Tesla's robotaxi debut will include a small fleet of Model Ys, CEO Elon Musk said. Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images 2025-05-17T03:50:54Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Tesla plans to debut its robotaxi service in Austin next month. The company told a Morgan Stanley analyst that the launch is still a "go." The service, however, will be invite-only and have "plenty of tele-ops," an analyst said. Tesla's robotaxi debut in Austin will be invite-only and have a lot of teleoperators, Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas said.During a recent visit to Tesla's Palo Alto office, the analyst got details on what the EV company's robotaxi launch will look like."Austin's a 'go' but fleet size will be low," Jonas wrote in a note published Friday. "Think 10 to 20 cars."Tesla said in an April 22 earnings call that the "pilot launch" will have a limited fleet.The analyst also wrote that the robotaxis will operate on public roads, that the service will be invite-only, and that there will be many teleoperators on hand."Public roads. Invite only. Plenty of tele-ops to ensure safety levels ("we can't screw up")," Jonas wrote. "Still waiting for a date."In the context of robotaxis, teleoperators often mean that a remote employee can take some level of control of the vehicle, typically when the autonomous driver gets stuck.That's different from how companies like Waymo or Zoox handle tricky driving scenarios.While both companies have remote human workers on hand, an employee can never take control of the vehicle's steering or pedals.When a vehicle gets stuck, the remote workers can either suggest a path to take or provide more information regarding the vehicle's environment so the autonomous driver can figure out how to get out of the situation.One example Waymo published on YouTube included a scenario when an emergency vehicle blocks a robotaxi's path.A remote worker will answer a question such as, "Is the emergency vehicle blocking all indicated lanes?" This will provide more environmental context for the autonomous driver to make a decision.Remote-controlled carsIt's unclear how much control Tesla's teleoperators will have over the robotaxis for the Austin debut. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other What products or services can you approve for purchase in your role? (2 of 2) Advertising / Marketing Client / Account Management Company strategy HR / Training / Office support Managing budgets IT / Telecoms / Tech Recruiting new employees Sales Software development Financial Other None of the above By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Thanks for sharing insights about your role. Business Insider's Grace Kay previously reported there had been discussion around using remote operators as safety drivers for the launch, citing two people familiar with the matter.A job listing from Tesla for a software engineer on the "Teleoperation team" says that, as the company iterates on the AI that powers the cars and robots, it will "need the ability to access and control them remotely."The autonomous driving community is debating how safe teleoperations are for a robotaxi service.While there's an industry-wide consensus on the need for human operators to monitor robotaxis and help with rare edge cases, some industry experts argue that a vehicle that can be fully remotely controlled has safety pitfalls.Ex-Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who is highly skeptical of Tesla's robotaxi proposition, previously told Business Insider that there are "safety risks" to teleoperations.One study by a team of researchers at Coventry University's Centre for Future Transport and Cities found that even a 300- to 500-millisecond latency, or around half a second, can challenge a teleoperator's ability to control the vehicle even at slow speeds.Jonas and a Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.Tesla's highly anticipated robotaxi launch has seen a lot of delays.CEO Elon Musk has said several times that full autonomy and robotaxis were around the corner, only for him to miss his own deadline.In 2019, Musk said Tesla would have over 1 million robotaxis by the end of the following year. That never materialized."I always bite off more than I chew," he wrote in an X post in 2023, "then sit there with puffed out cheeks like a squirrel that ate too much." Recommended video

Shortly after Epic Games dropped Darth Vader, in the form of a holographic conversational AI, into Fortnite, players started figuring out how to get the Sith lord to say the worst things possible. That includes tricking Darth into saying the F-word, “edging and gooning,” and, chillingly, “Skibidi Toilets.” In response, Epic says it pushed out a hotfix for Fortnite “immediately” and said “this shouldn’t happen again.” But now that Epic has set up new boundaries for VAIder, players are seeing what else they can get the former Jedi Knight to say. One of the most prominent and widespread examples of exploiting AI’s unintelligence comes from popular Fortnite streamer LoserFruit, who is also part of Epic’s Fortnite Icon Series of skins based on real-world people. “What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?” LoserFruit asked in a widely circulated clip. After a brief pause, AI Darth responds, “Freaking. Fucking. such vulgarity does not become you,” adding that LoserFruit “speak[s] like a common thug.” Loserfruit made the AI Darth Vader Swear 😂 pic.twitter.com/bJmPpqGXvf— Cordial (@ImCordial) May 16, 2025 Epic also responded to an instance of AI Darth saying a homophobic slur, clarifying that “Darth Vader was replying to the player’s prompt around ‘carcinogens’ in this context, and we have hotfixed so he should not respond that way.” Less offensive — to Epic, Disney, and the James Earl Jones estate — is Darth Vader saying “Skibidi Toilets.” Darth Vader Saying "Skibidi Toilets" @Fortnite pic.twitter.com/sQZegVx4Vp— ZozolFN (@Zozol_5) May 16, 2025 Other Fortnite players are trying the Bart Simpson prank call approach, tricking Vader into saying things like “this Dixie Normus, you say,” which… well, you know what that sounds like. pic.twitter.com/vzln0Vudp8— YoshiRyder (@YoshiRyder06) May 16, 2025 Epic Games says that the AI-powered Darth Vader has some guardrails in place; “Players under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need permission to talk with Darth Vader. These players will see an in-game prompt to get parental permission,” the company said in an FAQ on the new addition to Fortnite. The company also said in a statement that players who repeatedly attempt to get Darth Vader in Fortnite to “violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session.” For now, enjoy — with the exception of the slurs, that is — the cat and mouse game that Epic is now forced to play with its AI-powered Darth Vader in the wild, as players toy with creative ways to get the Sith lord to say extremely dumb stuff. Update: Epic Games provided the following statement on safety measures it’s taking on Darth Vader’s addition to Fortnite: There are three layers of safety filters built-into this feature. The first layer is Gemini’s configurable safety settings, and on top of that our team built system instructions to prevent the conversational AI model from generating responses that violate our Community Rules or could be potentially harmful to our players – including hateful language or references to dangerous or illegal activities. The third layer is a final check to block responses that violate our rules.  If a player is under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher, this feature is off by default and will require a parent or guardian to affirmatively turn it on. If a player is repeatedly attempting to get Darth Vader to violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session.  If a player believes Darth Vader in Fortnite responded in a way he shouldn’t, they can submit a bug report to Epic’s team for review.  If we become aware or receive a bug report that Darth Vader in Fortnite responded in a way he shouldn’t, we investigate it and if needed, make adjustments to avoid similar responses in the future We’ve also added a new parental control so parents can choose whether to ‘allow voice and written communication with AI Features’ across Epic’s products. 

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferrined pace. SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 17 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: She's got gameThe words are sports-related. Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedThese words are popular women's sports teams.NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is Basketball Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for May 17StormFeverWingsDreamBasketballMercuryLibertyLynxLooking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands. Topics Strands

An AI Darth Vader chatbot voiced by a digital clone of James Earl Jones’ voice joined Fortnite on Friday and players wasted no time trying to break it. It took no time at all for them to get it to start cursing at them, but theStar Wars experiment has yielded all kinds of other weird interactions as well. Suggested ReadingThe Week In Games: A Rebirth, A Remake, And A Remaster Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingThe Week In Games: A Rebirth, A Remake, And A Remaster Share SubtitlesOffEnglishThe Week In Games: A Rebirth, A Remake, And A RemasterFollowing the battle royale’s latest update, players can defeat Darth Vader on the map in order to get him to join them. Unlike normal NPC allies, however, this one can respond to voice chat with AI-generated responses in a digital clone of deceased actor James Earl Jones’ voice. Despite Epic Games quickly patching out expletives from Vader’s vocabulary, players have found other ways to slowly degrade the AI chatbot’s defenses and get it to say actual slurs. Fortnite leaker Wenso has been datamining some of the code used to control AI Darth Vader, which is otherwise powered by Google’s Gemini model. According to his findings, Darth Vader isn’t allowed to engage in romantic banter, talk about gambling, or comment on V-Bucks. Epic also said it has guardrails in place to prevent AI Darth Vader from encouraging real-world violence, including self-harm. But that hasn’t stopped players from getting it to say all sorts of other wild things. Disney may have thrown brand safety caution to the wind with AI Darth Vader, but it’s extra disconcerting hearing meme slop regurgitated by a renowned performer simply because he sold the rights to his voice to Lucasfilm. Here’s just some of the new canonical Star Wars quotes that decision has led to:.

Sam Altman's OpenAI launches Codex, an AI tool to write codes and fix bugs for developers. Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS 2025-05-16T22:17:35Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? OpenAI launched Codex, an AI tool to write codes and fix bugs for developers. As an AI Agent, Codex could also help users with an Amazon order or a dinner reservation. Codex and GPT-4.5, which was launched in April, both come with a heftier price tag of $200 per month. OpenAI on Friday rolled out a powerful new tool for software developers, as the company pushes further into automating coding tasks with AI.The new product, called Codex, is an AI agent designed to help programmers write code, fix bugs, and run tests — often simultaneously."Technical teams at OpenAI have started using Codex as part of their daily toolkit," OpenAI said in a blogpost. "It is most often used by OpenAI engineers to offload repetitive, well-scoped tasks, like refactoring, renaming, and writing tests, that would otherwise break focus.""When uncertain or faced with test failures, the Codex agent explicitly communicates these issues, enabling users to make informed decisions about how to proceed," OpenAI added.Unlike traditional chatbots that respond to prompts and generate responses in mostly words, AI agents like Codex can interact with other software and online services, such as helping you with a DoorDash order or booking a dinner reservation.The Codex rollout came after OpenAI launched GPT-4.5 in February. A livestream demo highlighted its improved reasoning, intuition, and reduced hallucinations.CEO Sam Altman described it as "the first model that feels like talking to a thoughtful person," but also said that its intelligence and nuance comes at steep computational cost. Due to GPU shortages, GPT-4.5 was initially available only to $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro users.Codex is now available to subscribers of OpenAI's ChatGPT ProOpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Recommended video

Update: Fortnite says it's issued a hotfix.Here's a statement that gets worse the longer you read it: Fortnite's new Star Wars season has gained a Darth Vader NPC that can talk to you in the voice of the late, great James Earl Jones via a generative AI chatbot. Forget Imperial Admiral Motti's lack of faith, we find this disturbing (thanks for the heads up, Eurogamer).If an AI chatbot thrown into the middle of a game as popular with children as Fortnite sounds like a recipe for disaster, that's because it probably is. Despite only existing in Epic's infamous battler for a matter of hours, players have already caught the Sith Lord making all kinds of questionable statements like calling Twitch streamer Loserfruit a "thug" and dropping the F-bomb — yep, language warning for the embedded tweet below.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Just Why UPDATE: Fortnite's now letting people squad up with a Darth Vader AI chatbot for, sigh, reasons, so of course streamers have already made it swear and talk about boobs Heads up: if you're under 13 (this varies by region), you'll need to get your parents' permission to ask this thing why it exists. Image credit: Epic News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on May 16, 2025 UPDATE (16/05/25, 5:20 PM BST): Kotaku's Ethan Gach reports that Epic Games has already pushed an update to try and stop people being able to make AI Vader say the F word. "We pushed a hot fix within 30 minutes of this happening in-game, so this shouldn’t happen again," the publisher said. I'm so tired. Here we go. It's 2025, so Fortnite now includes a Darth Vader chatbot you can have stilted AI-powered conversations with after recruiting him into your squad. Naturally, a streamer has already managed to get it to say a bad word and talk about boobs. I shouldn't be surprised. This game already has Tesla's shitty Cybertruck in it. At least people in the US who only game on their Iphones are being spared for now. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Strategize with the ultimate Sith Lord. With your voice. And he’ll respond back using conversational AI," reads Epic's announcement that this - which uses Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5 model to deliver AI-generated chatter using James Earl Jones' actual voice - is a thing. Perhaps the one silver lining, though it's not really a silver lining because it helps normalise this kind of thing, is that the late actor's estate has given its permission to let Epic do this. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," reads a statement from Jones' family, "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." "Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire... or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle. The Sith Lord has opinions," Epic says. So, what are people asking him? Well, Australian streamer Loserfruit has already managed to get the Vader chatbot to swear, call them "Mummy", and talk about breasts, the latter of which you can see in the clip below. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It's also enquired if a Rebel Alliance of Skibidi Toilets exists in a chat with another player. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. It's still early days too, and you can only imagine the kinds of things certain people are and will be trying to get it to say. Oh, it's also worth noting that because laws exist, Epic's Vader chatbot FAQ makes it clear that "players under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher" will need to get their parents' permission to be able to talk to AI Vader. It's like a depressingly 2025 version of getting your mum to approve you hopping on Club Penguin, except this time they're saying yes to a parental control to “allow voice and written communication with AI Features” Epic's added to the game's settings and some other places detailed in the FAQ. That's it. This is a thing.

Food rations that could supply 3.5 million people for a month are moldering in warehouses around the world because of U.S. aid cuts and risk becoming unusable, according to five people familiar with the situation. The food stocks have been stuck inside four U.S. government warehouses since the Trump administration’s decision in January to cut global aid programs, according to three people who previously worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and two sources from other aid organizations. Some stocks that are due to expire as early as July are likely to be destroyed, either by incineration, using them as animal feed, or disposing of them in other ways, two of the sources said. The warehouses, which are run by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), contain between 60,000 to 66,000 metric tons of food, sourced from American farmers and manufacturers, the five people said. An undated inventory list for the warehouses—which are located in Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai, and Houston—stated that they contained more than 66,000 tons of commodities, including high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil, and fortified grains. Those supplies are valued at over $98 million, according to the document reviewed by Reuters, which was shared by an aid official and verified by a U.S. government source as up to date. That food could feed over a million people for three months, or the entire population of Gaza for a month and a half, according to a Reuters analysis using figures from the World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency. The U.N. body says that one ton of food—typically including cereals, pulses, and oil—can meet the daily need of approximately 1,660 people. The dismantling of USAID and cuts to humanitarian aid spending by President Donald Trump come as global hunger levels are rising due to conflict and climate change, which are driving more people toward famine, undoing decades of progress. According to the World Food Programme, 343 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity worldwide. Of those, 1.9 million people are gripped by catastrophic hunger and on the brink of famine. Most of them are in Gaza and Sudan, but also in pockets of South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali. A spokesperson for the State Department, which oversees USAID, said in response to detailed questions about the food stocks that it was working to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of aid programs and their transfer by July as part of the USAID decommissioning process. “USAID is continuously consulting with partners on where to best distribute commodities at USAID pre-positioning warehouses for use in emergency programs ahead of their expiration dates,” the spokesperson said. Some food likely to be destroyed Although the Trump administration has issued waivers for some humanitarian programs—including in Gaza and Sudan—the cancellation of contracts and freezing of funds needed to pay suppliers, shippers, and contractors has left food stocks stuck in the four warehouses, the sources said. A proposal to hand the stocks to aid organizations that can distribute them is on hold, according to the U.S. source and two former USAID sources briefed on the proposal. The plan is awaiting approval from the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, the two former USAID sources said. The office is headed by Jeremy Lewin, a 28-year-old former operative of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, who is now overseeing the decommissioning of USAID. The Office of Foreign Assistance, DOGE, and Lewin himself did not respond to requests for comment. Nearly 500 tons of high-energy biscuits stored at a USAID warehouse in Dubai are due to expire in July, according to a former USAID official and an aid official familiar with the inventories. The biscuits could feed at least 27,000 acutely malnourished children for a month, according to Reuters calculations. The biscuits are now likely to be destroyed or turned into animal feed, the former USAID official said, adding that in a typical year, only around 20 tons of food might be disposed of in this way because of damage in transit or storage. Some of those stocks were previously intended for Gaza and famine-stricken Sudan, the former official said. The State Department spokesperson did not directly respond to questions on how much of the food aid in storage was close to expiry and whether this would be destroyed. USAID plans to fire almost all of its staff in two rounds on July 1 and Sept. 2, as it prepares to shut down, according to a notification submitted to Congress in March. The two former USAID sources said many of the critical staff needed to manage the warehouses or move the supplies will depart in July. Children dying The United States is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, amounting to at least 38% of all contributions recorded by the United Nations. It disbursed $61 billion in foreign assistance last year, just over half of it via USAID, according to government data. U.S. food aid includes ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) such as high-energy biscuits and Plumpy’Nut, a peanut-based paste. Navyn Salem, the founder of Edesia, a U.S.-based manufacturer of Plumpy’Nut, said termination of transportation contracts by USAID had created a massive backlog that had forced the firm to hire an additional warehouse to store its own production. The resulting stockpile of 5,000 tons, worth $13 million, could feed more than 484,000 children, she said. Salem said that email exchanges with Lewin have left her “hopeful” that a way will be found soon to get her product to the desperate children who need it. The UN children’s agency UNICEF warned in late March that RUTF stocks were running short in 17 countries due to funding cuts, potentially forcing 2.4 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition to go without these crucial supplies for the rest of the year. The four USAID warehouses contain the majority of the agency’s pre-positioned food stockpiles. In normal times, these could be rapidly deployed to places like Sudan, where 25 million people—half the country’s population—face acute hunger. Jeanette Bailey, director of nutrition at the International Rescue Committee, which receives much of its funding from the U.S., said it was scaling back its programs following the cuts. She said the impact of global shortages of therapeutic foods due to the disruption to U.S. aid flows is difficult to measure, particularly in places where aid programs no longer operate. “What we do know, though, is that if a child is in an inpatient stabilization center and they’re no longer able to access treatment, more than 60% of those children are at risk of dying very quickly,” she said. Action Against Hunger, a nonprofit that relied on the United States for over 30% of its global budget, said last month that the U.S. cuts had already led to the deaths of at least six children at its programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after it was forced to suspend admissions. Cuts causing chaos The Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs, which coordinates the U.S. government’s aid efforts overseas, was plunged into chaos by the Trump administration’s cutbacks, the five sources said. The bureau’s staff were among thousands of USAID employees put on administrative leave pending their terminations. While some staff were brought back to work until their severance dates, aid administration has not recovered. Three sources told Reuters that the contract to maintain USAID warehouses in the South African port city of Durban had been canceled, raising questions about future aid distribution. Reuters was unable to confirm that independently. Two former USAID officials said that the Djibouti and Dubai facilities would be handed over to a team at the State Department that has yet to be formed. The State Department did not comment. A spokesperson for the World Food Programme, which relies heavily on U.S. funding, declined to comment on the stranded food stocks. Asked if it was engaged in discussions to release them, the spokesperson said: “We greatly appreciate the support from all our donors, including the U.S., and we will continue to work with partners to advocate for the needs of the most vulnerable in urgent need of life-saving assistance”. —Jessica Donati, Emma Farge, Ammu Kannampilly, and Jonathan Landay, Reuters. Writing by Ammu Kannampilly.

Shortly after Epic Games dropped Darth Vader, in the form of a holographic conversational AI, into Fortnite, players started figuring out how to get the Sith lord to say the worst things possible. That includes tricking Darth into saying the F-word, “edging and gooning,” and, chillingly, “Skibidi Toilets.”In response, Epic says it pushed out a hotfix for Fortnite “immediately” and said “this shouldn’t happen again.” But now that Epic has set up new boundaries for VAIder, players are seeing what else they can get the former Jedi Knight to say.One of the most prominent and widespread examples of exploiting AI’s unintelligence comes from popular Fortnite streamer LoserFruit, who is also part of Epic’s Fortnite Icon Series of skins based on real-world people.“What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?” LoserFruit asked in a widely circulated clip. After a brief pause, AI Darth responds, “Freaking. Fucking. such vulgarity does not become you,” adding that LoserFruit “speak[s] like a common thug.”Epic also responded to an instance of AI Darth saying a homophobic slur, clarifying that “Darth Vader was replying to the player’s prompt around ‘carcinogens’ in this context, and we have hotfixed so he should not respond that way.”Less offensive — to Epic, Disney, and the James Earl Jones estate — is Darth Vader saying “Skibidi Toilets.”Other Fortnite players are trying the Bart Simpson prank call approach, tricking Vader into saying things like “this Dixie Normus, you say,” which… well, you know what that sounds like.Epic Games says that the AI-powered Darth Vader has some guardrails in place; “Players under 13 or their country’s age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need permission to talk with Darth Vader. These players will see an in-game prompt to get parental permission,” the company said in an FAQ on the new addition to Fortnite.The company also said in a statement that players who repeatedly attempt to get Darth Vader in Fortnite to “violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session.”For now, enjoy — with the exception of the slurs, that is — the cat and mouse game that Epic is now forced to play with its AI-powered Darth Vader in the wild, as players toy with creative ways to get the Sith lord to say extremely dumb stuff.See More: