Tesla is not releasing a new smartphone

Claim: At the end of 2024, Elon Musk will launch a smartphone called Tesla Pi, with three exclusive key features. This includes a solar-powered battery that does not require manual charging of the phone. There is also no internet connection required as all Tesla Pi smartphones automatically connect to Starlink. Eventually it will even be usable on the moon and the planet Mars.

Fact: Tesla has not announced a new smartphone with the features mentioned in the claim.

On October 30, 2024, an Instagram user shared a photoand claims that Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla is launching a smartphone called Tesla Pi, which is scheduled to launch in late 2024.

The photo contains the following text:

The first time the Tesla Pi was released in 2024

I worked more than a year ago

I made a new decision 14 years ago that ended before January 1st. That’s not all you need to find out more

I sat 2 months before the end of the year more than a year ago It’s not easy to pay a year later I worked for a week more than a year ago

3. I asked again 3 years ago I sat a week ago a year ago

(Translation: The richest person in the world and Tesla founder Elon Musk is launching the Tesla Pi cell phone at the end of 2024. This cell phone has three features that no other cell phone company offers:

1. This phone doesn’t need to be charged – it charges automatically from the sun, even when it’s in your pocket.
2. This Tesla phone doesn’t need an internet connection – it works automatically with Elon Musk’s Tesla Starlink satellite internet. The internet works on this phone no matter where you are.
3. It connects with the Earth, the Moon and Mars – its properties are amazing. The world is eagerly waiting for this mobile phone.)

Fact or fiction?

Soch fact check didn’t find any announcements of a phone called Tesla Pi on Elon Musk’s X Account or the websites of SpaceX or Tesla. We also searched Tesla’s YouTube channel But I didn’t find any reference to a smartphone.

Upon further research, we discovered that the viral photo of the phone came from YouTube video uploaded by a channel called Concept on August 9, 2021. This video contains the disclaimer: “We are showing you a preliminary concept model.” The phone shown in the video is similar to the version that appears in the viral posts.

Soch fact check I also found an X post from September 2020 by CleanTechnica which states: “Tesla to develop smartwatch with partners, News Outlets report.” The top reply to this post is from Elon Musk from his official X account, where he clarified “Absolutely not. Smartwatches and phones are yesterday’s technology, Neuralinks are the future.”

We also found a video Clip dated October 18, 2024, showing Elon Musk speaking at a rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is heard saying:

“Man, I really hope we don’t have to build a phone. This is real, this is a lot of work. The idea of ​​building a telephone makes me want to die. But if we have to make a phone, we will do that, but we will strive not to make a phone. You know, I think that the various companies, Apple and Google, Android and so on, have to make sure that they don’t have a strong hand in the App Store, otherwise they create a coercive function so that there is a competitor. But man, I’m scared of the idea of ​​building a phone. But if it turns out it’s necessary, we’ll do it, but hopefully it’s not necessary.”

We also looked for coverage in mainstream news such as: BBC, CNN, WIRED, CNET, and others and found no mentions of the Tesla Pi Article published by The Daily Star, The title “Is the Tesla Phone Even Real?” mentions that in June 2024, Tesla owner and founder Elon Musk stated during a livestream on social media: “We will not make a Tesla phone.”

The same article also mentions that Morgan Stanley analysts believe a Tesla phone is inevitable. However, no such announcement has yet been made for the end of 2024.

Virality

We found the shared claim on Instagram Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, HereAnd Here.

We found the shared claim on Facebook Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, HereAnd Here. Some variations of the claim included additional features such as built-in cryptocurrency apps.

Diploma: Elon Musk’s Tesla won’t launch a new smartphone called Tesla Pi until the end of 2024.

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Background image in the cover photo: Getty Images

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