Tesla ramps AI spending

Tesla is spending more than $25 billion this year as Elon Musk shifts the company deeper into artificial intelligence, robotaxis and humanoid robots. (usnews.com) The higher budget is about 25% above Tesla’s earlier 2026 plan, and Musk said the added spending on chips, robotics and artificial intelligence was “well justified” by expected future revenue streams. (usnews.com) Tesla’s own analyst-consensus page, posted April 17, had pointed to about $20.3 billion in 2026 capital spending and roughly negative $6.6 billion in free cash flow for the year. The new plan moves spending well above that baseline, and executives said free cash flow will stay negative in 2026. (ir.tesla.com) The shift comes as Tesla’s core car business is still under pressure. On April 2, the company said first-quarter vehicle deliveries fell to 358,023, even though it produced 408,386 vehicles, leaving it with tens of thousands more cars built than sold. (ir.tesla.com) That mismatch helps explain why investors got mixed signals on April 22. Reuters reported Tesla’s first-quarter revenue missed Wall Street estimates even as the company increased spending on projects meant to push it beyond being mainly an electric-vehicle maker. (usnews.com) Tesla used its earnings release to argue those newer bets are gaining traction. The company said paid robotaxi miles “nearly doubled” from the prior quarter, expanded unsupervised service in Austin, and launched unsupervised rides in Dallas and Houston in April. (finance.yahoo.com) Tesla also said its Supercharger network grew 19% year over year and that it plans to expand into semiconductor fabrication with SpaceX to secure chip supply for robotaxis and Optimus robots. (finance.yahoo.com) The spending increase puts more weight on businesses that are still small or unproven at Tesla’s current scale. Robotaxis remain limited to a few Texas cities, and Optimus is still being presented by Musk as a future mass-market product rather than a major source of current revenue. (finance.yahoo.com) Tesla reported first-quarter results on April 22 after saying a week earlier that analysts expected about $21.4 billion in revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.33. Electrek reported Tesla posted about $22.38 billion in revenue and $0.41 in non-GAAP earnings per share, even as some revenue comparisons still fell short of broader market expectations cited by Reuters. (ir.tesla.com) (electrek.co) (usnews.com) The immediate question is whether Tesla can turn those artificial-intelligence projects into a business large enough to offset weaker electric-vehicle demand. For now, the company is asking investors to fund that buildout first and wait for the payoff later. (usnews.com)