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Three words told the story. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s campaign had billed this afternoons event in Philadelphia as a much-anticipated announcement. Of course, that specific phrase may have been more true than intended.

Ever since Kennedy entered the Democratic presidential primary race in the spring, observers had been anticipating that hed one day announce his honest intentions as a 2024 candidate. Given Kennedys rhetoric, his positions, and his support from conservative operatives, was he really running as a Democrat? A couple thousand peoplesupporters, journalists, campaign volunteers, people with nothing to dotrekked to Philly to find out.

The candidate was nothing if not on message. Standing in front of a backdrop that read DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE , Kennedy looked out at Independence Hall as he spoke of a new declaration of independence for our entire nation. He rattled off a list of everything wed soon be independent from: cynical elites, the mainstream media, wealthy donors. (Though, presumably, not the same wealthy donors who recently raised more than $2 million for him and his super PAC at a private estate in Brentwood, California, with help from his friend Eric Clapton). Onstage, Kennedy formally declared his independence from the Democratic Party and all other political partiesperhaps an unsubtle way to shoot down speculation that he might change his mind and run as a Libertarian, or even a Republican. As his wife, Cheryl Hines, said a bit cryptically before her husband took the stage: Are you really ready for Bobby Kennedy?

Kennedy, whom many came to know as a Boomer environmentalist, was the star of this mellow show with a distinct 60s campus vibe. At one table, attendees were invited to literally sketch their vision of the future on blank sheets of paper with colored pens. Throngs gathered on the grass in front of the National Constitution Center and were led in a Native American tribal dance, followed by the inoffensive piano stylings of Tim Hockenberry, who covered Jersey Girl in a Springsteen growl. Outside the entrance, enterprising vendors sold an array of Kennedy memorabilia: buttons that read RESIST INSANITY, RAGE AGAINST THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE , and FIT TO BE PRESIDENT , featuring a photo of a buff, shirtless Kennedy. One attendee waved a giant black-and-white flag with a message for their fellow Kennedy-heads: WE ARE THE CONTROL GROUP . Many people wore fedoras.

Read: Inside the mind of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

They came from all over. Michael Schroth, 69, and his wife, Luz, had taken a 4:30 a.m. bus down from Boston. Schroth told me he voted for Barack Obama twice, but also voted for the third-party candidate Ralph Nader twice, as well as Jill Stein in 2016. I look for the best candidate, and I dont care if theyre going to win or not. Its getting the idea out,” he said. Chris Devol, 56, from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles hoodie and smiling ear to ear as he awaited Kennedys arrival. Devol told me he had voted for the third-party candidate Ross Perot in 1992, and that although he wasnt sure whether hed support Kennedy next November, he 100 percent supported the idea of him competing in the Democratic primary. An elderly woman named Barbara (last name withheld), a retired teacher from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, told me she believed that President Joe Biden wasnt doing anything to address the nations drug problem. She said a bag of fentanyl was recently found on the steps of her local church, then asked me if I was familiar with the Boxer Rebellion.

Prior to Kennedys address, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, one of the opening speakers, asked for a moment of silence to honor the violence of this past weekend. Someone in the crowd yelled out Warmonger! Another screamed, Free the Palestinians! Boteach acknowledged neither individual, and said he greatly respects Kennedy, who has been accused of anti-Semitism, as a man of faith. Later, Kennedy said he had arrived at a place where he was serving only his conscience, his creator, and youthe voters.

This afternoon marked the culmination of what he described as a very painful decision. He noted his long-standing ties to the Democrats, the party of his family, which he casually referred to as a dynasty, before tearing into the tyranny of the two-party system. For weeks, Kennedy had been attacking the Democratic National Committee for rigging the primary process. (The DNC has refused to hold primary debates, as is custom when a partys incumbents are running for reelection.) Kennedy has been polling in the double digits against Biden, but his support hasnt grown meaningfully since he launched his campaign. As of last Friday, according to the FiveThirtyEight average, Kennedy was polling at 16.4 percent compared with Bidens 61.2 percent. Four of his siblingsKerry Kennedy, Rory Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsendissued a statement today denouncing their brothers newly independent candidacy, calling his decision perilous for our country. Kennedy acknowledged the challenge ahead of him. There have been independent candidates in this country before, he said. But this time its going to be different.

Kennedy is the second candidate in as many weeks to go rogue. Cornel West dropped his Green Party affiliation in favor of an independent bid, telling The New York Times, I am a jazz man in politics and the life of the mind who refuses to play only in a party band! Though neither Democrats nor Republicans seem particularly worried about the candidacies of West or Marianne Williamson, Kennedy is different. The Democrats are frightened that Im going to spoil the election for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that Im going to spoil the election for President Trump, Kennedy said. He waited for a strategic beat. The truth is, theyre both right.

Read: The 2024 U.S. presidential race: a cheat sheet

All year long, mainstream Democrats have tried to pretend that Kennedy simply doesnt exist, with mixed results. Both the Biden campaign and the DNC declined to comment today on Kennedys switch. The RNC, for its part, blasted out a list of 23 Reasons to Oppose RFK Jr., and reports have been circulating that Trump’s allies are preparing to pummel Kennedy with opposition research. Last week, the election analyst Nate Silver argued that Kennedys independent run wont necessarily hurt Biden, and it might even help him. David Axelrod, the chief strategist of Barack Obamas campaigns, took a different view. I think anything that lowers the threshold for winning helps Trump, who has a high floor and low ceiling [of support], Axelrod told me.

Kennedy tantalized the crowd with nuggets that purport to make the case for his electability: I have seen the polls that they wont show you. He pointed out that 63 percent of Americans want an independent to run for president. Though he didnt cite the origin of this statistic, it aligns with recent Gallup polling, which also showed that 58 percent of Republicans endorse a third U.S. political party, up from 45 percent last year.

Kennedy has built his candidacy, and his career as a lawyer and writer more broadly, on the idea that there are lots of things they wont show you. As I wrote in a profile of Kennedy this summer, he has promoted a theory that Wi-Fi radiation causes cancer and leaky brain, saying it opens your blood-brain barrier. He has suggested that antidepressants might have contributed to the rise in mass shootings. He told me he believes that Ukraine is engaged in a proxy war and that Russias invasion, although illegal, would not have taken place if the United States didnt want it to.

Hes drawing from many of those Trump votersthe two-time Obama, onetime Trumpthat are still disaffected, want change, and maybe havent found a permanent home in the Trump movement, Steve Bannon told me as I was reporting the profile. Populist left, populist right, and where that Venn diagram overlapshes talking to those people.

The reality is that Kennedy will have an extremely hrd time even getting his name on the ballot. The GOP dirty trickster Roger Stone, who earlier this year was accused of being among those propping up Kennedys candidacy (something he has repeatedly denied), told me in a text message that Kennedy faces a Herculean task with 50 different state laws written by Republicans and Democrats working together to make ballot access as difficult as possible. Even if Kennedy is right and voters are looking for a true alternative to Trump and Biden, mathematically, Kennedys path to 270 electoral votes is almost incomprehensible.

Nevertheless, he said he believes that he is at the start of a new American moment. Something is stirring in us that says, It doesnt have to be this way, Kennedy said onstage. He nodded to Martin Luther King Jr.s Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech from the eve of his assassination and quoted Abraham Lincoln quoting Jesus Christ: A house divided cannot stand. He said that the left and the right had become all mixed up. He said that he was proud to count those on both sides of the abortion debate among his supporters, in addition to climate activists and climate skeptics, and, of course, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Perhaps saying the quiet part out loud, Kennedy said it would be very hard for people to tell whether my administration is left or right. He had no shortage of curious metaphors. He promised not just to take the wheel, but to reboot the GPS. The nations two-party system? A two-headed monster that leads us over a cliff. And, in case it wasnt clear: At the bottom of that cliff is the destruction of our country.

When I interviewed Kennedy for the profile, I asked him what he thought would be more dangerous for the country: four more years of Biden, or another Trump term. I cant answer that, he said.

Around that time, I asked his campaign manager, Dennis Kucinich, if Kennedy was committed to running solely as a Democratic candidate.

Hes running in the Democratic primary, Kucinich responded.

So, no chance of a third party?

Hes running in the Democratic primary.

Gotcha. And nothing could change that?

Hes running in the Democratic primary.

Today, after Kennedy finished speaking, Kucinich briefly seized the mic and led the crowd in a building, dramatic chant:

I declare my independence!

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Musk says Tesla is expanding Austin robotaxi service, adding Grok to cars

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Musk says Tesla is expanding Austin robotaxi service, adding Grok to cars

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 7, 2020.

Aly Song | Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is expanding its robotaxi service area and bringing xAI’s Grok to vehicles as it rolled out a new iteration of the artificial intelligence chatbot.

Shares gained about 3%.

Musk said on X that Grok, his AI chatbot that praised Adolf Hitler and posted a barrage of antisemitic comments recently, will be available in Tesla vehicles “next week at the latest.”

xAI officially launched the Grok 4 update overnight as the company continued to face backlash for the vitriol written by the chatbot.

In response to a user post on his social media platform X, Musk said the company is expanding its Austin, Texas robotaxi service area this weekend. He also said Tesla is awaiting regulatory approval for a launch in the Bay Area “probably in a month or two.”

Read more CNBC tech news

The expansion of robotaxi and Grok integration comes at a fraught time for Musk and his empire.

Tesla set its annual shareholder meeting for Nov. 6, a Thursday filing showed. A group of investors recently called on the electric vehicle company to schedule the meeting.

Its last shareholder meeting was in June 2024, as Musk established himself as a major backer of President Donald Trump‘s reelection campaign. Musk later led the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.

After stepping down from DOGE at the end of May, Musk has openly feuded with Trump on social media over the major tax bill, with the president suggesting the government look at cutting contracts for Musk’s companies.

Shares have tanked from their post-election high over investor concerns that the public fight could hamper Tesla. Slowing sales and rising competition also stifled some investor appetite.

Tesla shares fell Monday, with the company losing $68 billion in value after Musk continued to blast Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and said he was establishing his own political party, the “America Party.”

The world’s richest man suffered another blow Wednesday when Linda Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of his social media platform X, leaving the role after a turbulent two years for the company.

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The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is here and it’s even better than expected

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The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is here and it's even better than expected

The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is finally here, and it delivers. Hyundai’s electric sports car is loaded with fun new features, a sleek design (including a massive rear wing), 641 horsepower, and much more.

Meet the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N

After teasing the new model for the first time last month, Hyundai created quite a buzz. Now, we are finally getting our first look at the upgraded high-performance EV.

Hyundai unveiled the new IONIQ 6 N at the famed Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday in West Sussex, England. The upgraded model follows Hyundai’s first high-performance EV, the IONIQ 5 N.

At the event, the company boasted that its new electric sports car marks “a pivotal milestone in Hyundai N’s electrification journey,” adding “Hyundai N is once again redefining the boundaries of high-performance electrification with the debut of the IONIQ 6 N.”

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The IONIQ 6 N delivers an impressive 641 horsepower (478 kW) and 77 Nm of torque, enabling a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint in just 3.2 seconds. Its top speed is about 160 mph (257 km/h).

Hyundai-IONIQ-6-N-EV
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N (Source: Hyundai)

That’s when using Hyundai’s Launch Control, one of the many performance features the new EV offers. Like its other N models, the IONIQ 6 is based on three pillars: Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability, and, of course, an Everyday Sportscar.

Powered by two electric motors, a 223 hp (166 kW) at the front and another 378 hp (282 kW) motor at the rear, for a combined 600 hp (448 kW).

Hyundai-IONIQ-6-N-EV
Hyundai IONIQ 6 N (Source: Hyundai)

Redefining the EV driving experience

The upgraded IONIQ 6 “redefines the EV driving experience,” according to Hyundai, thanks to its advanced in-house vehicle control software.

Central to this is Hyundai’s N Active Sound + system, which mimics the feel and sound of a traditional engine. An added N e-Shift simulates shifting gears.

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Hyundai IONIQ 6 N interior (Source: Hyundai)

And that’s just the start. Other performance features, such as N Drift Optimizer, N Grin Boost, and N Torque Distribution, give you even more control over the vehicle while delivering increased power.

The IONIQ 6 N is powered by an 84 kWh battery, providing a WLTP range of up to 291 miles (469 km). However, EPA figures will be revealed closer to launch. Given the IONIQ 5 N has an EPA-estimated range of up to 221 miles, you can expect it to be slightly higher when it arrives.

With a 350 kW DC fast charger, Hyundai’s new performance EV can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 18 minutes.

With a length of 4,935 mm, a width of 1,940 mm, and a height of 1,495 mm, the IONIQ 6 N is about the size of the Porsche Taycan.

Hyundai will showcase the new high-performance EV during the hillclimb event alongside other models like the IONIQ 5 N, IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec, and IONIQ 6 N with N Performance parts. Hyundai promises each vehicle brings unique capabilities to the event, “guaranteeing a dynamic and thrilling on-track experience for all attendees.” Check back soon for more info.

What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric sports car? Would you buy one over the Porsche Taycan? Let us know in the comments.

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Environment

Elon Musk says Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles just after it went full Hitler

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Elon Musk says Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles just after it went full Hitler

Elon Musk said that Tesla owners will “soon” have access to Grok, a large language developed by Musk’s xAI startup, days after the AI started calling itself ‘MechaHitler’.

Yesterday, xAI launched Grok 4, the latest version of its large language model.

The new model is benchmarking very well, but that’s generally the case with the latest model to come out. It edges the latest models from Google and OpenAI on intelligence by a few points, but it falls behind on speed:

At the launch event, Musk announced that Grok will “soon” be integrated into Tesla vehicles.

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This is something that the CEO has been discussing since founding xAI, which has been controversial because Musk has also positioned Tesla to compete in the AI space. He even stepped down from his role at OpenAI due to a “conflict of interest with Tesla.”

The announcement of the imminent integration of Grok into Tesla vehicles comes just days after the language model went haywire on X and started praising Hitler, referring to itself as ‘MechaHitler’, and made several antisemitic comments.

xAI acknowledge the issue and put Grok on timeout while they fixed it:

We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.

The “bug” came just a few weeks after Musk stated that he was displeased with Grok supporting left-wing narratives, even though it didn’t say anything inncurate, and that he would update Grok to “fix” it.

Now, the large language model (LLM) is expected to power the new voice assistant inside Tesla vehicles.

LLMs are becoming quite common in cars, especially premium vehicles. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and a few others have all integrated Chat-GPT in some models.

Many Chinese automakers have also developed their own and deployed them in cars, even entry-level ones.

Tesla is playing catch up on that front.

Electrek’s Take

As I have previously stated, I think Musk is setting up Tesla to invest or even merge with xAI at a ridiculous valuation – making Tesla shareholders virtually pay twice for Twitter, which is now part of xAI.

This is how he will be able to gain wider control over the company’s share.

Of course, it will be widely challenged in court. In fact, shareholders have already filed a lawsuit alleging that Musk was in breach of fiduciary duties to Tesla shareholders when he started xAI.

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