Tag Archives: Elon Musk

The China gambit

Posted on September 10, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

You can smell the desperation. There’s one thing Republicans really want Texans to be thinking about as they prepare to cast their ballots for U.S. Senate – China. In the last week, several groups backing Attorney General Ken Paxton have … Continue reading →

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Some Cybercab news

Posted on September 6, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Shot: Elon Musk sent dozens of self-driving Cybercabs without steering wheels or brake pedals onto the streets of Austin on Thursday, betting that Americans will overcome their fears of rides with “no control” and hop inside. The rollout of the … Continue reading →

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Abbott reappoints all the Business Court judges

Posted on August 3, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

From the Things You Didn’t Remember Were A Thing department: Governor Greg Abbott reappointed all 10 Texas Business Court judges to new two-year terms Wednesday. The terms will begin on Sept. 1, the judges’ second since the court was created … Continue reading →

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A brief cyclospora roundup

Posted on July 23, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

First we had this. The Mexican iceberg lettuce linked to an outbreak of cases of explosive diarrhea was distributed in Texas for more than two weeks, according to the company recalling the product across the country. Lettuce distributed in Texas … Continue reading →

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Initial NTSB report says Tesla crash driver overrode self-driving mode

Posted on July 16, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. The man who crashed a Tesla into a home in Katy, killing a 76-year-old woman, overrode the vehicle’s self-driving system before the crash, according to preliminary findings released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB is … Continue reading →

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Don’t Elon my Boca Chica

Posted on July 14, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good Lord, this is duuuuuuuumb. A federal committee rejected a proposal on Thursday to rename Boca Chica Beach in South Texas to “Cyber Beach.” The move preserves the historic name despite a SpaceX supporter’s effort to rebrand the public beach … Continue reading →

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Driver in that fatal Tesla crash arrested

Posted on July 3, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. The driver of a Tesla Model 3 that crashed into a Katy home last month, killing an elderly woman, has been charged with manslaughter, records show. Michael Butler, 44, was booked into the Harris County Jail Wednesday and charged with … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Tesla crash

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. The family of the 76-year-old Katy woman who was killed when a Tesla Model 3 crashed into a home Friday has filed a lawsuit against Tesla and the driver of the vehicle. Jennifer and Justin Barbour filed the … Continue reading →

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NHTSA investigating Tesla crash

Posted on June 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good. In the days after a driver crashed their Tesla into a Katy home, fatally striking a 76-year-old woman, a federal agency launched an investigation into Tesla, and Elon Musk cast doubt on his company’s driver assistance technology playing a … Continue reading →

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Time for another screwworm roundup

Posted on June 21, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll start with a bit of positive news. Several drugs to treat animals during the Texas screwworm outbreak have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including a generic medication for household pets such as dogs and cats. Dr. … Continue reading →

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Where are the Tesla robotaxis?

Posted on June 20, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Not on the streets. Elon Musk, in trademark fashion, has made grand promises about Tesla’s Robotaxi efforts. Before he launched the service last summer, he proclaimed that over 1,000 of the self-driving cabs would be roaming the city streets “within … Continue reading →

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Good luck getting a Tesla ride

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

The wait times are terrible. When Tesla announced an expansion of its robotaxis to Dallas and Houston last month, some investors touted momentum for CEO Elon Musk’s mission to transform the electric-vehicle maker into an AI-powered, driverless-tech giant. Reuters reporters … Continue reading →

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South Texas residents sue SpaceX

Posted on May 4, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck. A group of 80 South Texas plaintiffs are suing Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, alleging its rocket testing caused “massive” sonic booms that damaged their houses repeatedly over a two-year period. The lawsuit was filed in … Continue reading →

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Elmo and the fake election sweepstakes

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Gather round for another story of Little Eldon Musk and his Big Fake Promises. Elon Musk appeared to be totally serious when he announced at a Pennsylvania town hall in October 2024 that his political action committee America PAC would … Continue reading →

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Tesla robotaxis arrive in Houston

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

And in Dallas. Tesla’s Robotaxi service has taken to the streets of Houston. In a brief statement Saturday, April 18 on its X social media account, Tesla Robotaxi says the autonomous rideshare service just launched in Texas’ two biggest metro areas — … Continue reading →

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Sorry, but data centers don’t need those tax breaks

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Let them pay their taxes. Texas will lose out on at least $3.1 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office. That … Continue reading →

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Lawsuits have been filed against xAI over Grok nonconsensual sexual images

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

Good. On Monday, three girls filed a class-action lawsuit against xAI alleging that the company’s Grok AI tool was used to generate child sexual abuse material from their photos. This new civil case joins at least two others revolving around nonconsensual deepfakes … Continue reading →

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On deepfakes and accountability

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be keeping an eye on this. A class action lawsuit accusing X.AI of enabling the mass creation of sexualized deepfakes marks a new stage of liability in cases involving artificial intelligence. Now, plaintiff lawyers are focusing on technology platforms … Continue reading →

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Waymo arrives in Houston

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

As anticipated, and for a select group for now. Some riders can start boarding Waymo self-driving cars in Houston and two other Texas cities Tuesday, marking the latest launch for the nationwide fleet of robotaxis. The driverless vehicles debuted in … Continue reading →

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Tesla sort of removes safety monitors from its robotaxis

Posted on January 29, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a catch. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that his company is now running a small number of its Robotaxi vehicles in Austin, Texas, without a human driver or safety supervisor on board. “Just started Tesla Robotaxi drives … Continue reading →

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Dems call on Paxton to investigate Grok

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what I’m talking about. Texas House Democrats on Monday dared Attorney General Ken Paxton to take on Elon Musk. Led by Rep. Mihaela Plesa of Dallas, more than 40 Democrats demanded an inquiry into allegations that Musk’s social media … Continue reading →

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So when will Ken Paxton sue Grok?

Posted on January 9, 2026 by Charles Kuffner

This year sure is off to a strong start. We’re now into the first full week of January, and not only are Grok users still able to manipulate the bot into generating inappropriate images of minors, but many of the offending deepfakes … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tesla robotaxi crash frequency

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Of note. Tesla’s 29 Austin Robotaxis have been involved in eight crashes since they launched in June, Electrek reports, citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data you can download here. Those crashes for the most part involved property damage, and only in … Continue reading →

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We may never know what’s in those intimate Abbott-Elon emails

Posted on December 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This was from just before Thanksgiving week, I’m just getting to it now. Months after fighting to keep secret the emails exchanged between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s companies, state officials released nearly 1,400 pages … Continue reading →

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Tesla robotaxis are coming to Houston

Posted on November 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Eventually. Real Soon Now. When Elon gets around to it. Tesla plans to bring its driverless robotaxi service to Houston, following CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that safety drivers will be phased out in Austin by the end of 2025. Musk … Continue reading →

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Elon Musk once again makes a full self-driving promise

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Death, taxes, etc. During the Tesla Q3 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk revealed that, within the next few months, the company’s robotaxi service could begin operating without the safety monitors that currently ride in the front seat of all the … Continue reading →

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IPAWS

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an informative story about an underutilized tool in the emergency response arsenal. In the fall of 2016, as wind-stoked wildfires raced across parched forest and threatened lives around Gatlinburg, Tennessee, state and local officials went back and forth about … Continue reading →

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Cards Against Humanity settles its lawsuit against Elon Musk

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We continue to live in strange times. Cards Against Humanity, the satirical party game, has settled its trespassing lawsuit against Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX. Court records show the lawsuit was dropped last month. In an email to fans sent … Continue reading →

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Harris County sues over Solar For All funds

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee filed a lawsuit Monday contesting the Trump administration’s cancellation of more than $400 million in solar energy grants earmarked for Texas-based organizations. The federal funding, part of a $7 billion Biden-era program known as Solar for All, was meant … Continue reading →

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The National Weather Service is basically broken

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s being held together by duct tape and twist ties, and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, all those Project 2025 assholes, and every cowardly Republican in Congress. Some National Weather Service staffers are working double shifts … Continue reading →

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Still more on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I once again call your attention to an episode of CityCast Houston, in which host Raheel Ramzanali chats with the host of the CityCast Las Vegas podcast about the experience they’ve had with Elon Musk and the Boring Company and … Continue reading →

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More on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Insecure man makes defensive response to fair questions about his wild idea. Film at 11. Billionaire Elon Musk is taking issue with a recent investigation by the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Newsroom that raised questions about a flood tunnel … Continue reading →

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Another look at Waymo’s robotaxi approach versus Tesla’s

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good long analysis here. A month after Tesla launched a trial robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June for select fans, CEO Elon Musk told investors that the company’s driverless taxis would likely be available to “half the population of … Continue reading →

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Do we still want flood tunnels if Elon is building them?

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Fascinating stuff. The devastating flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 killed dozens of people, inundated hundreds of thousands of homes and left the community desperate for a solution. Since then, local flood experts have extensively studied the … Continue reading →

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