Elon Musk frets over controlling Tesla’s ‘robot army’ as car biz rebounds slightly

Tesla’s record sales quarter offers the company a rebound after a terrible start to 2025. But CEO Elon Musk is focused on building a “robot army” and fulfilling his year-long, unfulfilled promise of self-driving cars — tasks he needs to accomplish if he wants to unlock the value of the $1 trip package he plans to pay.

The tension Musk was aiming for between Tesla’s current automotive-driven business and an AI-focused one has never been clearer.

Tesla delivered a record number of vehicles in the third quarter of 2025, thanks to a rush of US customers who took advantage of expiring federal EV tax credits. But that record quarter didn’t lead to bigger earnings. In fact, Tesla’s third-quarter profit was still down 37% from the same quarter last year.

Tesla shipped 497,099 vehicles in the third quarter, generating $21.2 billion in automotive revenue — the company’s best earnings figure in more than a year. But Tesla only made a profit of $1.4 billion, up just $200 million from this year’s second quarter, according to the letter to shareholders. release on wednesday The record quarter came after an unusual start to the year for Tesla, which saw sales decline sharply Because of Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration.

The company explained in the letter that a big increase in operating expenses — up 50% from last year’s third quarter — was one of the culprits. That operating expense bump was thanks to spending on AI and other R&D projects, as well as “restructuring” charges of about $240 million. Tesla did not explain what these restructuring charges were for, but it is likely related to the recent decision The company’s six-year Dojo supercomputer project is closed.

Tesla cited the tariffs as another drag on profits this past quarter, meaning Musk spent nearly $300 million to help elect the president, which hurt the company’s business. Tesla Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said in a conference call on Wednesday that the tariff hit was about $400 million.

“We are at a critical inflection point for Tesla and our strategy is moving forward as we bring AI into the real world,” Musk said on the call. Tesla is “at the beginning of scaling, quite massively, full self-driving and robotaxis, and fundamentally changing the nature of transportation,” he said.

All this will put more pressure on the company in the last quarter of the year.

Tesla needs another record quarter (and then some) with the number of cars shipped in 2024 or 2023. The company may get some help from newbies Slightly-cheaper stripped-down version Model 3 and Model Y EVs. But even in that best-case scenario, Tesla is off track for the 50% year-over-year growth it once promised investors and shareholders.

But Musk has spent the past few years trying to see shareholders, investors, employees and everyone else beyond the company’s core business of making and selling cars. He’s betting Tesla’s future will be on being able to build a massive network of self-driving vehicles that he thinks could challenge Uber. And he thinks the humanoid robot, Optimus, will become the best-selling product of all time.

Tesla provided little new information on those programs in Wednesday’s letter. Musk said in the conference call that Tesla could begin production of the third version of the Optimus in the first quarter of 2026. He once promised to build thousands of robots by the end of this year, but as The Information reports, Tesla Early production problems with Optimus.

“Bringing Optimus to market is an incredibly difficult task, to be clear. It’s not a walk in the park,” Musk said.

But Musk continued working on Tesla Vague, unspecified claims About how much Optimus will change the world. “You can actually create a world where there is no poverty, where everyone has access to the best medical care,” he said. “Optimus would be an incredible surgeon.”

An increased focus on AI, robotics, and self-driving cars (including starting production of the two-seater “CyberCab”) will cost Tesla more next year. Taneja said capital expenditure for these projects will increase “significantly” in 2026. He also said Tesla has had to increase employee-related expenses to stay competitive in the ongoing AI talent war.

Tesla’s third-quarter results come amid the company’s backdrop $1 trillion worth of stock transfer proposals Near the musk. The plan is up for a vote at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in a few weeks. The company — and Musk — are campaigning hard. when Advisory Group As ISS and Glass are recommending against the Lewis pay package, it is likely to pass due to overwhelming support from shareholders in previous attempts.

That hasn’t stopped Musk from threatening to walk away from Tesla Package is not allowed.

On Wednesday’s call, he reiterated his claim that he cares more about vote control than the compensation package money would afford him.

“I’m not comfortable here building a robot army and then getting fired because of some asinine recommendation from the ISS and Glass Lewis, who have no clue. I mean, those guys are corporate terrorists,” Musk said.

This story has been updated with new information from Tesla’s third-quarter conference call.