There’s a telling contrast buried in Tesla’s February news cycle. On one front, the company filed a lawsuit on February 13 demanding that a California administrative agency retract its finding that Tesla engaged in false advertising around Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. On another, it quietly pushed Grok-powered navigation commands to European and Australian drivers via software update 2026.2.6.1, continuing the fastest international AI rollout Tesla has attempted. Two stories. One theme: Tesla is betting its future on AI credibility, and it is fighting on every front to protect that story.

The Lawsuit: Tesla filed suit in California court on February 13 to reverse a December 2025 ruling by the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings that found the company misled consumers with its Autopilot and FSD branding.
The Delta: California’s DMV already declined to suspend Tesla’s sales license after the company updated its marketing language by February 17. Tesla wants more — it is asking the court to wipe the “false advertiser” label from its corporate record entirely.
The Grok Angle: While the legal fight plays out, Tesla is deploying Grok with Navigation Commands internationally via update 2026.2.6.1, now covering Europe and Australia and New Zealand, with Hardware 3 and Hardware 4 vehicles supported.
Buyer Impact: Grok requires Premium Connectivity or a mobile hotspot. If your vehicle runs an Intel-based MCU, you’re still waiting.

Tesla’s California DMV Lawsuit Targets a Label, Not a License

Tesla’s February 13 lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles is not about survival, as CNBC first reported. The DMV already confirmed on February 17 that Tesla had made sufficient changes to its marketing language and that no 30-day sales suspension would be imposed. The company can keep selling cars in its largest U.S. market. What Tesla is actually fighting for is the official record. The company’s attorneys described the OAH ruling as “wrongfully and baselessly” labeling Tesla a “false advertiser,” and they want a court to agree.

This matters enormously for a company staking its valuation on FSD subscriptions and a coming robotaxi fleet. A sitting administrative finding that Tesla misled consumers about its driver-assistance systems is the kind of liability that surfaces in every future lawsuit, every class action discovery request, every regulatory review. We covered the class action certified in August 2025 targeting FSD buyers from 2016 through 2024. That case already exists. Tesla does not need another official record confirming the marketing was deceptive.

The original ruling came from Administrative Law Judge Juliet Cox on December 16, 2025, concluding that Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD branding violated California law. Tesla complied with DMV demands quickly enough to avoid a license suspension, renaming the feature “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” and dropping the standalone Autopilot branding from new vehicles. We reported on that shift in January, when Tesla simultaneously removed Autosteer from standard equipment, placing basic lane-centering behind the $99 monthly FSD subscription. The compliance was real. The legal fight is about what goes in Tesla’s file.

The DMV responded through a public statement: “An Administrative Law Judge found that Tesla broke state law by misleading consumers with the term ‘autopilot.’ Tesla agreed to stop this practice, and now they’re challenging it anyway. DMV is committed to protecting the traveling public and will defend the Administrative Law Judge’s findings and decision in court.”

Grok Goes International on Software Update 2026.2.6.1

Separate from the legal fight, Tesla’s Grok rollout is moving fast. As Teslarati reported, software update 2026.2.6.1 (some sources list it as 2025.2.6.1 — Tesla’s versioning across regions has been inconsistent) brought Grok with Navigation Commands to nine European countries first: the UK, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain, then to Australia and New Zealand within days. The feature allows conversational navigation requests rather than the rigid, keyword-dependent voice commands Tesla has offered for years. Drivers can ask for nearby Superchargers, restaurants, or route adjustments using plain language rather than memorized command syntax.

The hardware cutoff is the same as the original July 2025 North American rollout we covered at launch: AMD Ryzen MCU3 infotainment system, meaning Hardware 3 and Hardware 4 vehicles. Older Intel-based cars remain unsupported. Tesla also confirmed that Grok interactions are processed by xAI servers and are not linked to the driver’s Tesla account or vehicle, with guest mode available for owners who prefer no account sync. Premium Connectivity or a mobile hotspot is required for real-time Grok access.

Tesla has indicated that future Grok capabilities will include dictating parking destinations, effectively letting drivers tell the car where to park rather than setting coordinates manually. That feature isn’t in 2026.2.6.1, but the navigation command foundation is in place for it. China is excluded from the Grok rollout due to data privacy regulations. Chinese owners receive a separate localized Smart Assistant with “Hey, Tesla” wake word activation.

EVXL’s Take

The lawsuit and the Grok rollout are the same story wearing different clothes. Tesla’s entire AI credibility argument rests on the claim that its systems are genuinely smart, capable, and honestly marketed. An official state finding that the company misled consumers about autonomy is a weed that grows under every future revenue claim. The $100,000 FSD value promise is already dead. The one-time purchase option is gone. What Tesla has left to sell is the idea that FSD gets smarter every month and that the $99 subscription is buying a system trending toward real autonomy. A “false advertiser” stamp on the corporate record corrodes that pitch.

Grok is doing real work here, by the way. The original Autopilot voice command system was genuinely frustrating to use. The phrasing requirements were narrow, and deviation from exact command syntax produced failures. I’ve spent enough time watching passengers struggle to add a stop on a road trip using the old system that Grok’s conversational approach is a meaningful upgrade, not a press-release feature. Whether it justifies Premium Connectivity is a separate question.

The DMV lawsuit is a long shot. Administrative rulings get reversed in court, but the bar is high, and the DMV’s public statement confirms it plans to defend the finding. More likely outcome: Tesla settles or loses quietly, the ruling stands, and the class action attorneys in the certified FSD false advertising case get another useful footnote. By Q3 2026, expect the California ruling to appear in plaintiff briefings arguing that Tesla’s own home state found its marketing deceptive. Tesla’s legal strategy here is defensive positioning, not a genuine path to exoneration.

The Grok expansion is the genuinely good news in this week’s Tesla cycle. The AI push that started seven months ago in North America has now reached most major markets in a matter of weeks per region — North America, then Europe, then Australia and New Zealand in rapid succession. That’s real execution. It just doesn’t fix the underlying credibility problem that the lawsuit is trying to address.

Editorial Note: AI tools were used to assist with research and archive retrieval for this article. All reporting, analysis, and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.