Self Drive
Global tech

A decade after Elon Musk first began hyping self-driving vehicles, here’s why we still don’t have them yet

- March 24, 2023 4 MIN READ

According to predictions made nearly a decade ago, we should be riding around in self-driving vehicles today. It’s now clear the autonomous vehicle revolution was overhyped. Proponents woefully underestimated the technological challenges. It turns out developing a truly driverless vehicle is hard. The other factor driving the hype was the amount of money being invested… Read more »

Tesla Model
Business

Ex Tesla Australia boss pleads guilty to insider trading

- November 16, 2022 < 1 MIN READ

A former Tesla Motors Australia director, Kurt Schlosser, has pleaded guilty in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court to two counts of insider trading over his purchase of shares in a lithium miner. Schlosser acquired 86,478 shares in US-based, ASX-listed Piedmont Lithium Ltd on September 16, 2020, after he find out, in his role as country… Read more »

Other tech

Tesla’s Optimus robot is pretty meh, but Elon Musk’s knack for publicity does advance the promise of bigger and better things

- October 4, 2022 3 MIN READ

In August 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the electric car manufacturer was planning to get into the robot business. In a presentation accompanied by a human dressed as a robot, Musk said work was beginning on a “friendly” humanoid robot to “navigate through a world built for humans and eliminate dangerous, repetitive and boring… Read more »

Tesla, autopilot, car, self driving
Other tech

Now that Australia’s had a serious accident involving a self-driving car, it’s time to open AI’s black box and decide who’s responsible

- May 25, 2022 4 MIN READ

  The first serious accident involving a self-driving car in Australia occurred in March this year. A pedestrian suffered life-threatening injuries when hit by a Tesla Model 3 in “autopilot” mode. In the US, the highway safety regulator is investigating a series of accidents where Teslas on autopilot crashed into first-responder vehicles with flashing lights… Read more »

Tesla
Other tech

Queensland researchers are investigating whether connecting Teslas to the grid could be used to power your neighbourhood

- November 17, 2021 2 MIN READ

Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) will conduct a world-first global trial to see if the spare battery capacity in electric vehicles (EV) could support the local electricity grid, and potentially power homes. UQ has partnered with analytics platform Teslascope to recruit Tesla owners internationally to take part in the study examining car use and… Read more »

Elon Musk
Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin’s dirty secret: Elon Musk’s change of heart is a warning to cryptocurrencies to clean up their carbon footprint

- May 18, 2021 4 MIN READ

Over the weekend, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk suggested his company could sell off its Bitcoin holdings, sending the cryptocurrency plummeting. It followed Musk’s announcement earlier this month that his company would no longer accept Bitcoin in payment for its electric cars, due to the fossil fuels needed to create the digital currency. Bitcoin is… Read more »

Global tech

3 reasons why we’re still a long way off the era of self-driving cars

- April 23, 2021 4 MIN READ

The recent crash of a Tesla car in the United States, in which two people died, has reignited debate about the capabilities and safety of today’s “self-driving” technologies. Tesla cars include an “autopilot” feature which monitors surrounding traffic and lane markings, and the company is currently rolling out a more advanced “full self-driving” system which… Read more »

Topics

Your 90-second guide to the day in tech

- March 11, 2021 3 MIN READ

Hello Thursday! Lots happening around the world today. Here’s some of what we spotted.  Don’t forget to tune in for the Startup Daily show on Ausbiz.com.au  every weekday, 2-2.45pm. Watch online, download the ausbiz app or via 7Plus.   OVH data centre burns Millions of websites, banks, retailers and government services in Europe are offline today after fire destroyed a… Read more »

Topics

Your 90-second guide to the day in tech

- February 4, 2021 4 MIN READ

Happy Thursday all. A big shout out to our Victorian readers, who suddenly find themselves masking up again indoors. 40-15.  Today’s column might take 120 seconds, but there’s lots of juicy stuff to talk about.    1. BrexNPL? There could be a day of reckoning coming for the wild west of BNPLs, in the UK… Read more »

Neoen Hornsdale Battery Reserve
Other tech

Victoria is stealing the Tesla Big Battery title from South Australia

- November 5, 2020 2 MIN READ

Victoria is planning to build a 300 megawatt Tesla battery near Geelong, snatching the title for the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest battery from South Australia. French renewable energy company Neoen will pay for construction of the lithium-ion battery, as well its ongoing operation and maintenance, Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced today. The 300MW battery will be… Read more »

Topics

5 things you should know about tech today

- June 11, 2020 3 MIN READ

Welcome to Thursday team. It’s a busy one, with Kogan.com raising $100 million in an ASX share placement. More on that here.   1.  Here’s looking at you Jeff Reading the room, and perhaps also pushing for a seat at the table as US legislation is finally drawn up to deal with the use of facial-recognition… Read more »