Overview
- Tesla posted factory footage Friday showing Cybercabs without steering wheels rolling out of Giga Texas, with Elon Musk saying initial output will be very slow before a later ramp.
- Tesla lifted 2026 capital spending to more than $25 billion to fund AI, robotics and chips, and its CFO said free cash flow will turn negative for the rest of the year.
- Musk said cars with the older Hardware 3 computer cannot reach unsupervised Full Self-Driving, so Tesla plans mass retrofits with new computers and cameras using city “microfactories” and a discounted trade‑in option.
- Investor materials dropped specific first‑half 2026 launch dates for five U.S. cities and now say “preparations underway,” as Musk described a safety‑first rollout and said robotaxi revenue is unlikely to be significant this year.
- Rules for vehicles without steering wheels still pose hurdles, even as Tesla says Cybercab complies with existing standards, and competitors like Waymo already operate driverless ride‑hail services in multiple cities.