a human using supervised Full Self-Driving tech.

Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, meanwhile, is currently operating its driverless ride-hailing service in 10 US markets.

Bank of America upgrades Tesla, calls it the clear leader in autonomous driving

Bank of America upgrades Tesla, calls it the clear leader in autonomous driving

Currently, Tesla’s Robotaxi service operates in two markets with heavy human oversight. In Austin, most of the rides involve a safety monitor sitting in the front seat, and in the Bay Area, all rides are driven by a human using supervised Full Self-Driving tech.

Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, meanwhile, is currently operating its driverless ride-hailing service in 10 US markets.

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tech

Waymos reportedly continuing to pass stopped school buses after earlier recall over same issue

The National Transportation Safety Board reported Tuesday that it’s looking into two recent instances of driverless Waymo vehicles passing stopped school buses. The incidents occurred after the Alphabet subsidiary filed a voluntary recall in December over similar behavior.

In the January 12 case, the NTSB says video evidence shows the Waymo vehicle initially stopped for a school bus that had its red lights flashing and stop arms extended. Three human-driven vehicles then passed the bus illegally. While stopped, the Waymo vehicle contacted a remote assistance agent located in Michigan, asking whether the bus had active signals. After the agent responded “no,” the vehicle resumed travel and passed the bus while its stop arms were still extended. No one was hurt.

tech

OpenAI’s new GPT-5.3 Instant: Less “cringe” tone, no more “over-caveating” responses

OpenAI has released GPT-5.3 Instant, a conversational model that the company says will have smoother conversations more to the point.

It seems OpenAI is walking back from its cautious guardrails, allowing a more permissive AI chatbot.

In a video describing the new model, a researcher explained, “People are noticing that our models can sometimes seem like a bit of a nanny.” The company describes this overcautious behavior as “over-caveating,” and this new model aims to relax a bit and let more things slide.

An example showed a question about calculations for “a really long-distance archery scenario.” The previous version of the model noted that the AI could not help with calculations that could be harmful. The new model’s response just went ahead and answered the question, without assuming any bad intent.

The researcher in the video said that these changes did not loosen safety controls, but rather just improved contextual understanding of the user’s query.

The model also features more useful web searches, which attempt to infer the context of why the user is asking the question and then tailor a more useful response. The company says results won’t appear to be just a list of links, but rather a more direct response with the information the user was looking for.

OpenAI said the new model is available today for all users of ChatGPT.

GPT-5.3 Instant: Smoother, more useful everyday conversations

GPT-5.3 Instant: Smoother, more useful everyday conversations

In a video describing the new model, a researcher explained, “People are noticing that our models can sometimes seem like a bit of a nanny.” The company describes this overcautious behavior as “over-caveating,” and this new model aims to relax a bit and let more things slide.

An example showed a question about calculations for “a really long-distance archery scenario.” The previous version of the model noted that the AI could not help with calculations that could be harmful. The new model’s response just went ahead and answered the question, without assuming any bad intent.

The researcher in the video said that these changes did not loosen safety controls, but rather just improved contextual understanding of the user’s query.

The model also features more useful web searches, which attempt to infer the context of why the user is asking the question and then tailor a more useful response. The company says results won’t appear to be just a list of links, but rather a more direct response with the information the user was looking for.

OpenAI said the new model is available today for all users of ChatGPT.

OpenAI’s Altman: Our rushed deal with the Pentagon “looked opportunistic and sloppy”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared an internal memo in which he expressed some regrets for the bad optics of the company’s hasty deal with the Pentagon, and outlined new additions that were made to the agreement.

Jerome Powell and Sam Altman Speak At Federal Reserve's Regulatory Capital Framework Conference

The vast majority of Tesla Robotaxi rides in Austin still have a safety driver

In January, Tesla announced its Robotaxis would begin operating without safety monitors. It doesn’t appear to have scaled up much.

Tesla Robotaxi

tech

Apple updates Mac chips and amps up AI claims

Apple’s new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are the latest step in its steady silicon march: faster CPUs, stronger graphics, more memory bandwidth. The 30% CPU performance increase is meaningful but incremental — not the kind of leap that accompanied the original M1 transition from Intel.

What’s more notable is how aggressively Apple is framing this around AI. The company is touting up to 4x higher peak GPU compute for AI workloads and the ability to run larger models locally, leaning hard into the on-device AI narrative as it positions the MacBook Pro as a more capable personal AI development machine.

It may be paying off in unexpected ways, as the explosion of interest in roll-your-own AI agents like Moltbot have made low-cost Macs like the MacMini a hot item.

Apple debuts M5 Pro and M5 Max to supercharge the most demanding pro workflows

Apple debuts M5 Pro and M5 Max to supercharge the most demanding pro workflows

It may be paying off in unexpected ways, as the explosion of interest in roll-your-own AI agents like Moltbot have made low-cost Macs like the MacMini a hot item.

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