It was just before lunchtime on its third day of operation, and the line outside Elon Musk's new Tesla Diner in Hollywood already stretched to nearly 100 people. The restaurant has been billed as a "retro-futuristic" drive-in where you can grab a high-end burger and watch classic films on giant screens, all while charging your Tesla. After months of buildup and controversy, the diner had suddenly opened on Monday, at 4.20pm, the kind of stoner boy joke that Musk is well-known for. Hundreds of fans lined up to try burgers in Cybertruck-shaped boxes, or take photos of the Optimus robot serving popcorn on the roof deck of the gleaming circular diner. But that was for the grand opening.

Over the weekend, protesters gathered at Tesla showrooms in hundreds of cities across the world to demonstrate against Elon Musk laying waste to the US government in alliance with Donald Trump. One sign in Manhattan read: "Burn a Tesla, save democracy." Protesters are using the commercial democracy of consumer products to influence US political democracy. In New York City, several hundred anti-Tesla protesters gathered outside the EV company's Manhattan showroom on Saturday. Sophie Shepherd, 23, an organizer with Planet Over Profit, explained that the rally was not about protesting electric cars.

Donald Trump may be pleased enough with Elon Musk, but even as the Tesla CEO is exercising his newfound power to essentially undo whole functions of the federal government, he still has to reassure his investors. Lately, Musk has delivered for them in one way: The value of the company's shares has skyrocketed since Trump was reelected to the presidency of the United States. But Musk had much to answer for on his recent fourth-quarter earnings call--not least that in 2024, Tesla's car sales had sunk for the first time in a decade. Profits were down sharply too. Usually, when this happens at a car company, the CEO issues a mea culpa, vows to cut costs, and hypes vehicles coming to market soon.

A select number of all-electric Tesla Cybertrucks now have the ability to drive on US highways hands-free, after the automaker pushed an update to vehicles this morning. Tesla AI head Ashok Elluswamy wrote on X that Cybertrucks will be the first Tesla vehicles to receive the "end-to-end on highway" driving feature, which the company says uses a "neural net" to navigate all parts of highway driving. "Nice work," Tesla CEO (and X owner) Elon Musk responded to his AI chief. The feature appears to be in "early access," meaning it's available only to some Cybertruck owners who purchased the feature. It's unclear when the automaker will release the feature more widely.

On Wednesday the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a massive recall of Teslas equipped with Full-Self Driving Beta, the technology that enables vehicles to control aspects of driving, such as turning and adjusting speed, in urban environments. The FSD package, which currently costs Tesla owners an additional $15,000 when they buy their cars, requires the driver to be watching the road at all times (although Tesla enthusiasts have figured out ways to trick the cars' attention guardrails for years). The NHTSA recall affects over 360,000 Teslas with FSD, which is pretty much all of them. Critics have long warned that FSD is dangerous, and the recall's language suggests they were right. According to NHTSA, FSD "may allow the vehicle to act unsafe [sic] around intersections, such as driving straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been promising customers a driverless vehicle since at least 2016. While the company hasn't delivered on that promise, Tesla lets thousands of employees and customers try new and unfinished driver assistance features on public roads in the U.S. through a program called Full Self Driving Beta, or FSD Beta. Only Tesla owners who have the company's premium FSD driver assistance system installed in their cars can join the FSD Beta program. Owners must then obtain a high driver-safety score, as determined by Tesla software that monitors their driving habits, and maintain it to keep FSD Beta access. No safety certification or professional training is required.

Tesla claims the Model S Plaid is the world's quickest car and that the $129,990 sedan can accelerate to 60 mph in less than two seconds. You can't say he didn't warn you. Full Self-Driving is capable of limited semi-automated control of a vehicle under driver supervision. Tesla is increasing the price of its Full Self-Driving system from $10,000 to $12,000 on January 17, CEO Elon Musk has announced on Twitter. The feature offers limited semi-automated driving features and its name has been called "misleading" and "irresponsible" by National Transportation and Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.

Last week, the New York Times noticed something that federal regulators hadn't about Tesla: that thanks to a software update this summer, occupants can now play video games on the dashboard console while the car is in motion. This would seem to be the latest example of Tesla charging ahead with a feature that could potentially endanger people in and outside its cars, and sure enough, the feds are now looking into the matter. I was also curious about the feature. So on Sunday, I went to a Maryland Tesla showroom to test drive a Model 3 while gaming, a stunt that other Tesla owners have demonstrated on YouTube. The showroom was located in a mall, which had a parking lot where I felt safe enough trying to maneuver the car.

Washington, DC (CNN)Drivers with Tesla's "full self-driving" software often don't know what their cars will do next. Tesla owners have been wowed by their cars' new abilities, but some say they have also been alarmed and frustrated by the accompanying flaws. One second drivers find themselves praising the cars' skills; the next moment they're grabbing the wheel to avoid crashing or breaking the law. "Full self-driving" is a suite of driver-assist features that Tesla hopes can one day enable cars to drive themselves. Other automakers like Mercedes-Benz, GM, Ford and Volvo offer cars with similar features that may change lanes, parallel park, identify speed limit signs and brake for pedestrians.

One of the first things to know about Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software is that it doesn't make cars fully self-driving. Shoddy on-road performance, misleading branding, and false promises from Elon Musk have landed the $10,000 semi-autonomous feature in hot water with safety advocates, regulators, and Tesla owners themselves. Still, Tesla plans to roll out a prototype version of FSD to thousands more drivers, further fueling questions about whether it is safe enough for public roads. Autopilot, which comes standard in Tesla cars, is essentially cruise control with the added ability to navigate curves in the road and adjust speed based on the vehicle ahead. FSD -- which buyers can purchase through a $10,000 one-time fee or a $199-per-month subscription -- adds the ability to automatically change lanes, enter and exit highways, recognize stop signs and traffic lights, and park.