Welcome to AI Update, where we explore the latest advancements
in artificial intelligence with insights into open AI, Google,
Gemini, generative AI, machine learning, and.
More Now let's learn together. I'm your host, Will Walden.
So how is Google DeepMind making its robots smarter with Gemini?
And what new methods are they using to train these robots?
Now imagine we're in a sci-fi movie like The Matrix, but
instead of fighting machines, we're making them more
intelligent, inefficient, which is bad for us, for the humans.
But Google DeepMind is leveraging its latest AI
advancements to revolutionize robot training and efficiency.
So they can. Actually help us humans.
Now they've introduced a cutting edge AI training method known as
Gemini 1.5. Pro.
This approach uses vision. Through video tours to train
robots, enhancing their ability to maintain, navigate and
complete various tasks, and by utilizing this method, robots
can learn more effectively from real world scenarios, thereby
improving their operational efficiency and adaptability.
Another significant development by Google Deepmine is the
introduction of Jest, the joint example selection training.
This method aims to optimize the AI training process,
significantly reducing computing costs and also energy
consumption. With reported 13 fold increase
in performance and a tenfold improvement in power efficiency,
Jest represents a major step forward in the economics of AI
development. Now the innovation of Jest is
particularly important given the ongoing discussions about the
environmental impact and the high costs associated with AI
data centers. And by reducing these barriers
just could facilitate broader access to AI tech and accelerate
advancements, especially in areas like e-commerce and
multilingual support. Now it's important for these
evolving AI methods. Now, new training methods for
large language models are essential due to the rapidly
evolving nature of data and the increasing demand for models
that can adapt on the fly to new information and contexts.
And since the inception of machine learning, AI training
methods have evolved significantly.
Traditional supervised learning methods relied on labeled data
sets, while more recent approaches include unsupervised
learning and reinforcement learning.
These methods allow models to identify patterns in unlabeled
data and learn through trial and error.
Now, the JUST method differs from traditional AI training
techniques by focusing on entire branches of data rather than
individual data points. Initially, it creates a smaller
AI model to assess data quality from high quality sources and
ranks the batches accordingly. These rankings are then compared
to a larger, lower quality data set to determine the most
suitable batches for training a large model.
Now the innovative approach that's happening here ensures
that the training process is more effective and more
efficient. It reduces time and resources as
well. Now the practical implications
of just extend beyond general adaptability with potential
applications in various specialized domains such as
healthcare and also in finance. New methods are crucial for
language models to respond accurately to questions about
niche or to about sensitive topics.
This includes areas dealing with highly sensitive information the
traditional LLM training algorithms might not handle
appropriately, and several emerging approaches in AI
training could significantly impact online commerce.
One such method is reinforcement learning from Human feedback, or
RLHF, which fine tunes models based on user interactions.
This technique could enhance recommendation systems,
providing more personalized and relevant product offerings.
Another promising technique is a parameter efficient fine tuning.
It's PEFT, which allows AI models to adapt efficiently to
specific tasks. Now, this method could be
particularly beneficial for online retailers during peak
sales periods, optimizing their algorithms for better
performance and more money. Now, ensuring the language
models can provide accurate responses in multiple languages
is a critical aspect of AI development, especially for
global e-commerce. Many companies mistakenly
believe their AI systems can effectively translate content
across different languages, but this often leads to
inaccuracies, particularly with industry specific jargon.
To tackle the issue, though, some organizations are
developing new multilingual AI training approaches.
Language IO, for instance, has implemented a retrieval,
augmented generation, or RAG process influenced by
multilingual strategies. This approach aims to enhance
the accuracy of multilingual support in e-commerce settings.
Now, advancements in AI training methods could transform online
shopping by offering better product suggestions, improved
customer support, and more efficient business operations.
AI that comprehends multiple languages can help companies
expand their footprint globally and improve customer
satisfaction. So you would get repeat
customers. And faster AI training methods
might lead to quicker deployment of AI for various business
tasks, such as better inventory management and enhance customer
service chat bots. This has enabled businesses to
operate more smoothly and respond to customer needs more
effectively. Now, with more accurate AI that
can communicate in multiple languages, businesses could
enter new markets more efficiently and provide local
services without relying on human translators.
This capability could significantly enhance their
global reach and customer service quality.
Now, improved training approaches can enhance online
commerce by enabling more accurate, context aware
multilingual support. It leads to better customer
experiences, reduced language barriers and potentially
increasing revenue. Now, all that said.
Google's DeepMind enhancements with Gemini AI and Jest are an
important stride for AI and for commerce.
They promise to make AI systems more efficient, adaptable and
capable for multi legal support, potentially transforming
e-commerce and various sectors in the near.
Future The CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Wong, believes that an effective
leader must be willing to put their hands in the dirt and get
dirty now. His leadership philosophy is
deeply rooted in his early experiences.
He has a teenage busboy at Denny's where he performed a
variety of menial tasks including washing dishes and
cleaning toilets. Now Wong who is the Co founder
of NVIDIA, a company that's worth $3.1 trillion.
Imagine this He's been in a Denny's booth now, despite his
current net worth. Of about 100.
And 8 billion. Dollars Wong credits his humble
beginnings for shaping his. Approach to leadership In a
March interview at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, he
said that no task is beneath him.
He reflected on his time as a dishwasher and also a toilet
cleaner, and he said that these experiences instilled the sense
of humility and a strong work ethic in him.
He told the students there. I mean, I cleaned a lot of
toilets. I've cleaned more toilets than
all of you combined. And some of them you just can't
Unsee. And everybody laughed at that
point. And his willingness to take on
any task, regardless of how trivial, is a principle he
carries into his role as the CEO.
His approach to leadership involves a readiness to assist
employees with any task. If it contributes to the
company's success, he said. If you send me something and you
want my input on it. And I can.
Be of service to you and in my review of it.
Share with you how I reasoned through it.
I've made a contribution to you, which is a weird thing to say
for a leader. Most leaders are considered
day-to-day operate operators. They don't really mingle with
the with. The masses.
But he's a separate kind of fellow and he's working well
with his team. He's a team player there now,
known for his hand on management style.
He's often described by employees as demanding and also
a perfectionist. But he requests weekly updates
from employees on their top five tasks.
He personally engages with them to provide feedback and guidance
to move forward with the careers, and a New Yorker
profile detailed Wong's practice of visiting employees desks to
discuss their projects. It's direct engagement.
It's part of his strategy to improve company performance and
help employees grow by sharing his thought processes and his
reasoning. He shared at Stanford again that
he finds personal fulfillment in teaching others how to approach
problems strategically. He said.
I show people how to reason through things all the time.
Strategy things, how to forecast something, how to.
Break a problem down, you're empowering people all over the
place to manage his workload. Effectively, he aims to complete
his most complex tasks early in the day.
This allows him to remain available to his team throughout
the day, and he shared his practice during a commencement
speech at the California Institute of Technology.
But unlike many CEOs who limit their direct reports to a small
group, he prefers having around 50 direct reports.
He believes this structure reduces organizational layers
and facilitates better communication and decision
making within NVIDIA, he explained to CNBC.
Now that having more direct reports helps maintain a fluid
flow of information within the company, he believes that this
approach enables him to lead more effectively and support his
employees success. Now at Stanford, he articulated
that the CE OS role is to inspire, empower and support
their employees. He said those are the reasons
why the management team exists in service of all the other
people that work at the company now.
Elon Musk, known for his own rigorous work ethic and hands on
leadership of Tesla and SpaceX, praised him.
Musk's accommodation came after watching a video clip discussing
his early work experiences at Denny's, and he echoed the
sentiment. He said absolutely the right
attitude. He recounted his efforts during
the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure his factories and offices had
sufficient toilet paper, highlighted a shared philosophy
of handling menial tasks. Personally, Musk has previously
demonstrated his commitment to understanding his employees
challenges by sleeping on the factory floor at Tesla, he
explained in a 2018 interview. The reason I slept on the floor
was not because I couldn't go across the road and be at a
hotel, it was because I wanted my circumstances to be worse
than anyone else of the company. Musk's admiration for Wang may
also be tied to their intertwined business interests.
With Tesla's ambitions and self driving tech secured, an
invidious high-powered chips is critical and.
Wang acknowledged Tesla's leadership in autonomous
vehicles, indicating a mutual respect.
And despite their occasional. Disagreements such as Musk's
skepticism about the ease of creating neural networks with
NVIDIA chips, both leaders share a relentless try for progress.
Now, the CEO of Perplexity AI highlighted this trait using
Musk as an example of overcoming obstacles through determination
and working hard to get things done.
But Huang unconventional management style, including
avoiding unnecessary one-on-one meetings, is designed to
maintain agility and quick information flow.
Within his company of NVIDIA, this approach has garnered.
Approval from Musk and other high level CEOs and they reflect
the shared commitment to effective leadership.
Now, this philosophy that no task is beneath the leader
continues to guide his actions and inspire employees his
ability to show that he's still connected with every level of
the company and with every. Employee.
From direct reports to frontline workers.
Exemplifies his hands on approach and his dedication.
To the company of NVIDIA. So TikTok is preparing to
introduce a new AI chat bot named Genie to Western users
based on a recent US trademark filing.
This development represents Tik Tok's effort to enhance user
interaction through artificial intelligence, allowing users to
post questions and receive immediate responses.
And in addition, TikTok has started allowing creators to
download their videos without a watermark, simplifying content
repurposing across phrase platforms.
Now a report from. Semaphore said that TikTok has
filed a trademark for the name Genie for its upcoming AI chat
bot tool. The chat bot is expected to
provide various functionalities including simulating
conversations, facilitating interactions between humans and
AI, and producing human like speech and text.
In May, in the US, the viral video app filed the trademark
the name Genie for an AI chat bot software that will, among
other functions, simulate conversations, facilitate
interaction and communication between humans and AI, and
produce human like speech and text.
Now, TikTok strategy involves transforming the app into a
central hub for all of its AI functionalities, with a Genie
chat bot acting as a connector to different features within the
app. This move aims to integrate
multiple AI tools into a single user friendly interface.
And the development of this chat bot isn't new.
In May of the previous year, users in the Philippines had
access to a chat bot named Takeo.
However, Takeo was primarily designed to help users discover
other videos within the app rather than addressing complex
queries. Now, the Genie chat bot is
anticipated to be much more advanced and incororating a
broader range of AI caabilities within Tiktok itself.
It's a significant ugrade to Takeo, aiming to deliver a
comprehensive AI exerience. Now the.
Key feature for this. Could be conversations between
creators and also people that follow them.
So instead of just comments, imagine asking the creator a
question and the AI version of the creator would answer your
question right there. It takes a lot of time.
I do YouTube as well and it takes a lot of time to answer
every single question, every single comment.
The last video that I had had 512 comments on it.
There's no way I could answer every single one of those
comments. So an AI chat bot between the
users and also the content creators is going to be a
significant jump forward. Now, I can see in the future
that AI could take over from not just the chat bot, but something
like you ask the creator a question and in the creator's
voice, the chat bot answers you. And you might have to pay for
that. You might have to become a
premium member or something like that.
And that could be a future feature that people could be
using on TikTok. And one key component of this
integration is the generative AI search function available in the
Chinese version of TikTok, too. The feature enhances discovery
both within and beyond the app, and Genie is expected to include
similar capabilities. the US patented Trademark Office filing
from May outlines that the chat bot will facilitate interaction
and communication between humans and AI, simulate conversations,
and produce human like speech and text.
So the creator may record their voice and then repeat whatever
the chat bot says to the user to the end user.
It's a huge broad scope for this new tool, but TikTok hasn't
commented on the specifics of Genie.
However, the companies well known AI powered algorithm
combined with this generative AI tool suggests that Genie will be
a robust addition to its suite of AI features.
Now, more AI from TikTok is coming.
They have tested a AI recommendation chat bot called
Takeo, of course, in the past, and the company has also been
using Open AI's code to develop its own large language models.
Earlier this month, TikTok revealed other new AI
capabilities for its advertising partners, including digital
avatars and AI dubbing. These enhancements reflect the
company's ongoing investment in AI technology to support various
functions within the app. So if you're an advertiser on
TikTok, you can make an AI avatar.
You never have to record anything yourself.
You don't need a studio. You just have AAI version of you
that does all the selling for you.
Now, the trademark filing for G&E suggests that the AI
initiatives at TikTok are expanding.
The chatbot aims to offer more than just recommended searches.
It's going to be more comprehensive and these
advancements come a bit challenges right now, including
the potential for divestment from its parent company, Bike
Dance, or a ban in the US by early of 2025.
If Tiktok is banned, all this could be for no reason.
And the Biden administration has expressed concerns about
national security risks posed by Tiktok's Chinese ownership.
TikTok is contesting these allegations, arguing that the
proposed actions are unconstitutional and violate
First Amendment rights. The legal battle shows that
there's broad tensions between TikTok, US regulators and China.
And in other TikTok news, introduce a new future that
allow creatures creators to download their videos without a
watermark. Kind of significant if they want
to share these videos across different platforms.
It's a welcome change by many users who have previously been
restricted from repurposing content because of the TikTok
watermark. And the absence of the watermark
makes it easier for creators to reuse short form clips across
different platforms. A screenshot from the app shows
a prompt asking users to choose between saving videos with or
without a watermark. Users can save watermark free
videos by selecting the save option during the upload
process. The update allows users to
repost their content on other platforms like Instagram,
Facebook also on YouTube, provided they share it on TikTok
first, and ensures TikTok continues to receive user
generated content first while enabling creators to benefit
from sharing across multiple social media channels.
Previously uploaded videos with watermarks on platforms like
Snap or Instagram often resulted in restrictions.
Similarly, YouTube might limit such content across its Shorts
platform. The new feature simplifies the
process of reposting content on different apps now, Since the
start of 2024, Tiktok has permitted users to download
clips without watermarks. The recent change, which
requires users to post on Tiktok first, aims to prevent users
from leveraging Tiktok's editing tools exclusively for other
platforms. Expert experts suggest that the
water free or watermark free downloads could previously be
achieved using the Cap Cut app, Tiktok's video editing tool.
However, the new feature streamlines the process for
those who prefer not to use additional apps for editing.
It's a simplified workflow for creators.
I'm a creator myself, so I would love to be able to use one apps
editing software, edit everything and then use it
everywhere. It's kind of difficult.
So what I usually end up doing is creating something and import
it into my computer. I edit it there and then I can
send it out to all the different apps.
So in addition to Genie, TikTok launched a creative content
suite named Symphony. Powered by generative AI.
The suite includes tools like Symphony Assist, Symphony
Creative Studio, Symphony Digital avatars, and
optimizations in TikTok Ads Manager.
The Symphony Creative Studio is a notable feature and also
allows users to create short clips from an existing asset or
a product URL. And the AI engine generates
custom video previews, simplifying the creative process
for marketers and also for content creators.
These features also include the ability to turn scripts into
voice overs that can be dubbed into multiple language so we can
reach the whole globe. Videos created using this
feature will be automatically labeled as AI generated to
maintain transparency. Now, there's a little bit of
related news here through Apple and Google.
Bloomberg reported that Apple might integrate Google's Gemini
chat bot into all of its devices.
So not only are you going to get ChatGPT and Open AI, which Apple
just announced, and also Apple Intelligence, but you could get
Google's AI Gemini, their chat bot, on your iPhone.
It would follow Apple's strategy of enhancing its AI capabilities
by collaborating with other tech giants.
It'll be integrated right on the phone.
It's not a separate app. So Apple senior VP of Software
engineering confirmed that Google Gemini would be
incorporated into the Apple Intelligence suite of AI
features. It's important for Apple to have
AI now. They have to compete with all
the other AI companies out there.
And considering that AI is going to take over all of the tech
world, they need to jump on board.
So having Gemini and ChatGPT is a significant move for Apple.
The AI enhanced Siri will prompt users to use ChatGPT or other AI
models like Gemini if they provide better responses to user
queries. Now, the integration aims to
improve the overall functionality and responsiveness
of Apple's virtual assistant. So Siri right now is very
limited. It sometimes it just doesn't
know what to do. You could ask it a question.
I ask my Siri questions all the time.
It has no idea what I'm talking about.
Or it tells me to go to the web to look at a, a web page.
And I just want an answer, you know, and I'm sure you do too.
You just want Siri to tell you what's up.
So sometimes, you know, Amazon's Alexa does the same thing.
And this is where Apple can pull ahead of Amazon in the device
category. Same with Google's assistants.
They do the same thing. They just, they might not know
what a thing is. So they'll just be like, here's
a web page and you're like, hey, I don't, I'm not near the
screen. You know, you use your home,
your Google Home, and it's like, hey, I'm not near a screen.
I can't go get that. And so it'll send a text to you
with a link and it's like, it's just like 3 extra steps to do
it. I'd rather the device just say,
oh, here I this is what I got from Gemini.
Here's what I got from ChatGPT. Here's what I got from any other
AI app out there, any other chat bot.
So make your own decision. Which one do you want to use?
And this is a really good move from Apple.
Instead of creating their own, they're using and integrating
other people's software like they've done for a long time
into their own software like Google Maps.
Think of that. Google Maps is, you know, for
for a while it was integrated with iOS and now they have Apple
Maps, of course, which not that good.
Sometimes it's OK, but Google Maps definitely my my maps of
choice. So think about it that way.
The close garden of Apple is becoming a little bit more open
by including these other AI chat bots and the advancements in AI.
Here they require a certain Apple device, the iPhone 15 Pro
or newer can only access these features.
So that the reason for that is because they need processing
power that can handle the AI capabilities and functionality.
Elon Musk and X Corp have successfully defended against a
lawsuit demanding $500 million in severance pay for former
Twitter employees. Now, this lawsuit initiated by X
employees claimed that X Corp and Musk failed to provide
severance in accordance with the Federal Employee Retirement
Income Security Act after Musk's acquisition of Twitter in
October of 2022. Now, the plaintiffs, including
Twitter's former global head of compensation and benefits and
another X manager, asserted that about 6000 and laid off
employees received severance equal to only one month's pay,
contrary to what they believed was promised under E risa.
However, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in
San Francisco ruled on Tuesday that the employees claims were
not covered, and Judge Thompson explained that the company had
informed employees post acquisition that those who were
let go would receive only cash payouts, thus not falling under
the jurisdiction. Now, this case, which is
McMillan versus Musk in the US District Court for the Northern
District of California, is one of several lawsuits filed by
former Twitter employees and executives following the mass
layoffs that occurred after Musk's takeover of the social
media platform. Now, the lawsuit specifically
cited that X Corp and Musk owed at least $500 million in
severance pay under the provisions of ERISA, which
governs employee benefit plans. Now, the plan.
The plaintiffs were Courtney McMillan, Twitter's former head
of total rewards, and another ex manager who believed they were
entitled to more substantial severance packages.
And according to McMillan and the other plaintiff, senior
managers were supposed to receive a severance package of
six months bonus pay, plus one week for each.
Full. Year of experience.
This contrasts starkly with what they received.
After the layoffs. But in Musk's defense, Judge
Thompson clarified that following the takeover,
employees were explicitly told they would only receive cash
payouts. That an IRISA did not apply in
this context, since there was no ongoing administrative scheme to
manage benefits like health insurance or outplacement
services. Now, the decision from the judge
effectively dismissed the lawsuit, saying there were only
cash payments promised. This verdict allows Musk and the
X Corp to avoid paying the additional $500 million sought
by the plaintiffs. Now.
In November of 2022, Musk addressed the severance issue in
a post on X, stating everyone excited was offered three months
of severance, which is 50% more than legally required or exited.
Sorry, not excited. This declaration was part of
Musk's strategy. To.
Counter claims that the severance offered was
inadequate. Now, despite the resolution of
this particular case, several other lawsuits from former
Twitter employees are still in progress.
These suits similarly address issues of severance and other
post acquisition employment terms under Elon's leadership.
Now. The layoffs were part of a
broader restructuring effort after Musk purchased Twitter for
$44 billion in October of 2022. This massive reduction in
workforce led to numerous legal challenges from former employees
who felt they were not adequately compensated now.
The plaintiffs, McMillan and Ronald Cooper and operations
manager, said that Twitter's 2019 severance plan promised
employees who remained post buyout two or six months of pay
plus one week of pay for each year of employment if they were
laid off. However, Musk's new policy post
takeover replaced the previous severance plan, providing only
one month of pay as severance without additional benefits now.
This shift sparked the legal disputes that have followed
Musk's acquisition. Judge Thompson pointed out that
the lack of an ongoing administrative scheme under
Musk's new severance plan meant ERISA did not apply.
The plan lacked continued health insurance or third party
outplacement services consisting solely of cash payments.
And the judge has left open the possibility for the plaintiffs
to amend their complaint, but only for claims that are not
governed by ERISA. This ruling sets a precedent of
how similar cases might be adjudicated.
Moving. Forward.
The legal battles following the layoffs reflect broader issues
of corporate responsibility and employee rights and.
Former employees want to hold Musk accountable for what they
perceive as broken promises regarding their severance.
Beyond this lawsuit, Musk continues to face scrutiny and
legal challenges related to his management decisions at X and
his other enterprises, including Tesla and SpaceX, and his
actions remain under close examination by former employees,
the courts, and also the public. Now, the case of Macmillan
versus Musk and Twitter remains a significant legal matter,
highlighting the complexities in disputes that can arise from
corporate takeovers. As other related lawsuits
proceed, the outcomes will likely shape the future
landscape of employment law in similar.
Corporate. Contexts.
Tesla has seen its stock performance take a significant
turn as investor sentiment improves.
Now, it's attracting renewed attention, particularly with the
highly anticipated robo taxi set to make its debut.
Now, on Friday, Tesla shares concluded their highest winning
streak since June 13th, 2023. That's the longest as well.
And the stock closed at $251.52 per share.
Again, that eradicated an 11% annual deficit, marking a 1.2%
increase for the year. Now throughout the month, Tesla
stock surged by 27%, significantly outpacing the S&P
500's modest 2% rise. Tesla reported second quarter
deliveries of 443,956 vehicles, surpassing expectations.
And this figure included 422,405 deliveries of the Model 3 and
Model Y, with the remaining 21,551 comprising other electric
vehicle models. And despite a 4% year over year
decline, the performance was seen as a positive indicator for
the company's future. Now endless Dan Ives from
Wedbush Securities is optimistic about Tesla's future, said that
it's stabilizing demand for electric vehicles globally.
And he highlighted that the company's forthcoming Robo Taxi
day on August 8th will be a critical event.
It's coming up soon everybody, so be careful.
Of all the imitators out there with robo taxis, Tesla's going
to be the one now. Potentially this will pave the
way for full self driving technology and an autonomous
future, something that Elon Musk has been promising every year
for about 5 or six years. Full driving next year, full
driving next year. Well, hopefully this will be the
year on August 8th that we're going to be really close to
that. They need to have full self
driving if they want these robo taxis to actually work now.
Ivy maintains an Outperform rating at Tesla, with a price
target of $300.00 and a bullish scenario with a potential rise
to 400. Of the 50 analysts covering
Tesla, 22 recommend buying the stock, 18 advice holding, and 10
suggests selling, according to data from Thompson One.
This consensus reflects the varied perspectives on Teslas
market position and future prospects.
Now remember, all of this is not advice.
What I'm saying right now, this is not advice.
Just want you to know that these are just the numbers and I want
you to run your own and do your own math.
And Elon Musk amplified interest by retweeting a video show Kiki
seeing a hands. Free Tesla ride.
From Golden Gate. Park to Fort.
Point how that shows the company's advancements in
autonomous driving tech and it contributed to the stocks 2%
rise on Friday, extending an impressive 37% Rayleigh over 8
sessions and a 43% gain over the past month.
Now, beyond vehicle production and deliveries, Tesla's energy
storage business is experiencing rapid growth.
Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley said that Tesla's recent
performance, including better than expected second quarter
deliveries and significant energy storage achievements,
show that the company's diversifying.
And another boost for Tesla came from China, where the provincial
government included locally produced Tesla vehicles on its
purchase list. Now, the development permits
government workers to buy Tesla Model Y as a service vehicle,
indicating strong institutional support for the brand in the
region. And despite facing stiff
competition for Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and
experiencing some demand fluctuations in the US, Tesla is
making strategic moves to maintain its market position
now. Earlier this year, the company
reduced its global workforce by more than 10% and cut vehicle
prices to stimulate sales. During Tesla's recent storage
Excuse me, shareholder meeting, Elon Musk acknowledged the
ongoing challenges in the EV market, noting the transitionary
period affecting demand and sales right now.
Barclays analyst Dan Levy remarked that while the second
quarter results were positive, broader market conditions remain
challenging. Levy has an equal weight ratio
on Tesla with a price target of about 180.
Dollars. Now, Tesla's upcoming second
quarter financial results scheduled for July 23rd are
expected to draw significant attention.
Stay tuned to this channel because we will bring you all of
that now. Analysts are particularly
focused on the company's automotive gross margins, given
the extensive discounts and incentives offered over the past
year to boost sales of its existing models.
And in late 2023, Tesla showed off the cyber truck.
This is the angular pickup we all know and love, and it
quickly became the best selling fully electric truck in the US
during the second quarter, according to social media
reports. Now, this achievement is a
notable milestone as Tesla expands its product lineup to
vehicles such as trucks. Now, Ford, who is a huge
competitor to Tesla, reported sales of 7902 units of its fully
electric F-150 Lightning in the second quarter, totaling 15,645
units for the first half of the year.
Tesla's performance in the segment shows that it has a
competitive edge in the electric pickup market.
Now, we anticipate that Tesla's Robo Taxi Day on August 8th will
be a significant event for the company.
We're predicting that although the robot taxi segment might not
launch before 2027, it'll be an important business area for
Tesla in the long term. A price target of 230 is a
talked about number on Tesla and that's a possibility that you
might want to buy the stock now. Because if it goes up to. 2:30
you're. Going to be cashing in if you
have enough stock. But of course, this is not
advice. This is just, you know, you do
your own work here, you figure out your own finances and you do
your own thing. And despite this recent rally
that's going on, Tesla stock performance still kind of lags
behind broader market indices. For the year.
The NASDAQ gained 22%. S&P 500 has risen 17% in 2024
compared to Tesla's 1.2% increase.
Now. It shows that there's challenges
facing Tesla right now and they have to start matching the
overall market growth. And recent polls indicate that
Tesla's brand image is suffering due to Musk controversial
actions in political statements. A New York Times survey
highlighted the Musk's polarizing behavior is
alienating some left-leaning consumers, which could impact
Tesla's market position. Tesla has also faced delays in
delivering full self driving capabilities, a goal that Musk
announced way back in October of 2016.
And pretty much every year since then, he said that it's going to
be the next year. And despite claims that all
tests the vehicles produced at the time had the necessary
hardware, Musk recently indicated that another hardware
and sensor update is required to actually achieve full self
deriving. Can we talk for a second about
Spacex's Starship in Starbase, Texas?
Because they're building the most massive launch tower at
Starbase. It's going to be over 400 feet
tall. It'll launch and catch Starships
on the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to be the wildest
thing that's going to happen in the next some amount of time.
We're not exactly sure yet, but let's go back in history if we
can. Let's rewind a little bit in the
journey to Spacex's Starbase's first launch tower, the
Mechazilla, if you will, complex process.
It was about 13 months from the beginning phases until they
actually stacked the Starship on the launch tower.
Then it took them a while to actually launch a Starship.
We're not going to talk about the actual launch.
We're going to talk about how long it may take them to do
Starships tower #2 at Starbase. 13 months for the first one.
The tower began mid 2020 ish and significant process and
milestones were achieved throughout 2021.
So think about this, in the middle of the year, August ish,
they started construction. First significant structures
began to rise in 2020. So the the base of the tower
started being put together. The tower assembly, the
structure of the launch tower started taking shape in early of
2021. But by August, the major
components, including the chopsticks.
I was there for the delivery of the chopsticks.
Actually, I watched the chopsticks drive down the road
right past me and they're used for catching and stacking of
rockets. And that's when they were
installed. About August 2021, I believe was
August 2021. They got all of the major
components together. And then by January 2022, the
tower was fully constructed and underwent various testing.
You know, it was integration of the launch or the catch arms,
the the lift arms, if you will, the chopsticks and other systems
which actually controlled the launch systems and the tower
itself, including venting and lighting and the the pneumatics
to raise up the rocket when you put it on those arms.
All of that was being built about early 22.
The tower was fully construction and underwent numerous tests for
for months, you know, integration of the towers other
systems and they finally lifted a test fully stacked rocket in
February of 2022 and I believe it's February 10th of 2022.
I was there in Brownsville at Starbase when they did this
first lift. I went down February 14th and I
got footage of it. February 10th, after they
stacked and they open up the roads again, I got some footage
of it and then this was what we all thought.
Was going to be the first Test article that was going to launch
from Starbase ship 20 and booster.
Four so 4. 20 was going to be, in all rights, the first rocket
to launch, but that wasn't the case, so they took it all down.
It was a beautiful sight. I get to see it from numerous
angles. I got really close to it.
It was wonderful. And Elon did a talk from there,
too. Now what we're going to talk
about today, how much time it's going to take for them to
complete tower two as Starbase. So now that we have a back story
here, about 13 months from the initial groundwork around the
first tower till the complete construction and stacking around
13 months, we're already into tower two.
All of the the major components have been delivered of the of
the core of the tower to Starbase, at least most of them
as far as we know. And there could be more because
they haven't shown us exactly how tall this is going to be.
And they also, Elon hinted that this is going to be more complex
than the first one. So we actually don't know all of
the components for this yet. We know a lot of them.
We know there's going to be catch arms.
We know there's going to be a pneumatic system to raise and
lower it. We don't know what's going to be
used as the actual kind of engine to push the rocket up and
down. You know, we're not exactly sure
because there's more piping more.
It might be actually a, a very more, a much more simple process
than tower one because Elon said his engineers came to him and
said, hey, the, the tower one, let's just kind of throw
everything away and let's start over.
We have this really great design, which we think will be
better than tower one. So what they're doing is they're
probably simplifying. All of the parts.
Elon has said this so many times.
The best part is no part and as an engineer myself, I'm a front
end developer engineer. I know this is true.
The less amount of code that I can use to get the job done, the
better off the final product is. So that's exactly what they're
doing here with Starbase's Tower two.
Now, a lot of us in the media here have thought that
Starbase's catch tower, which was going to be tower two.
We thought tower two was going to be just catching and tower
one was going to be launching and stacking.
But that's not the case. Elon has said tower 2 will be
for launching, catching, refurbishing, basically
everything you need to do for the tower, you know, as far as
the tower goes. And then of course, well, it
won't be refurbishing, but you know, doing some a little bit of
Labor to get it ready for launches.
But if there needs to be a really like massive
refurbishing, it can go back to the production facility right
down the road about a mile away. And Starbase is becoming a
massive city almost. It's crazy.
They're they're building new housing down there.
So the, the people that work there will have a place to live
nearby because Brownsville, TX is actually about 30 minutes
away. And you have to drive down this
crazy at Long Highway in the middle of nowhere with no
facilities, there's no gas, there's no chargers for Tesla's
or anything along the way. It's like 25 minutes of nothing.
And then finally at the very, very, very end of this road,
literally at the Gulf of Mexico, you get to Starbase.
So they were, they're building these, this launch tower, the
quick release, everything's going to be completely
different. And the engineers at SpaceX are
literally the best in the business.
So when they start stacking this, we're going to see piece
of this stacking atop each other, of course, like a normal
tower. But we'll see it simplified and
it's going to be a mega structure.
It's going to be over 400 feet tall.
The Starship itself is about 400 feet.
So if they want to do Starship version 2, Starship version
three, it has to be a massive tower down there.
So it could be 450, almost 500 feet tall by the end of the
stack. I'm not sure.
They haven't told us what they're gonna, how high they're
gonna stack this thing yet. I haven't heard anything from
Elon or anybody at Starbase how tall they're gonna make this
thing. I've seen drafts of this
blueprints that I've, I've gotten behind the scenes.
I can't show them to you, but somebody's shown me some, some
items that I that I can't really talk about too much, but it
looks massive. That's all I can say.
I was, I wasn't even supposed to
tell you that I got those blueprints.
But we're going to keep it in there because yeah, it's, it's a
fun, it's a fun thing to know, but it could be massive.
The second tower could be much bigger than the first tower.
And we've had hints of that from Elan.
He said, yeah, it's going to be bigger.
We but we don't know exactly how big it's going to be, right.
We can guess. All we can do right now is guess
because the components that they have now.
Stack those up and we'll have. Pretty similar to what we have
now, probably a little bit bigger and then they might add
more components in the future. So who knows?
We've had, I've had a comment on my last video of somebody that
said they're not going to catch. The.
Booster until the next tower is done, Elon said.
The next. Booster will be caught.
At Starbase, so tower one, which you see over there, over that
side over there, that's tower one.
They they want to catch it for IFT 5.
And if that's the case, if they want to catch it for IFT 5 and
something goes wrong, it could be months before they rebuild it
and they're not going to be ready for IFT 6 or tower two
isn't going to be ready for IFT 6.
It's going to take, if they do a similar strategy to the first
one, which I think they're going to have a streamlined process.
So I don't think it's going to take 13 months this time.
It may because it might be more complex but simpler, if that
makes sense, like a much more complex structure, but with
simpler hardware and simpler piping and electronics and
stuff. So it it could be just the, the
build of The thing is simpler, but it could take preparation
and could take months, almost a year to get this thing
completed. So if they do catch it, if they
go for it on IFT 5. And Kathy leaders has said we're
not sure yet, but then Elon came out on Twitter or on X saying
we're going to catch it on IF for IFT 5.
So it's all still up in the air. If they run the numbers and they
think they can do it and it looks good during the flight,
they'll probably do it for IFT 5.
Also, Elon's the biggest hype man.
So we all know that Elon is up in his head thinking we can
figure it out. Like, why don't we?
Why can't we figure this out? And for him, that's how he
thinks. He doesn't think in absolutes.
He thinks of what happens if we don't do it.
Well, then we failed. You know what?
Why can't we do it? That's how he thinks.
Like, why can't we? He never thinks like, oh,
there's all these roadblocks in the way.
He doesn't think like that, and that's why he's so successful.
It's not about the roadblocks. It's not about the things that
the engineers and typical engineering, typical engineers
put up roadblocks to themselves like, well, these systems work,
so we can't go around these systems and build something new.
We can't innovate because our systems work.
Why do you think ula and Blue Origin are so mad at SpaceX?
Because that's how they think. They're boring.
You know it they're they're they think like strict guidelines.
They have strict guidelines. SpaceX, Elon especially goes,
what are these strict guidelines?
OK, engineering guidelines definitely have a purpose.
If you don't have these strict guidelines, then things go
wrong. But if those strict guidelines
get in the way of progress, get rid of those guidelines, throw
them out the window and move forward.
So this next tower, the engineers were like, we're
throwing all this stuff out of the window that we did for IFT
or for the tower one. And we're going to build our
dream tower. We're going to build an
engineering marvel that's going to put us so far ahead of ula
Blue Origin, basically the only other heavy lift rockets out
there that nobody can compete for a very long time.
Modern marvel. That's what this thing is.
It's going to be a modern marvel.
It's going to be an engineering feat that no one's seen before.
The SLS tower, Massive. That's cool.
You know what's cool about the SLS tower too?
It moves the whole rocket like it.
It moves it incredibly slow. The crawler moves a giant 300
some odd foot tall rocket from the production facility from the
high Bay all the way to the launch site.
SpaceX doesn't do that. They take the booster and the
ship separately. They raise them up with the
arms, they stack them on top of each other and then they're
ready. Of course there's things in
between like they're not just ready.
They have to, you know, do some testing or whatever, but they
they don't drive it down the road all put together, which is
a smart thing to do. You know, you don't need a
massive tower. Plus they only have the little
Rd., they have like A2 lane Rd. to get down and they're like,
how do we do this? And their rocket is as big as a
road is A2 lane Rd. It's like 30 feet wide.
The thing is massive. So they couldn't do that.
There were, there were constraints for them to build
here. So they had to build what you
know, the basically like a, a, there's a barge, like a, a land
barge basically to move this thing down or they, they hired
one or they rent one or whatever.
So, and then they finally have their own.
So The funny thing about this next tower is that we don't
really know what it's going to look like.
We know actually, we know one thing, Elon, Elon has said this,
the the arms are going to be a little bit smaller.
They're going to be just big enough for the rocket or the
booster, I should say, or the rocket too, to be caught on.
So the rapid reusability of the booster and the rocket itself,
the Starship, it, we may start to see that happen really soon.
And the reason why we need this is because SpaceX wants to go to
Mars eventually. But the first step is to get to
the moon. Artemis 3, they'll be sending
people to the moon. SpaceX needs to refuel Starship
numerous times and the only way they can do that is to catch the
boosters, refurbish them, you know, set up another Starship.
They could have a fleet of 50 boosters in 50 Starships or
whatever, you know, or 20 Starship or whatever you know,
It depends on the ratio there. But could they just have 4
boosters that work really well? It's just continuously launch
land, launch land, launch land and send up 10 Starships to to
the refuelling station. That's a possibility.
All they have to do is stack them up.
It would take. Especially for the Artemis
program, would take them about a week to do all the launches.
I think 7 days to a week or something.
Somewhere somewhere around 7-7 days.
I think the calculations were that SpaceX could possibly get
all of the boosters and all of the Starship fueling.
Starships into orbit. The tankers.
And also they need the tankers. They need to test the tankers at
Starbase before they launch them from KFC.
So we're probably not going to see the tower at Kennedy Space
Center be built until after tower two at Starbase is
completely finished and tested rigorously with different
variations of Starships, because they need to know that it works.
You know, they could probably start it and realize that the
design works really well and then they can build it over at
Kennedy Space Center. They'll go through all the
testing, make sure everything is great and then they'll start
building over at Kennedy Space Center.
But I'm guessing tower two, I mean tower one was 13 months
until full stack around 13 months from 2020, like mid 2020
to February 2022. That's a long time.
So somebody said they're not going to catch the the booster
until tower 2. Yeah, if you want to wait a
year, you know, IFT 6, no, they're not going to wait a year
for IFT 6. But there will only be a few
launch attempts left in this year at Starbase.
So there's a possibility they continue to launch for Starbase
in the beginning of next year. They also continue to build the
the tower two. They'll refine tower one because
they're going to need both towers.
You know, they're going to need both towers to continue testing.
So one of them will probably primarily be for catching.
Tower two, I think is going to be more of a catch tower or more
something that they can catch with because that's going to be
their final design. Tower one, they could probably
catch with that too. I'm not 100% sure.
I'm not. So that's that's where I differ
from a lot of Youtubers out there is that like, I'm not 100%
sure about this stuff. And people that say that they're
sure about this stuff are full of crap.
Like they have some data, right? But like we know everybody
that's, you know, that's been right.
Eric Berger is like the only dude you can trust 100% think
about Eric. So what I what I do with my
timelines is like, what does Elon say?
And then what does Eric say? And then it's somewhere near
what Eric says is when things actually happen.
Elon is very is a hype man, but he wants stuff done as fast as
possible. His timelines are ridiculous.
Like if everybody worked as hard as Elon, it would be done by
now. But then you get Eric Berger in
the process and he knows engineering, you know, he knows
what's up. So I kind of look at both of
those numbers. Elon says it'll fly in four
weeks. Eric says 8 weeks, probably 7
weeks, you know, so we're around there.
So the tower, the second tower probably be done in a year
somewhere around there. And just because the first one,
let's say it's massively more complex or they run into
something with with, you know, building these things out,
fabricating something. It could take longer, but
somewhere between somewhere in a year before the actual tower is
completely constructed. So next year, like mid next
year, maybe, maybe first four months of next year would be a
good estimate for this. So let me know in the comments
down below and thank you for watching this.
I really do appreciate you and please take a second.
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Everybody else thinks like when will the.
Tower actually be built. Let me know in the comments down
below what you think and give me a reason if you have one,
because I know there's information out there and the
information I've sifted through, most of it is like it's there.
You know, the information's out there, but there's not a lot of
like complete information out there.
But I can tell you what the design I saw of the tower and it
was, as far as I know, was an official design.
It looks incredible and it looks like there could be, let's just
say more than meets the eye. That's all I could say.
That's all I can say. So thank you for watching
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