The Download

Tesla

TL;DR: Tesla’s Roadster 2 has finally been unveiled, and it’s a “flying” sci-fi fever dream of a car. The demo shows how far Tesla has come from the automaker we once knew—moving beyond just making cars, and instead becoming more of a futuristic tech company that combines AI, robotics, and now even aerospace engineering.

What happened: If you were at the SpaceX site in McGregor, Texas, yesterday, you might have mistaken the scene for a Hot Wheels stunt show. During a live demo, Tesla’s new supercar drove upside down, spun in the air a few dozen feet up, and landed right back on its wheels. (Watch it in all its kick-flipping glory here.)

According to Tesla, the Roadster 2—which was first shown off as a prototype almost nine years ago—will go into production in 2028. These over-the-top demos were the fruits of a “collaboration between the world’s best car company and the world’s best rocket company,” per Musk—befitting a firm that insists it’s not just an automaker anymore.

The sci-fi spec sheet: The Roadster 2 achieves its lift from 10 cold-gas thrusters positioned around the car, including four underneath it, that shoot bursts of compressed gas, per Tesla. But the hovercraft-like features are only available in the highest-tier “Rocket” trim, which Tesla is selling by invitation only. The “Thrust” version will come with just the rear thrusters, while the “Performance” trim won’t have any boosters at all.

Tesla also boasts that the Roadster 2 is unfathomably fast. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in 0.81 seconds, by Tesla’s own timing—and the company is aiming for the finished car to top 230 mph, with Musk personally hoping it reaches 380 mph, or roughly half the speed of sound. (And the killer feature: It comes with a very tiny clock.)

The inconsistencies: Despite claiming back in 2017 that the next Roadster would go 620 miles on a single charge, Tesla now says it’ll manage just over 300—less than its own Model 3, which can go up to 363. And don’t expect to soar over rush-hour traffic: The flying “Rocket” trim isn’t approved for public roads, and Musk himself called the Roadster “not necessarily a safety-optimized car.”

What we still don’t know: Tesla used a different car for each of its tricks yesterday, and it hasn’t said how many maneuvers the “Rocket” can pull off before its thrusters need a refill. (On the “Thrust” version, the extra speed boost apparently lasts only about six seconds.) Another question mark: whether Tesla can get the FAA sign-off experts say it would need to fly the thing. And we still don’t know the exact pricing on these bad boys either, though Tesla’s currently asking for $50,000 to reserve the “Performance” and $250,000 for the “Thrust.”

Bottom line: This spectacle could be a tease of the rumored Tesla-SpaceX merger. But whether or not that pans out, Tesla—amid flagging sales and its stock down about 20% this year—probably really needed a big, splashy announcement. —WK

      

From The Crew

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I haven’t had time to tinker around with AI over the past couple of weeks since I’ve been on the ground doing a lot of reporting, but I would love to hear what you’ve been using it for. Is there a prompt you’ve found particularly useful? Or something you’ve done that you think other people could use, too? If so, let us know here, and you may be featured in a future edition. —SM

The Zeitbyte

@grok, is this AI psychosis?

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Adobe Stock, Getty Images

Musk has a confession: He’s dealt with several bouts of AI psychosis this year—somewhere around “half a dozen times,” in fact. The admission came at a recent fan event while Musk was gushing over AI-made music videos, which showed that AI “can do good taste,” per the billionaire.

While we should probably take this self-assessment with a heavy grain of salt (especially given that AI psychosis isn’t a medical diagnosis), it’s hardly news that some of AI’s biggest boosters are in the habit of using their favorite chatbot for everything. In Musk’s case, that’s ranged from generating cringey AI slop videos of himself to enlisting it to back him up in a heated argument with an online chess site.

Recently, the world’s richest man even urged his X followers to send a photo of their credit card to Grok so the AI can shop for them (advice that got a Community Note warning users not to do this). Other people might be more wary about handing an AI so much personal data—but maybe it’s hard not to be fond of a bot that tells the world you’re fitter than LeBron James. —WK

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