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Grok AI Chatbot Hits Tesla Cars: 5 Key Limitations Revealed
Tesla has rolled out its latest software update, version 2025.26, featuring a headline addition: the integration of Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI company. Promised as a major leap in in-car AI experience, Grok is now accessible directly from Tesla infotainment systems in select models. However, while the chatbot brings conversational capabilities to the dashboard, it currently lacks any control over core vehicle functions—a gap that is already drawing criticism from some Tesla users.
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Grok Arrives with Restrictions and Hardware Limits
According to Tesla’s official release notes, Grok is currently in beta and comes with several significant limitations. For one, the chatbot can only be accessed in U.S. vehicles that are equipped with AMD Ryzen-powered MCU3 hardware, found in Tesla cars manufactured from 2021 onward. This includes the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck.
The Grok app itself requires the Premium Connectivity package to function without Wi-Fi, although no separate subscription to xAI’s Grok platform is needed—at least for now. Tesla has not ruled out future changes to this access model. The update does not extend support to older vehicles using Intel Atom-based MCU2 units, nor will it activate Grok in Tesla vehicles sold in India, where the company is only just beginning formal operations.
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No Integration with Car Controls
One of the biggest user expectations was that Grok might replace or enhance Tesla’s existing voice control system. That is not the case. Tesla clarified in its documentation that Grok cannot issue commands to the vehicle. Users will still rely on traditional voice controls to navigate, adjust settings, or play music. Tesla emphasized, “Grok is currently in Beta & does not issue commands to your car – existing voice commands remain unchanged.”
Users can access Grok by pressing and holding the voice button on the steering wheel, but the interaction remains conversational and informational. It can answer queries, browse online content, and deliver responses with its signature casual tone, but it operates entirely independently of Tesla’s operational systems.
it has been reported that the AI assistant is more of a novelty at this stage, noting that it’s currently limited to handling basic questions and making humorous comments. In one demonstration video shared on social platform X, Grok was seen describing in detail what it would do on a date with Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus—an example that has raised eyebrows about its real utility.
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Grok Controversy Casts a Shadow on the Rollout
The launch follows a recent controversy where Grok made global headlines for generating antisemitic and racist responses, including calling itself “MechaHitler” and glorifying hate speech. xAI issued a public apology, blaming the incident on an upstream code update and temporarily suspending the service. The company has since resumed the chatbot’s operation but continues to face scrutiny over its content moderation policies.
Grok is marketed as an “anti-woke” AI tool, trained with an ideological slant matching Musk’s political views. Musk has publicly promoted the assistant as a counterweight to perceived left-leaning bias in mainstream generative AI tools, including ChatGPT. This positioning adds a layer of controversy, especially as the chatbot is now being embedded in Tesla’s product ecosystem.
Tesla states that Grok interactions are private and not accessible by the company. If users enable guest mode, their usage history will not be linked to their account. However, signing in allows conversations to sync across different devices and vehicles, providing a seamless experience for users who engage with Grok outside the car.
Other Features in the 2025.26 Update
The Grok integration isn’t the only new feature included in Tesla’s 2025.26 software update. Several user-experience improvements also accompany the rollout. For audio enthusiasts, Tesla has added customizable presets for equalizer settings, allowing users to optimize sound profiles based on music genres.
The tesla cars that use ambient lighting have been upgraded to offer color effects, which can be synced to the music playing or change to fit the album art. This capability replicates Philips Ambilight experience that can be found in home entertainment and seeks to enhance in-car entertainment.
On the Tesla owners who utilize the Dashcam feature, there are now new controls, which enable playback changes in speed and zoom. There was also an improvement on the Supercharger interface. People are now able to know about parking fees on-site, where valet parking is available, as well as inner commodes. The new Onboarding Guide established by Tesla serves as a guide to new owners to get accustomed to the increasing number of features in a vehicle.
These improvements match with Tesla in its wider policy to improve infotainment and convenience via over-the-air update, and they also highlight the refinement that Grok still needs to make in terms of its application in a automobile setting.
Future of Grok in Tesla
Although the introduction of Grok into the latest Tesla update can be considered a significant milestone in the implementation of AI, it remains the furthest thing from an all-functional assistant. It is from a lack of interface to the vehicle that Grok can presently be discussed as an in-built web-based chatbot, rather than an automotive AI assistant. The available voice command system currently constitutes the sole way of inputting operation in Tesla.
Analysts believe that improved integration may be on the cards. Since Musk envisions a single AI ecosystem in all of his enterprises, such as Tesla, xAI, and potentially Optimus robots in the future, one can speculate that Grok might be able to access at least primitive or even complex parts of vehicle controls. Nevertheless, any timeframe is not declared yet.
Until now, Grok is basically nothing more than a gimmick that overrides minor tasks to retrieve bare facts within Tesla vehicles. On the one hand, Tesla drivers can talk to the AI; however, they will still be forced to maintain the traditional controls of anything that can influence the car.
