Latest news with #TeslaTSLA.O
Yomiuri Shimbun
16 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Tesla Rolls out Robotaxis in Texas Test
AUSTIN, June 22 (Reuters) – Tesla TSLA.O deployed a small group of self-driving taxis picking up paying passengers on Sunday in Austin, Texas, with CEO Elon Musk announcing the 'robotaxi launch' and social-media influencers posting videos of their first rides. The event marked the first time Tesla cars without human drivers have carried paying riders, a business that Musk sees as crucial to the electric car maker's financial future. He called the moment the 'culmination of a decade of hard work' in a post on his social-media platform X and noted that 'the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla.' Teslas were spotted early Sunday in a neighborhood called South Congress with no one in the driver's seat but one person in the passenger seat. The automaker planned a small trial with about 10 vehicles and front-seat riders acting as 'safety monitors,' though it remained unclear how much control they had over the vehicles. In recent days, the automaker sent invites to a select group of influencers for a carefully monitored robotaxi trial in a limited zone. The rides are being offered for a flat fee of $4.20, Musk said on X. Tesla investor and social-media personality Sawyer Merritt posted videos on X Sunday afternoon showing him ordering,getting picked up and taking a ride to a nearby bar and restaurant, Frazier's Long and Low, using a Tesla robotaxi app. If Tesla succeeds with the small deployment, it still faces major challenges in delivering on Musk's promises to scale up quickly in Austin and other cities, industry experts say. It could take years or decades for Tesla and self-driving rivals, such as Alphabet's GOOGL.O Waymo, to fully develop a robotaxi industry, said Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-engineering professor with expertise in autonomous-vehicle technology. A successful Austin trial for Tesla, he said, would be 'the end of the beginning – not the beginning of the end.' Most of Tesla's sky-high stock value now rests on its ability to deliver robotaxis and humanoid robots, according to many industry analysts. Tesla is by far the world's most valuable automaker. As Tesla's robotaxi-rollout date approached, Texas lawmakers moved to enact autonomous-vehicle rules. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Friday signed legislation requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles. The law, which takes effect September 1, signals that state officials from both parties want the driverless-vehicle industry to proceed cautiously. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. The governor's office declined to comment. 'EASY TO GET, EASY TO LOSE' The law softens the state's previous anti-regulation stance on autonomous vehicles. A 2017 Texas law specifically prohibited cities from regulating self-driving cars. The new law requires autonomous-vehicle operators to get approval from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles before operating on public streets without a human driver. It gives state authorities the power to revoke permits for operators they deem a public danger. The law also requires firms to provide information on how first responders can deal with their driverless vehicles in emergency situations. The law's permit requirements for an 'automated motor vehicle' are not onerous but require firms to attest their vehicles can operate legally and safely. It defines an automated vehicle as having at least 'Level 4' autonomous-driving capability under a recognized standard, meaning it can operate with no human driver under specified conditions. Level 5 autonomy is the top level and means a car can drive itself anywhere, under any conditions. Compliance remains far easier than in some states, notably California, which requires submission of vehicle-testing data under state oversight. Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who focuses on autonomous driving, said it appears any company that meets minimum application requirements will get a Texas permit – but could also lose it if problems arise. 'California permits are hard to get, easy to lose,' he said. 'In Texas, the permit is easy to get and easy to lose.' MUSK'S SAFETY PLEDGES The Tesla robotaxi rollout comes after more than a decade of Musk's unfulfilled promises to deliver self-driving Teslas. Musk has said Tesla would be 'super paranoid' about robotaxi safety in Austin, including operating in limited areas. The service in Austin will have other restrictions as well. Tesla plans to avoid bad weather, difficult intersections, and will not carry anyone below age 18. Commercializing autonomous vehicles has been risky and expensive. GM's GM.N Cruise was shut down after a serious accident. Regulators are closely watching Tesla and its rivals, Waymo and Amazon's AMZN.O Zoox. Tesla is also bucking the young industry's standard practice of relying on multiple technologies to read the road, using only cameras. That, Musk says, will be safe and much less expensive than lidar and radar systems added by rivals.
GMA Network
11-06-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Musk says some of his posts about Trump 'went too far'
Elon Musk listens to US President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., February 11, 2025. REUTERS/ Kevin Lamarque/ File photo Billionaire businessman Elon Musk said on Wednesday he regretted some of the posts he made last week about Donald Trump as they had gone "too far", a gesture the U.S. president described as "very nice," in the latest sign of a tentative reconciliation between the two men. Trump said on Saturday his relationship with Musk was over after they exchanged insults on social media, with the Tesla TSLA.O and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination." Musk has since deleted some posts critical of Trump, including one signaling support for impeaching the president. Sources close to the world's richest man say his anger has started to subside and that he may want to repair the relationship. Company and market analysts suggested Musk's tone could reflect a desire to protect his businesses. "I regret some of my posts about President Donald Trump last week. They went too far," Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X on Wednesday, without saying which specific posts he was talking about. After Musk's comments, Trump told the New York Post: "I thought it was very nice that he did that." JD Vance and David Sacks, Trump's crypto czar and a longtime Musk friend, pushed for Musk and Trump to make up, according to two people briefed on the conversations, with one of the sources saying that Musk was serious about potentially starting a third party, a risk for Republicans going into midterms. Tesla shares rose 1.3% on Wednesday. "The conciliatory tone from Musk recently might indicate his desire to protect his businesses in the light of the position he has found himself in," said Mamta Valechha, consumer discretionary analyst at Tesla investor Quilter Cheviot. Tesla shareholder Matthew Britzman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said both Musk and Trump appeared to have de-escalated the situation. "It still feels unlikely that we'll see these two giant personalities so closely intertwined again, but it's in neither's best interest to let the drama continue," he said. Shawn Campbell, adviser and investor at Camelthorn Investments, said the relationship between Musk and Trump could be restored but also said it was unlikely it would return to where it once was. Trump last week threatened to terminate government contracts with Musk's companies. "The stakes between the richest man in the world and leader of the most powerful nation in the world are just so big, with billions of dollars of government contracts at stake, not to mention the power to investigate and regulate and tax," said Campbell, who personally holds Tesla shares. Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles spoke to Musk on Friday, one of the people briefed said. That same day, James Fishback, a Tesla investor and external DOGE adviser, posted on X that the billionaire owed Trump 'a full-throated apology.' Musk retorted: 'What's the apology for exactly.' But Musk subsequently deleted several posts, and a senior Trump adviser called Fishback to thank him, according to one of the sources. Big donor Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, spending nearly $300 million in last year's U.S. elections and taking credit for Republicans retaining a majority of seats in the House and retaking a majority in the Senate. Trump then named him to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Musk left the role late last month after criticizing Trump's marquee tax bill, calling it too expensive and a measure that would undermine his work at the Department of Government Efficiency. Declaring their relationship over on Saturday, Trump said there would be "serious consequences" if Musk decided to fund U.S. Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill. Trump also said he had no intention of repairing ties with Musk. On Monday, Trump said he would not have a problem if Musk called and that he had no plans to discontinue the Starlink satellite internet provided to the White House by Musk's SpaceX but might move his Tesla off-site. "We had a good relationship, and I just wish him well," Trump said. Musk responded with a heart emoji to a video on X showing Trump's remarks. Tesla shares have recouped all the losses they suffered during the public feuding between Trump and Musk last Thursday, when more than $150 billion was wiped off the company's market value. — Reuters
Daily Maverick
06-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Trump and Musk to speak on Friday after alliance descends into public feud
By Nandita Bose and Andrea Shalal A White House official said the two men would speak on Friday. The official did not give a time for the call, which could ease the feuding after an extraordinary day of hostilities – largely conducted over social media – that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla TSLA.O closed down over 14% on Thursday, losing about $150 billion in market value in the largest single-day decline in value in its history. In pre-market European trading on Friday they pared some of those losses, rising 5% after the news that the two men were scheduled to speak. Politico first reported the planned call. Musk had bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought as one of the president's most visible advisers, heading up a sweeping and controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The verbal punches erupted on Thursday after Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office and the pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X. The falling-out had begun brewing days ago when Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency a week ago, denounced Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. The president initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, saying it would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. Trump broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was 'very disappointed' in Musk. 'Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore,' Trump said. As Trump spoke, Musk responded on X. 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. In another post, Musk asserted that Trump's signature import tariffs would push the U.S. into a recession later this year. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump posted. Minutes after the closing bell, Musk replied, 'Yes,' to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached, something that would be highly unlikely given Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Musk's businesses also include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the U.S. government's space program, said that as a result of Trump's threats he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is the only U.S. spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Late on Thursday, Musk backed off the threat. In another sign of a possible detente to come, Musk subsequently wrote: 'You're not wrong,' in response to billionaire investor Bill Ackman saying Trump and Musk should make peace. PUNCHING BACK Trump and Musk are both political fighters with a penchant for using social media to attack their perceived enemies, and many observers had predicted a falling-out. Musk hit at the heart of Trump's agenda earlier this week when he targeted what Trump has named his 'big, beautiful bill', calling it a ' disgusting abomination ' that would deepen the federal deficit. His attacks amplified a rift within the Republican Party that could threaten the bill's prospects in the Senate. Nonpartisan analysts say Trump's bill could add $2.4 trillion to $5 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. A prolonged feud between the pair could make it harder for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections if it leads to a loss of Musk's campaign spending or erodes support for Trump in Silicon Valley. 'Elon really was a significant portion of the ground game this last cycle,' said a Republican strategist with ties to Musk and the Trump administration who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. 'If he sits out the midterms, that worries me.' On Tuesday, Musk posted that 'in November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.' Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending in the future. Musk's increasing focus on politics provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided.
Daily Maverick
30-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Without Musk, DOGE likely to fizzle out, says ex-staffer
Tesla TSLA.O CEO Musk announced on Wednesday evening that he was ending his time as a special government employee but vowed that DOGE would continue without him. DOGE has overseen job cuts at nearly every federal agency as part of U.S. President Donald Trump 's attempts to shake up the federal bureaucracy. However, software engineer Sahil Lavingia, who spent almost two months working for the group of pro-Musk technologists, said he expects DOGE to quickly 'fizzle out.' 'It'll just die a whimper,' Lavingia, who was fired from DOGE earlier this month, told Reuters. 'So much of the appeal and allure was Elon.' He said he expected DOGE staffers to 'just stop showing up to work. It's like kids joining a startup that will go out of business in four months.' That would cap a remarkable undoing for DOGE, which Musk initially vowed would cut $2 trillion in federal spending. Instead, DOGE estimates its efforts have saved around $175 billion so far and the group's tallies have been riddled with errors. Lavingia, the 32-year-old founder and CEO of creator platform Gumroad, said he was recruited by DOGE through a personal contact and joined the team in March. While he said he was proud of certain achievements at the Department of Veterans Affairs, including modernizing the agency's internal artificial-intelligence chatbot, he said he was often at a loss about what work he was expected to do. 'I got dropped into the VA with an HP laptop. What are we supposed to do? What is the road map?' Lavingia said he asked, to no avail. 'I felt like I was being pranked.' The White House, the VA and Musk did not respond to requests for comment. The White House has previously said that DOGE works at a fast pace to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and generate savings for American taxpayers. Lavingia said Steve Davis, the president of Musk's tunneling enterprise the Boring Company, ran day-to-day operations while Turkish-born venture capitalist Baris Akis helped with DOGE recruitment and DOGE logistics. Davis and Akis did not respond to requests for comment sent via the White House. When instructions did come through, they were usually communicated through phone calls or small chats on the encrypted Signal messaging app that would typically auto-delete in one day, Lavingia said. Lavingia said instructions included moving faster to increase mass layoffs at the VA, the federal government's second-largest agency. The only time he met Musk, Lavingia said, was at an all-hands meeting in March with what he estimated was between 40 and 60 fellow DOGE staffers. Lavingia said he asked to open-source, or make freely available, some of his computer code, which Musk approved. He then asked if they could livestream DOGE meetings to increase transparency. 'Elon said: 'That's a great idea. We'll do it next week.' He then caught himself and said: 'Maybe we pre-record it because of security risks.'' Lavingia said he never heard back. In early May, after he spoke to media outlet Fast Company about working at DOGE, Lavingia said his computer access was revoked in what amounted to a firing. He said Musk and team leaders never explicitly told him he should not talk to journalists. 'My DOGE days were over,' Lavingia wrote in a blog about his experience.
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Tesla loses top spot in Europe as BYD leads April EV market
Tesla loses top spot in Europe as BYD leads April EV market Show Caption Hide Caption China's BYD surpassed Tesla in annual revenue for 2024 Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla in total revenue for 2024, reporting $107 billion compared to the Elon Musk-led brand's $97.7 billion. Straight Arrow News Chinese automaker BYD sold more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla TSLA.O for the first time, according to a report by JATO Dynamics, as an aging model lineup and CEO Elon Musk's politics hurt demand for the U.S. EV maker's cars. BYD, which also makes plug-in hybrid vehicles, registered 7,231 battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV) in Europe in April, while Tesla registered 7,165 units, the market research firm said. In case you missed it: Elon Musk says he's still committed to being Tesla CEO, do less political spending "This is a watershed moment for Europe's car market, particularly when you consider that Tesla has led the European BEV market for years, while BYD only officially began operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022," JATO Dynamics' global analyst Felipe Munoz said. Demand for electric vehicles in Europe remains steady. BEV registrations surged 28% in April from last year, largely driven by Chinese car brands. Despite the EU's imposition of tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, registrations of such cars increased 59% in the month from a year earlier, while carmakers from Europe, Japan, South Korea and the United States recorded 26% growth. Weak Tesla demand The company reported its first drop in annual deliveries last year, and analysts expect another fall this year after a 13% decline in the first quarter. Musk said earlier this week that Tesla had already turned around sales, and demand was strong in regions apart from Europe. His political views have triggered waves of protests against Tesla in the U.S. and Europe, leading to a slump in sales. Additionally, production halts to retool factories to make the redesigned Model Y crossover globally caused a drop in manufacturing and sales in the first quarter. Analysts have also attributed lower sales to customers waiting for less-expensive versions of the new Model Y, Tesla's best-selling vehicle, to become more widely available. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
