Tesla Expected to Add Voice Assistant as Musk Says Grok AI is Coming

Not a Tesla App

In a Space on X (Spaces are group voice chats), Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla vehicles would eventually receive Grok AI. Specifically, he confirmed that “You would be able to ask Grok things in Teslas.”  There’s a lot to dig into this simple statement, especially given the recent addition of a true voice assistant in China.

Tesla Voice Assistant

Tesla’s voice commands in North America have recently received updates to have a better, clearer voice, while in China, the system received a complete overhaul. Voice commands in China have been replaced with a smart assistant capable of answering simple questions like “What is the value of Tesla stock?” or “How’s the weather today?”

Grok is the AI Large Language Model (LLM) available on X for Premium users and is capable of answering much more than just simple questions. While Elon Musk previously mentioned it in passing – that Teslas could run an LLM on their AI hardware with room to spare – not much has come down the voice assistant front. Other chat models, including ChatGPT, have already implemented voice modes, which let you converse back and forth with the AI.

We’re hoping that once x.AI’s Grok gets a voice mode as well, it will eventually make its way to Tesla vehicles in some capacity. The current iteration of Tesla’s voice commands is useful, but its command set is limited and mostly focused on vehicle accessibility.

Grok should be able to greatly improve the capabilities of the system, introducing a wider range of functionality, and reduce the strictness of how you need to ask for something. You’ll hopefully be able to ask Grok for the best restaurants around town and have FSD take you there. There’s no word whether Tesla would use a wake-word to activate the voice assistant or whether drivers would still need to tap the voice button on the steering wheel. China’s current voice assistant still requires a button press to activate.

In the audio chat, Musk goes on to say that Grok AI would not be run locally on the vehicle, and the vehicle would still need to send out a snippet of the voice request before returning with an answer. This is the same way Tesla’s voice commands work today and how the majority of voice assistants function. However, there are certain voice assistants that can process and run your command completely locally without having to out to the internet.

There’s no ETA on when Tesla will add a true voice assistant, but ever since it was released in China earlier this year, we’ve been expecting it to be added to other regions. It would be a fantastic Christmas gift, though…

You can listen to Musk’s short audio clip below:

Grok coming to Tesla vehicles pic.twitter.com/ikAP5wTK6a

— K10.10✨ (@Kristennetten) October 6, 2024

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Tesla is Setting Up Pop-Up Displays Across Malls in the United States

David Zhai on LinkedIn

Each year, around the Holiday season, Tesla puts up pop-up mall displays across the United States, Canada, and certain locations in Europe. It looks like Tesla is continuing this tradition once again this year, as David Zhai, Concept and Prototype Staff Manager at Tesla, has stated on LinkedIn that the Tesla Pop-Up Shops are returning.

Pop-Up Displays

Tesla intends to build small pop-up displays featuring Tesla vehicles, including the Cybertruck, at major malls throughout the United States. These displays are usually temporary and just for the holiday season. However, they’re placed in high-traffic areas, usually near the center of major malls - near food courts and rest areas. 

They’re also usually staffed by members of the local Delivery/Service Center, who are around to answer questions and show off the features of the vehicles on display. After all, seeing a Cybertruck from a distance is one thing - sitting inside is entirely another.

Other Regions

David Zhai didn’t mention whether these would be coming to other regions - just the United States. It seems that while Tesla previously ran these displays globally, it may not be the case this year. We’ll keep an eye out and see if they start popping up in Canada, Europe, or China - let us know if you spot one there!

Drive-By Displays

When Cybertruck launched, Tesla also held drive-by displays throughout North America and Europe. They drove the Cybertruck into places like New York’s Times Square while towing a Model 3 or Model Y on a trailer behind it. These displays were really popular and attracted tons of attention.

We’re hoping to see more of these drive-by displays make a comeback sometime soon. Many owners have yet to see the new Model 3 or the Tesla Semi up close and personal.

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Tesla Updates Referral Program, Bigger Discounts, Bigger Rewards

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has updated their referral program, and there are quite a few interesting changes to boot. There are now bigger discounts for buyers and bigger rewards for referrers, and it seems that the referral program has also had its cap reset.

The updated program has rolled out to North America - so both Canada and the United States. The changes are not active in Europe, China, or other regions - but keep your eyes out. Tesla will probably enable the new rewards in the coming days.

New Referral Discount

The new referral discount now provides up to $2,000 USD off your vehicle purchase, and includes any of Tesla’s vehicles - including the Cybertruck in the United States. The Model S, X and Cybertruck get the steepest discounts at $2,000 off, while the Model 3 and Model Y buyers get $1,000 off.

For Canadians, it's $2,600 CAD off your purchase, but the Cybertruck and Model 3 are exempt. In Canada, the Model Y gets the same discount as the Model S and X.

Inventory vehicles are included in the discount, which means you could potentially score a demo vehicle for several thousand dollars off right now. Used vehicles are not eligible for the discount.

In conjunction with the 0% Financing if you purchase FSD, now is one of the best times to purchase a new Tesla, especially with both the US and Canadian Federal EV Rebates potentially ending next year.

New Referral Reward

The reward is also much higher - $1,000 USD in the United States, and $1,300 CAD in Canada. That’s the highest the referral reward program has ever been, and it’s quite a big set of rewards. You can now obtain up to $10,000 USD or $13,000 CAD off your next vehicle purchase, or put it towards Tesla Shop Accessories, Supercharging, or even Tesla Service.

Interestingly, the program also says that referrers have the chance to win an invite to an upcoming special Tesla event. Given we just had We, Robot, the next event could be the launch of the Model Y Juniper or the $25,000 next-gen car.

Referral Reset

If you had maxed out the original referral program, meaning that you could no longer earn new referrals, Tesla has now reset the count. The updated program is once again a 10-referral limit, which will reset again either once Tesla updates the referral program or a 12-month cycle rolls over.

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