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Tesla Lifts 2026 Spending Above $25 Billion as It Pivots to AI and Robotics

The company warns it will likely burn cash this year to fund its AI shift.

Overview

  • Tesla reported first‑quarter revenue of about $22.4 billion and free cash flow of $1.4 billion, even as vehicle deliveries of 358,023 fell from recent quarters.
  • Management raised 2026 capital‑spending plans to more than $25 billion and said free cash flow will probably be negative for the rest of the year.
  • Several margin boosts in the quarter came from one‑off items, including a $230 million release of auto warranty reserves and roughly $250 million in energy tariff rebates.
  • Elon Musk said millions of cars built with the company’s older Hardware 3 computer will need new parts to run a future unsupervised version of Full Self‑Driving, a plan that would require city microfactories and add cost and time for owners.
  • Reporting points to a roughly $2 billion bid for an unnamed AI hardware firm and highlights deeper links to the Terafab chip project with SpaceX, xAI and Intel, while analysts remain split on timelines and cash burn even as some tout a potential SpaceX IPO as a support for sentiment.