What did Elon Musk say in Tesla earnings call 2025: Tesla earnings call: Elon Musk reveals updates on AI, Robotaxis, & vehicle production plans – what investors need to know
Musk Calls This a “Critical Milestone” for Tesla
Musk opened the call by saying Tesla is at a “critical inflection point” as it moves toward fully autonomous driving. He said the company’s vehicles can already become fully autonomous with a software update, and production expansion will continue “as quickly as possible” depending on supply chain capacity, according to a report.
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Vehicle Production May Reach 3 Million Annually
Musk said Tesla’s vehicle production could ramp up “at an annual rate of 3 million units within 24 months,” or possibly sooner if suppliers can keep up. The biggest production increase will come from Cybercab, which is scheduled to start production in the second quarter of next year, Business Insider said in its report.
Robotaxi Operations Aim for 2025
According to the report, Tesla expects to begin operating robotaxis in Nevada, Florida and Arizona by the end of 2025, pending regulatory approvals. The company said its fleet in Austin has driven more than a quarter of a million miles without a driver behind the wheel, according to Business Insider.
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Optimus Robot Development Continues
Musk stated that it was “incredibly difficult” to bring the Optimus humanoid robot to market, and expressed the difficulties of creating a robot hand as capable as the human hand. He also pointed out that manufacturing the robot remains challenging because a supply chain for humanoid robots does not yet exist.
Optimus robots currently operate “24 hours a day, seven days a week” at Tesla’s engineering center in Palo Alto, California, according to Musk. Visitors can ask the robots to guide them around the building, he said.
Musk added that Tesla plans to introduce its next version, the Optimus V3, in the first quarter of next year, “probably February or March.” “It won’t even look like a robot; it will look like a human in a robot costume,” he said. Tesla plans to build production lines capable of producing up to one million Optimus units, making “modifications” and ongoing improvements to the design.
Artificial Intelligence Developments and Chip Production
Musk said that both TSMC and Samsung will produce Tesla’s new AI5 driverless chip. Earlier this year, Tesla struck a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung to produce some of these chips at its Texas facility, which is expected to open in 2026.
He said Tesla’s “clear goal is to have an excessive supply of AI5 chips,” explaining that the company “is not ready to replace Nvidia.” He added that if Tesla had more chips than needed for its vehicles and robots, they could be used in data centers.
“Living” Artificial Intelligence in Tesla Cars
Musk said Tesla’s upcoming AI upgrades will make its cars feel almost like “living creatures.” He said the company was introducing “radical” improvements that would make cars look incredibly smart, and joked they would even make them “bored.”
Expanding AI and Engineering Teams
Musk said Tesla has added “a lot of new engineers,” including recent graduates who contributed to the advancement of the Optimus robot. He called the Optimus team “very talented” and said Friday night meetings for the project sometimes lasted until midnight.
Difference Between Tesla AI and xAI
Musk explained that Tesla’s AI efforts and its separate company, xAI, operate at “opposite ends of the spectrum.” He said XAI’s Grok model focuses on artificial general intelligence, while Tesla’s AI models are much smaller, about 5% to 10% the size of Grok’s. Musk stated that Grok competes with OpenAI’s GPT and Google’s Gemini models and said, “You cannot fit Grok in a car.”
“A Dozen Startups in One Company”
Musk said Tesla operates like “a dozen startups rolled into one,” citing areas such as battery packs, a supercharger network, chip design and artificial intelligence software. He said Optimus represents “infinite money disruption” on a large scale, describing a world where work has become optional because the robot can achieve five times the productivity of a human and work continuously.
CFO Discusses Tariff Implications
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said tariffs are impacting the company’s energy storage business even though the segment delivers record gross profit and margins. Total tariff impacts for the third quarter were more than $400 million, split evenly among business lines, he said.
Taneja added that Tesla’s Shanghai megafactory helps offset some of these impacts by enabling demand outside the US.
Shareholder Vote on Musk’s Pay Package
At the end of the meeting, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja asked shareholders to approve Musk’s proposed $1 trillion salary package. Musk said he needed more voting control but couldn’t get “controlled” shares because Tesla was already a publicly traded company, according to the Business Insider report.
FAQ
How many cars does Tesla plan to produce each year?
Musk said Tesla could reach an annual production rate of 3 million vehicles in the next 24 months.
When will Cybercab go into production?
Production of the Cybercab is expected to begin in the second quarter of next year.
