{"text":[[{"start":10.15,"text":"Tesla boosted its spending plans to $25bn this year as Elon Musk announced a substantial increase in investment for self-driving taxis, trucks, robots and a massive new chip factory to power its AI ambitions."}],[{"start":24.15,"text":"The new forecast came as Tesla on Wednesday reported that first-quarter profit rose 17 per cent, rebounding from a weak quarter a year earlier. The electric-car maker had previously given guidance of $20bn in capex in 2026."}],[{"start":40,"text":"Musk told investors that there would be a “very significant increase in capital expenditure” this year, which “will be well justified considering substantially increased revenue streams”."}],[{"start":51,"text":"The new forecast is nearly triple the $8.5bn Tesla invested last year."}],[{"start":56.3,"text":"The world’s richest man cited the huge investment plans of his Big Tech rivals, which are plotting to spend $660bn this year mainly on chips and data centres as they vie to build the most advanced AI products."}],[{"start":70.05,"text":"Tesla shares initially rose in after-hours trading following its earnings report but reversed course after the new spending projections — trading down 1 per cent."}],[{"start":79.89999999999999,"text":"Musk has pivoted Tesla away from vehicles as its sales have fallen — retiring its X SUV and S luxury sedan models — to focus on AI-powered robotics, self-driving “Cybercabs” and an electric “Semi” truck."}],[{"start":93.69999999999999,"text":"Tesla and SpaceX also announced a joint venture last month to build a huge “Terafab” in Austin costing tens of billions of dollars to produce chips for Musk’s autonomous vehicles, robots and orbital AI data centres."}],[{"start":107.54999999999998,"text":"“Tesla is working on a lot of large, ambitious products,” Musk said. “They’re all very challenging, but I think they’re going to be revolutionary.”"}],[{"start":116.09999999999998,"text":"However, Tesla has thus far only managed a limited robotaxi experiment in a few cities in Texas and Musk said the business would not contribute meaningful revenue until at least next year. "}],[{"start":127.64999999999998,"text":"The company has yet to launch its Optimus humanoid robot and Musk again delayed the start of production to July or August."}],[{"start":135.79999999999998,"text":"“It is just literally impossible to predict . . . except that I think it will be quite slow at first,” Musk said when pushed on a commercial production timeline by analysts. “Optimus will be useful outside of Tesla sometime next year.”"}],[{"start":148.74999999999997,"text":"Tesla’s financial performance has rebounded from a low point at the beginning of last year when its sales were hammered by a customer backlash to Musk’s political activities in the early months of Donald Trump’s second administration — and the company had to shut down a number of factories to prepare for new models. "}],[{"start":166.39999999999998,"text":"It reported first-quarter net income increased to $477mn from $409mn in 2025, still the second-worst quarterly profit figure in five years. Revenue increased 16 per cent to $22.4bn, ahead of the average analyst estimate of $22bn compiled by FactSet, as vehicle deliveries ticked up."}],[{"start":191.49999999999997,"text":"After stripping out losses on its cryptocurrency holdings and an 87 per cent rise in stock-based compensation to $803mn, adjusted profits rose 56 per cent to $1.5bn."}],[{"start":205.84999999999997,"text":"The company has issued a special pool of shares to retain existing staff and recruit others during a fierce war for AI talent in Silicon Valley."}],[{"start":214.84999999999997,"text":"Capex jumped 67 per cent to $2.5bn during the quarter, less than expected, but Musk’s forecast pointed to a rapid increase in spending for the rest of the year. "}],[{"start":226.09999999999997,"text":"“Capex had a sobering effect as the price of growth just went up,” said Dec Mullarkey, managing director of asset manager SLC Management. “There are a lot of prongs to its plans. As investing ramps up this year it will soak up a lot of free cash and shock investors.”"}],[{"start":242.14999999999998,"text":"Tesla’s strategic direction and vast capital demands have led to speculation that Musk may ultimately seek to merge Tesla with SpaceX."}],[{"start":250.54999999999998,"text":"SpaceX has already taken over his AI start-up xAI and social media platform X and is plotting a June public listing at a valuation of $1.75tn. Tesla invested $2bn in xAI before the merger and its equity was converted into SpaceX stock."}],[{"start":268.59999999999997,"text":"“Ambitious capex plans are set to create loss centres for a while,” Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois said. This “may fuel concern about funding and raise the logic of an eventual merger with SpaceX”."}],[{"start":291.59999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776905007_4803.mp3"}