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Integrating Grok chatbots into Tesla cars tells a lot about manufacturing
Tesla electric car owners recently learned that they will receive a free feature. Starting July 12, the Grok chatbot will be automatically installed and available for use in all new Tesla vehicles.
Grok is an AI-powered chatbot developed by xAI, an AI company launched by Tesla CEO Elon Musk two years ago.
Musk appears to be leveraging his diverse assets and business ventures to provide customers with additional value. However, in this case, it's reasonable to wonder who benefits most from this "gift," which boosts Musk's business, according to a Fortune report
With this update, Grok now appears as a button on the Tesla car's home screen. Users can ask it questions or assign it tasks, just as they would with any other chatbot, whether it's OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini.
Currently, Grok can't control any of the car's functions, such as the windows or air conditioning, but it's not difficult to imagine many practical uses for the large language model inside the car, from responding to emails to summarizing a book.
Who benefits?
The new agreement between Tesla and xAI will likely make Tesla a major customer of the AI company, although neither company has disclosed any financial details related to this partnership.
Tesla sold nearly 1.8 million cars last year alone, meaning this new partnership will open the door for millions of customers to start using Grok.
If even a small percentage of new Tesla owners take advantage of this feature, it could increase computing costs for xAI, which already spends about $1 billion a month building its data centers and purchasing enough computer chips to compete with other AI companies.
However, it's important to consider the data sharing that may occur now that Grok is installed in Tesla vehicles. In its disclosures, Tesla said that drivers' conversations with Grok will be securely processed by xAI, in line with xAI's privacy policy, noting that the conversations will be anonymous and will not be tied to a specific car.
A look at xAI's privacy policy reveals that the company collects personal information, user content, social media information, and other data related to service use, and that it will share data with contracted service providers, affiliated companies, and third parties with whom customers consent to share information.
But the more important question is: What specific data will xAI have access to when using Grok in cars?
Musk has suggested adding a "wake word" to activate the chatbot, but will this limit the parts of conversation Grok can pick up inside the car? Or will it listen to everything said in the car once it's activated via the home screen?
And conversations are only part of the available data. After all, cars have become some of the most powerful data-gathering devices in everyday life. Cars contain computers and multiple sensors, and some estimates indicate they generate around 25 gigabytes of data every hour—data that could be particularly valuable for a company with a large AI model that needs data to train it.
Tesla says in its privacy policy that it uses vehicle data in its self-driving AI models and allows customers to download copies of the data it collects for themselves.
However, Tesla doesn't detail what types of data it uses and for what purposes, and it hasn't updated its privacy policy since adding Grok on July 12, so it's unclear how in-car conversations will be used.
A Big Risk
"This is part of a broader trend we're seeing in the auto industry," said Albert Kahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a public interest and legal services organization focused on how technology is being used to target individuals.
He added: "Cars have gone from being a symbol of autonomy on the open road to the most surveilled aspect of our lives. There's a huge risk that the data collected covertly from our cars could be used against us, whether by law enforcement or immigration officials, or simply exploited for profit without our consent."
Tesla vehicles, specifically, contain an array of cameras, collecting data from video and camera feeds, ultrasonic sensor data, GPS and location information, vehicle biometrics such as speed, battery usage, and odometer readings, event logs such as crash or crash data, and user interaction data.
This is all data Tesla has provided to government authorities to identify criminals or assist law enforcement in investigations. It is unclear whether conversations with Grok are also permitted to be used in investigations.
Kahn said that as the number of cameras and sensors in self-driving vehicles increases, an increasing number of types of data are being collected from drivers. He added, "These companies are quick to claim that our data is anonymized, but it's actually very difficult to anonymize this type of information in a way that cannot be re-identified later."
As the man behind some of today's most popular tech products—from electric cars, self-driving technology, and large language models to social media and Starlink internet satellites—Musk appears increasingly determined to integrate the various components of his business empire to deliver a new and unique product to consumers. It will be up to consumers to decide whether these trade-offs are worthwhile.
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