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A Tesla Model Y is seen on a Tesla car lot on May 31, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

A security researcher who uses the handle “@GreentheOnly” has discovered a secret setting in Tesla vehicles that can be enabled by the company and allows a driver to use Tesla’s advanced driver assistance systems, marketed as Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, without keeping their hands on the steering wheel for an extended period of time.

When a Tesla vehicle has this mode enabled, it eliminates what owners of the cars refer to as the “nag.” The researcher has nicknamed the feature “Elon Mode,” but that is not the company’s internal nomenclature for it, he said.

Tesla does not offer a self-driving vehicle today. CEO Elon Musk has promised to deliver a self-driving car since at least 2016, and said a Tesla would be able to complete a demo drive across the United States without human intervention by the end of 2017.

Instead, Tesla driver assistance systems require a human driver to remain attentive and ready to brake or steer at any moment.

Typically, when a Tesla driver is using Autopilot or FSD (or their variations), a visual symbol blinks on the car’s touchscreen to prompt drivers to apply resistance to the steering wheel at frequent intervals. If the driver does not grasp the steering wheel, the nag escalates to a beeping noise. If the driver still does not apply torque to the steering wheel at that point, the vehicle can temporarily disable the use of Autopilot for up to several weeks.

Elon Musk said in a tweet last year in December, he would remove the “nag” for at least some Tesla owners in January. That plan never came to fruition. By April 2023, Musk said in a tweet, “We are gradually reducing it, proportionate to improved safety” in reference to the nags.

The security researcher who revealed “Elon mode,” and whose identity is known to both Tesla and CNBC, asked to remain pseudonymous, citing privacy concerns.

He has tested features of Tesla’s vehicles for years and is an owner of a Tesla Model X. He has also reported bugs to the company consistently, and earned tens of thousands of dollars from filing successful Tesla bug bounties, as previously reported.

The “white hat hacker” said in an interview via direct message on Tuesday, that “Unless you work at Tesla, or otherwise have access to relevant databases at the company,” there’s no way to know how many cars have “Elon mode” available today.

In February, Tesla issued a voluntary recall in the U.S. for 362,758 of its vehicles, warning that its Full Self-Driving Beta system may cause crashes. (It was the second such recall.) Tesla delivered an over-the-air software update to address the issues.

The FSD Beta system at that time could cause crashes, the safety recall report said, by allowing affected vehicles to: “Act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”

GreentheOnly said he expects future recalls related to issues with FSD Beta and how well the system automatically stops for “traffic-control devices” like traffic lights and stop signs.

According to the most recent available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla has reported 19 incidents to the agency that resulted in at least one fatality, and where the company’s driver assistance systems were in use within 30 seconds of the collision.

There are 21 total incidents that Tesla reported to NHTSA that resulted in fatalities and where the cars were equipped with its driver assistance systems.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Bitcoin price rises as Israel-Iran ceasefire begins, and Senate unveils major crypto bill

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Bitcoin price rises as Israel-Iran ceasefire begins, and Senate unveils major crypto bill

Crypto prices, including bitcoin, rose on Tuesday after President Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.

By midday Tuesday, bitcoin had passed the $105,000 level, ether jumped back above the $2,400 mark, and XRP climbed to $2.19. 

The risk-on action in the markets, which also saw stocks rally on the Mideast de-escalation, wasn’t the only source of momentum, as Republican senators unveiled a major bill to set the rules of the road for crypto. Specifically, the legislation would define when crypto is a commodity or a security, allow crypto exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and reduce the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulation of digital assets — a big reversal from the plans of President Biden’s SEC Chair Gary Gensler to closely regulate the crypto industry.

The new framework was introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina and Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who heads the panel’s Digital Assets Committee. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the regulatory development was important for the U.S. to regain the lead in the crypto industry, where he said it has fallen behind other markets, including Europe.

Last week, the senate passed a stablecoin bill, marking the first major legislative win for the crypto industry, which now heads to the House for consideration of its version of the bill. Both bills prohibit yield-bearing consumer stablecoins — but differ on agency regulatory oversight. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney weighed in on the advancement of the Senate version, the Genius Act, telling CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that the credit card giant has been embracing stablecoins. 

Meanwhile, investors increased their bets on crypto company Digital Asset, which raised $135 million in funding from several big names in banking and finance, including Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities. The firm, which touts itself as a regulated crypto player, said it will use the funding to advance adoption of its Canton network, which is a blockchain for financial institutions, another sign of how major financial institutions are embedding themselves into the once obscure crypto world. 

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Ambarella shares soar 19% on report chip designer is exploring sale

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Ambarella shares soar 19% on report chip designer is exploring sale

Thomas Fuller | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Ambarella shares popped 19% after a report that the chip designer is currently working with bankers on a potential sale.

Bloomberg reported the news, citing sources familiar with the matter.

While no deal is imminent, the sources told Bloomberg that the firm may draw interest from semiconductor companies looking to improve their automotive business. Private equity firms have already expressed interest, according to the report.

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The Santa Clara, California-based company is known for its system-on-chip semiconductors and software used for edge artificial intelligence. Ambarella chips are used in the automotive sector for electronic mirrors and self-driving assistance systems.

Shares have slumped about 18% year to date. The company’s market capitalization last stood at nearly $2.6 billion.

Read the Bloomberg story here.

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Nvidia CEO Huang sells $15 million worth of stock, first sale of $873 million plan

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Nvidia CEO Huang sells  million worth of stock, first sale of 3 million plan

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attends a roundtable discussion at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 11, 2025.

Sarah Meyssonnier | Reuters

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sold 100,000 shares of the chipmaker’s stock on Friday and Monday, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The sales are worth nearly $15 million at Tuesday’s opening price.

The transactions are the first sale in Huang’s plan to sell as many as 600,000 shares of Nvidia through the end of 2025. It’s a plan that was announced in March, and it’d be worth $873 million at Tuesday’s opening price.

The Nvidia founder still owns more than 800 million Nvidia shares, according to Monday’s SEC filing. Huang has a net worth of about $126 billion, ranking him 12th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The 62-year-old chief executive sold about $700 million in Nvidia shares last year under a prearranged plan, too.

Nvidia stock is up more than 800% since December 2022 after OpenAI’s ChatGPT was first released to the public. That launch drew attention to Nvidia’s graphics processing units, or GPUs, which were needed to develop and power the artificial intelligence service.

The company’s chips remain in high demand with the majority of the AI chip market, and Nvidia has introduced two subsequent generations of its AI GPU technology.

Nvidia continues to grow. Its stock is up 9% this year, even as the company faces export control issues that could limit foreign markets for its AI chips.

In May, the company reported first-quarter earnings that showed the chipmaker’s revenue growing 69% on an annual basis to $44 billion during the quarter.

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Market Navigator: Nvidia warning signs

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