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Slate Auto’s “Blank Slate” electric pickup truck
Slate Auto

The anti-Cybertruck: Bezos-backed Slate unveils a bare-bones EV truck under $20,000

With a much lower potential price tag, the move puts pressure on Tesla to finally make its own low-cost car.

Last night Slate Auto, the stealth EV startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, formally unveiled a bare-bones, customizable electric pickup that’s supposed to cost less than $20,000 after federal credits when it rolls out at the end of 2026. (InsideEVs has a lot of details here.) Tesla’s cheapest model, the Model 3, which starts at $35,000 after credits, costs about 75% more.

The Slate truck is sort of the opposite of Tesla’s latest new model, the Cybertruck, which after a price reduction now starts at about $70,000, or more than three Slate trucks. For one, it’s minuscule in comparison to the Cybertruck’s huge footprint, with a total length of 174.6 inches versus the Cybertruck’s 223 inches. Unlike the Cybertruck, the Slate truck has no infotainment, its windows are hand-cranked and it definitely doesn’t claim to drive itself. It’s also a lot less powerful and a lot less showy.

Slate Auto’s price point makes it cheaper than any electric vehicle in the US. It also would make it cheaper than most gas vehicles, with the average cost of new vehicles in the US hovering around $50,000.

Tesla investors have long clamored for an affordable model — something the company promised and then walked back. Tesla scrapped the company’s long-awaited $25,000 model last year after deciding to go forward with the self-driving, steering-wheel-less Cybercab instead.

As a concession, the company said it would offer lower-cost versions of existing models. Despite reporting to the contrary, Tesla said during its latest earnings report that the company is still on track to release those models in the first half of this year. It didn’t specify a price but did say that producing these models on existing manufacturing lines “will result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected.”

Of course, a lot can happen between now and late next year. And while both Slate and Tesla are assembled it the US, it’s likely both will be subject to tariffs on imported parts.

Like Tesla, we’ll believe Slate’s affordable mass-market vehicle, when customers can actually buy it.

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Jon Keegan

Chinese AI chatbots reportedly must answer 2,000 questions, prove censorship compliance

For American companies building AI today, its basically a free-for-all, a self-regulation zone with zero federal restrictions.

But for Chinese AI companies, the Chinese Communist Party exerts strict control over what models get released and what questions they cannot answer.

A report in The Wall Street Journal details the rigorous tests that AI models are subjected to before being released on the global stage to compete with Western AI models.

AI models must answer 2,000 questions that are frequently updated and achieve a 95% refusal rate for queries related to forbidden topics, like the Tiananmen Square massacre or human rights violations, according to the report.

The strict regulatory framework does have some safety advantages, such as preventing chatbots from sharing violent or pornographic material as well as protections from self-harm, an issue that American AI companies are currently wrestling with.

A report in The Wall Street Journal details the rigorous tests that AI models are subjected to before being released on the global stage to compete with Western AI models.

AI models must answer 2,000 questions that are frequently updated and achieve a 95% refusal rate for queries related to forbidden topics, like the Tiananmen Square massacre or human rights violations, according to the report.

The strict regulatory framework does have some safety advantages, such as preventing chatbots from sharing violent or pornographic material as well as protections from self-harm, an issue that American AI companies are currently wrestling with.

tech

Report: OpenAI has started mocking up what ads in ChatGPT could look like

2025 saw OpenAI ink a flurry of massive deals. To pay for it all, the company has realized that it can’t get there on $20-per-month subscriptions alone; it also needs to monetize its hundreds of millions of free users.

To this end, despite repeatedly denying that ads are coming to ChatGPT, a new report says OpenAI is actually working through all those details.

Citing people familiar with the discussions, The Information reports employees have discussed different ways to prioritize sponsored information in ChatGPT in response to relevant queries.

Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, its offerings have been ad-free, relying instead on a freemium subscription model. But with Google recently telling advertisers it plans to bring ads to Gemini next year, and with OpenAI burning through truckloads of cash, the pressure to follow suit is growing.

OpenAI is looking at its AI model-developing competitors Meta and Google, which are pulling in hundreds of billions of dollars per year in advertising revenue, to arrive at this conclusion. It’s also seemingly inspired by Amazon’s (and Google’s) idea of sponsored product placement.

Per the report, in addition to trying to build new kinds of ad units, OpenAI is considering a few options:

  • Leaning into chats that are clearly about buying a product and giving priority placement to sponsored results — though this works out to only about 2.1% of queries, according to OpenAI.

  • Showing ads based on the treasure trove of information it has on users, by mining their chat histories.

  • A “sponsored” sidebar showing ads related to the conversation.

But the company realizes it has to be careful to not turn off users, who might not trust a chatbot that peppers sensitive conversations with ads.

Citing people familiar with the discussions, The Information reports employees have discussed different ways to prioritize sponsored information in ChatGPT in response to relevant queries.

Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, its offerings have been ad-free, relying instead on a freemium subscription model. But with Google recently telling advertisers it plans to bring ads to Gemini next year, and with OpenAI burning through truckloads of cash, the pressure to follow suit is growing.

OpenAI is looking at its AI model-developing competitors Meta and Google, which are pulling in hundreds of billions of dollars per year in advertising revenue, to arrive at this conclusion. It’s also seemingly inspired by Amazon’s (and Google’s) idea of sponsored product placement.

Per the report, in addition to trying to build new kinds of ad units, OpenAI is considering a few options:

  • Leaning into chats that are clearly about buying a product and giving priority placement to sponsored results — though this works out to only about 2.1% of queries, according to OpenAI.

  • Showing ads based on the treasure trove of information it has on users, by mining their chat histories.

  • A “sponsored” sidebar showing ads related to the conversation.

But the company realizes it has to be careful to not turn off users, who might not trust a chatbot that peppers sensitive conversations with ads.

tech
Rani Molla

NHTSA investigates Tesla Model 3 over concerns mechanical door release is “not readily accessible or easily identifiable”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is investigating the emergency exit controls on 179,071 model year 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles after receiving a defect petition alleging the vehicles’ “mechanical door release is hidden, unlabeled, and not intuitive to locate during an emergency.”

The investigation is separate from a probe the agency announced this fall into instances of electronic door handles on 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles becoming inoperable from the outside.

The action follows a series of reporting from Bloomberg examining the role of Tesla’s door designs in accident fatalities. Tesla has previously said it is working on redesigns to its door handles.

tech
Jon Keegan

FCC bans new Chinese drones and components from DJI and Autel Robotics

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission banned new drones and critical components from the market-leading Chinese drone manufacturer DJI and smaller firm Autel Robotics, calling the foreign-made drones “an unacceptable national security risk.”

The ban covers all drones and related components from any foreign manufacturer. DJI dominates the worldwide (nonmilitary) drone market, with a market share greater than 90%, according to some estimates.

In addition to hobbyists, the quadcopter-style drones made by DJI are used heavily in a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, infrastructure inspection, real estate, and also by first responders. Blocking foreign drones leaves many critical fields without a viable US-made alternative, as the industry has struggled to develop new supply chains that don’t come from China and match the quality of DJI’s hardware and software.

Shares of Florida-based drone builder Unusual Machines are up over 8% in early trading. Donald Trump Jr. is an investor and adviser to the company.

DJI has said its drones do not present a security risk and that it welcomes a national security review, noting that its drones can be used without an internet connection and all data is saved locally.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said:

“I welcome this Executive Branch national security determination, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign drones and related components, which pose an unacceptable national security risk, to the FCC’s Covered List. Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will work closely with U.S. drone makers to unleash American drone dominance.”

The ban covers all drones and related components from any foreign manufacturer. DJI dominates the worldwide (nonmilitary) drone market, with a market share greater than 90%, according to some estimates.

In addition to hobbyists, the quadcopter-style drones made by DJI are used heavily in a wide variety of industries, including agriculture, infrastructure inspection, real estate, and also by first responders. Blocking foreign drones leaves many critical fields without a viable US-made alternative, as the industry has struggled to develop new supply chains that don’t come from China and match the quality of DJI’s hardware and software.

Shares of Florida-based drone builder Unusual Machines are up over 8% in early trading. Donald Trump Jr. is an investor and adviser to the company.

DJI has said its drones do not present a security risk and that it welcomes a national security review, noting that its drones can be used without an internet connection and all data is saved locally.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said:

“I welcome this Executive Branch national security determination, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign drones and related components, which pose an unacceptable national security risk, to the FCC’s Covered List. Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will work closely with U.S. drone makers to unleash American drone dominance.”

tech
Rani Molla

Tesla’s EU sales fell nearly 40% in the first 11 months of 2025

From January through November of this year, Tesla sales fell 39% to 129,000 in the European Union compared with the first 11 months of 2024, according to new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, known as ACEA. In that same time, sales of Chinese competitor BYD grew 240% to 110,000. BYD first outsold Tesla there this spring, but Tesla is still outpacing BYD for the year.

Overall, sales of battery electric vehicles in the EU rose 28%.

Tesla has struggled throughout this year in Europe, its third-biggest market — something CEO Elon Musk has blamed on Europe’s lack of regulatory approval for its Full Self-Driving tech, though the decline likely has more to do with competition from China.

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