Hasta La Gadget!

Tesla’s “full self-driving” (FSD) feature has had something of a rocky history, to put things generously. It’s been implicated in multiple crashes, seemingly persistent software bugs and a cavalcade of scrutiny from a panoply of regulatorybodies. Also, it’s about to cost more money. 

The bump represents an additional $2,000 being tacked onto the not insubstantial price tag: a new grand total of $12,000, or most of the way to a Honda Civil. Nor is it the first time FSD has gotten more expensive. In 2020, Musk (again, on Twitter) announced a roughly $2,000 price increase. This most recent hike, Musk clarified, will only apply in the US; he added that the feature’s “price will rise as we get closer to FSD production code release.” 

Whether that means there are plans for even further price increases is anyone’s guess — Tesla famously dissolved its corporate communications department around the same time FSD gained it’s $10,000 price tag.

Notably, purchasing the “full self-driving” feature doesn’t actually result in a car that drives itself. This largely is why Senators Markey and Blumenthal have called on the FTC to investigate Tesla and Musk for, among other things, “overstatements of their vehicle’s capabilities.” According to one survey, only around 11 percent of Tesla owners drop the money required to enable FSD, and it’s difficult to imagine how increasing the financial burden on buyers could reverse that trend.

“Pretty ballsy of the Texas GOP to run on a ‘f—k you’ platform this year,” one Twitter user noted.

Turning Red, Pixar’s latest feature film, will premiere exclusively on Disney+, the studio announced on Friday. It follows Soul and Luca as the third Pixar movie to skip a theatrical release. Disney had planned to debut Turning Red in theaters, but likely due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the US and much of the world, that won’t happen. What hasn’t changed is the release date: the film will still debut on March 11th as originally planned.

“Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions as we prioritize delivering the unparalleled content of The Walt Disney Company to audiences around the world,” said Kareem Daniel, chairman of media and entertainment distribution for Disney.

The fact Turning Red won’t premiere on the silver screen is a shame because it marks the full-length directorial debut of one of Pixar’s most promising young talents, Domee Shi. She won an Academy Award in 2019 for her work on the short film Bao, which was shown alongside Incredibles 2 in theaters. Like Bao, Turning Red is set in Shi’s hometown of Toronto, Canada. It tells the story of Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a teen who finds out she turns into a red panda when she gets too excited. Naturally, all sorts of hijinks ensue as a result. Did we mention the fabulous Sandra Oh is also in the movie? Yeah, it will be great.  

The fact Turning Red won’t have a theatrical run is likely to significantly affect its earning potential. In turn, that could make Disney less willing to invest in diverse productions like Turning Red. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that families will at least have the opportunity to see the film from the safety of their homes.

Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert’s dream for mutant civilization in this reborn era of ascendance has always been predicated on something of a lie—a hopeful lie, perhaps a naïve one, but a powerful lie nonetheless. It’s been a lie well maintained ever since Powers and House of X revealed it to the…

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” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/moon-full-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/moon-full-1280×720.jpg” />Here on Earth, we’re used to the idea of land ownership. A piece of land belongs to someone, whether that’s an individual, a company, or a state, and the owner has rights over what is done with that land. But what about the Moon? Who owns that? The short answer is that no one owns the Moon. That’s because of … Continue reading