Tesla has finally released its ‘Master Plan Part 4’ and it’s nothing more than a smorgasbord of AI promises about its humanoid robot, which can’t even serve popcorn.
For more than a year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been teasing the release of his ‘Master Plan Part 4’ for the company.
Since 2006, Musk has been releasing “secret master plans” for Tesla to explain the company’s broader mission and product roadmap.
Musk himself recently admitted that Master Plan Part 2, released in 2016, is not even completed yet. He believes that will happen “next year”, but we heard that one before.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
Master Plan Part 3 was released in 2023, and it was about scaling when, in fact, Tesla’s electric vehicle sales have been in decline since then. They peaked in 2023.
Now, ‘Master Plan Part 4’ was released on X, and it’s all about “sustainable abundance” through AI and robotics.
Here it is:
Introduction
Since Tesla’s founding, each iteration of our master plan has focused on our north star: to deliver unconstrained sustainability without compromise.
Humans are toolmakers. At Tesla, we make physical products at scale and at a low cost with the goal of making life better for everyone. As the influence and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology increases, the mission set forth in Master Plan Part IV should come as no surprise.
This next chapter in Tesla’s story will help create a world we’ve only just begun to imagine and will do so at a scale that we have yet to see. We are building the products and services that bring AI into the physical world.
We have been working tirelessly for nearly two decades to create the foundation for this technological renaissance through the development of electric vehicles, energy products and humanoid robots.
Now, we are combining our manufacturing capabilities with our autonomous prowess to deliver new products and services that will accelerate global prosperity and human thriving driven by economic growth shared by all. We are unifying our hardware and software at scale, and in doing so, we are creating a safer, cleaner and more enjoyable world.
This is sustainable abundance.
Guiding principles
Growth is infinite.
Growth in one area does not require decline in another. Shortages in resources can be remedied by improved technology, greater innovation and new ideas.
The technologies that gave us the ability to power machines led to industrial revolutions that have widened our economic landscape, creating more opportunities for all. Groundbreaking inventions like the semiconductor and the internet have expanded—not diminished—social and economic opportunities across all aspects of the human experience, from creating more jobs to providing greater access to information to enabling deeper interpersonal connections.
Our desire to push beyond what is considered achievable will foster the growth needed for truly sustainable abundance.
Innovation removes constraints.
For centuries, humanity’s primary mode of transportation was the horse. Then, over the last fifty-plus years, cars with internal combustion engines powered by fossil fuels became the standard and expected transportation method. The idea that batteries could be produced affordably and at a scale large enough to pivot the transportation industry away from fossil fuels seemed a fool’s errand—until Tesla led the way forward.
Through continued innovation, we have overcome the technological constraints of battery development and built an industry powered by renewable resources.
Technology solves tangible problems.
The products and services born out of the acceleration toward sustainable abundance will advance humanity by solving real-world problems. To further accelerate our innovation, we build each product more efficiently and more sustainably than the last.
Solar energy generation and large-scale battery storage are increasing the availability and reliability of clean electricity in our communities—and are doing so more affordably and more sustainably.
Autonomous vehicles have the capacity to dramatically improve the affordability, availability and safety of transportation while reducing pollution, particularly in our increasingly dense global cities.
Optimus—our autonomous humanoid robot—is changing not only the perception of labor itself but its availability and capability. Jobs and tasks that are particularly monotonous or dangerous can now be accomplished by other means. In this way, Optimus’s mission is to give people back more time to do what they love.
Autonomy must benefit all of humanity.
The tools we make at Tesla help us build the products that advance human prosperity.
How we develop and use autonomy—and the new capabilities it makes available to us—should be informed by its ability to enhance the human condition. Making daily life better—and safer—for all people through our autonomous technology has always been, and continues to be, our focus.
Greater access drives greater growth.
Making technologically advanced products that are affordable and available at scale is required to build a flourishing and unconstrained society. It serves to further democratize society while raising everyone’s quality of life in the process. The hallmark of meritocracy is creating opportunities that enable each person to use their skills to accomplish whatever they imagine.
Everyone deserves access to these opportunities, and technological growth can help ensure that each of us is able to maximize our most limited resource: time.
We’re accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable abundance.
We must make one thing clear: this challenge will be extremely difficult to overcome. The elimination of scarcity will require tireless and exquisite execution. Some will perceive it as impossible. And plenty of others will laud every obstacle and setback we inevitably encounter along the way. But once we overcome this challenge, our critics will come to see that what they once thought was impossible is indeed possible. And that will be fine with us, because what matters most is that, together, we create a sustainable and truly abundant future for generations to come.
All worthwhile journeys are long. And they all begin with a first step.
Our first step was to make an exciting sports car—Roadster. Then we leveraged those profits to fund the development and production of more affordable, yet still exciting products—Model S and Model X. Then we repeated the process, bringing us to Model 3 and Model Y and onward.
This process required us to take many steps, some of them small and others large. But ultimately each win led to another win, and even with our failures, we were able to keep building momentum. Our momentum allowed us to build out a fully integrated ecosystem of sustainable products, from transport to energy generation, battery storage and robotics.
Today we are on the cusp of a revolutionary period primed for unprecedented growth. And this time it will not be a single step but a leap forward for Tesla and humanity as a whole. The tools we are going to develop will help us build the kind of world that we’ve always dreamed of—a world of sustainable abundance—by redefining the fundamental building blocks of labor, mobility and energy at scale and for all.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is lost as a company. This is a bunch of utopic nonsense, complete with AI “abundance” buzzwords that Grok could have easily written.
Elon’s first two master plans were straightforward, featuring clear, actionable steps and a well-defined product roadmap.
In comparison, this is opium meant for Tesla shareholders to get their fix of potential “infinite growth” as an AI stock. It’s not real.
Everyone can see the value in an affordable humanoid robot capable of autonomously performing useful tasks. You don’t need to sell people on a weird utopic future around it. Start by demonstrating that you can create such a robot.
We have seen no evidence of that yet.
All of Tesla’s Optimus robot demonstrations have been supported by humans remotely controlling them. Most recently, Tesla had Optimus serving popcorn to guests at its diner in Los Angeles. It worked for a few hours on the first day, and the robot has reportedly been offline for a month since the restaurant’s launch.
I know I might sound like a hater, but I don’t care. Tesla is not a company that is about to deliver a future of “sustainable abundance”.
Tesla is a company that did the impossible and significantly accelerated the world’s transition to electric transportation. Then, its CEO went nuts. Sales started to go down, earnings began to drop, and to maintain a nonsensical stock price, the CEO decided to ride the AI bubble. That’s about it.
Cliff: Artists who embrace these tools are going to create entirely new genres. Just like MIDI sparked electronic music, AI will enable new forms of expression. Studios are already using AI at various stages of production.
But what they still need — and will always need — is human emotion and the ability to interpret art for human audiences. That’s what makes creatives invaluable.
If your daughter understands that relationship — between AI and human creativity — she’ll be in a much better position to thrive in her field. Keith: That’s great advice. I’ll be turning that into a short and showing it to her. Thanks, Cliff!
Let’s bring it back to job seekers for a moment — should people still prioritize in-person networking? Is that the “secret weapon” for getting past all this technology? Cliff: Absolutely. Networking is still the most effective way to get a job.
Whether it’s meeting someone in person, on LinkedIn, or through a mutual contact — any direct connection gives you a serious edge. Just two weeks ago, someone messaged me cold on LinkedIn asking for advice about a role at Phenom. I didn’t know them, but I respected the effort.
I sent them a Zoom link, we talked for 45 minutes, and afterward, I called the hiring VP and said, “This person cares. They’re worth a closer look.” Keith: So the human touch still matters, even in an AI-driven hiring process. Cliff: Yes.
And here’s the truth: a lot of younger professionals missed out on learning how to network because of COVID. We kept them isolated behind screens for years, and now they’re struggling with face-to-face interaction. If you’re job hunting, don’t just rely on online applications. Go find events — any event.
Charity fundraisers, trade shows, local meetups. Talk to people working at the company. Ask, “What’s it like to work here?” That curiosity will open doors.
(TNS) — City leaders are eyeing the next generation of cutting-edge technology to help grade and improve the condition of St. Joseph’s streets and roadways.
St. Joseph Public Works and Transportation is in the process of integrating new AI-powered software called Road AI, a type of specialized road maintenance software capable of detecting defects from cracking and fretting to edge deterioration and larger potholes.
“We’re trying to advance everything in Public Works and AI is the big thing right now, St. Joseph Public Works and Transportation Director Abe Forney said. “This new technology will enhance the ability for our public works department to hit those potholes.”
A $15,380 contract for the new technology is set to be introduced for first reading at Tuesday’s City Council meeting and could be finalized later on Sept. 15.
The program operates by recording street surfaces using smartphones while an inspector drives the route. The video is uploaded nightly to a cloud-based AI program with condition ratings being available within hours.
Data is then exported to Excel and imported into Cartegraph — an operations and asset management software platform — for use in determining overlay lists, concrete repair lists and other maintenance priorities.
“It’ll also give us sign inventory that we’ve never had. So it’s looking at signs. It’s looking at our road conditions. It’s looking at crosswalks where they should be and bike trails that cross the road,” Forney said. “This technology is going to continue to grow.”
RoadAI’s technology will sharply boost efficiency and enhance the long-held process of having a supervisor drive and document 440 lane miles of roadway in St. Joseph.
If approved by council, Forney expects the city will be able to quickly integrate the new software and have it deployed for staff usage in short order. The software is part of a subscription service offered through company Vaisala Inc.
“Taking one of our employees and driving all the roads and him writing on a piece of paper what our road conditions are … this is going to be much better,” Forney said. “This technology is going to free them up to do other things that need attention.”
In the long run, he’s optimistic the AI-powered technology will provide cost savings for the department and could grow in usage in other areas. RoadAI’s website states the software is 50% less expensive that traditional road surveys.
The technology is one key part of the city’s new five-year street master plan, a strategy designed to address top concerns identified in a community survey launched earlier this year.
“The survey that just came out said that our road conditions are in poor shape. We all know that some of our roads need some attention,” Forney said. “There’s so many things that are out there that we can utilize to better our public works department.
Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above. ✖
Want to listen to this article for FREE?
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have developed aerial robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, track and analyze wildfire smoke plumes. This innovation could lead to more accurate computer models that will improve air quality predictions for a wide range of pollutants.
Previous simulation tools have worked to model fire and smoke particle behavior, but there were still limitations in accurate collection of data, modeling and the current field tools to observe these smoke plumes. In this paper, the researchers addressed the challenges in accurately modeling how smoke particles behave and spread during wildfires and prescribed burns.
“A key step is understanding the composition of smoke particles and how they disperse,” said Jiarong Hong, a professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and senior author on the paper. “Smaller particles can travel farther and stay suspended longer, impacting regions far from the original fire.”
Using a swarm of AI-guided aerial robots, they were able to capture multiple angles of the smoke plumes to create 3D reconstructions of smoke plumes and analyze flow patterns. Unlike traditional drones, these aerial robots can identify smoke and navigate into it to collect data.
“This approach allows for high-resolution data collection across large areas—at a lower cost than satellite-based tools,” said Nikil Nrishnakumar, a graduate research assistant with the Minnesota Robotics Institute at the University of Minnesota and first author of the paper. “It provides critical data for improving simulations and informing hazard response.”
The cost-effective technology has potential beyond wildfires and could be adapted for sandstorms, volcanic eruptions, and other airborne hazards. The team’s next goal is to translate the research into practical tools for early fire detection and mitigation.
“Early identification is key,” Hong said. “The sooner you can see the fire, the faster you can respond.”
Previously, the team developed an autonomous drone system, equipped with onboard computer vision and sensors to detect and track wildfire smoke plumes in real time. Building on this, they will now be focusing on efficient plume tracking and particle characterization using Digital Inline Holography with coordinated multi-drone systems. They are also working on integrating a type of drone, called a fixed-wing VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing), that can take off without a runway and can fly for more than an hour for extended-range surveillance missions.
Reference: Krishnakumar N, Sharma S, Pal SK, Hong J. 3D characterization of smoke plume dispersion using multi-view drone swarm. Sci Total Environ. 2025;980:179466. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179466
This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.
Business4 days ago
Ethics & Policy1 month ago
Events & Conferences3 months ago
Jobs & Careers2 months ago
Funding & Business2 months ago
Education2 months ago
Podcasts & Talks2 months ago
Education2 months ago
Education2 months ago