Artificial Intelligence · Profile from AI Research Companion
Tesla
The Austin-based electric-car and energy company that, under Elon Musk, has staked most of its valuation on artificial intelligence: a camera-only driver-assistance system sold to consumers (Autopilot from 2014, "Full Self-Driving" from 2016), a fleet of millions of cars that supplies driving video for training, its own in-car AI chips, a training supercomputer (Dojo, shut down in August 2025 and partly revived in 2026), a robotaxi service launched in Austin on 22 June 2025, and a humanoid robot (Optimus). Tesla's approach is the opposite of Waymo's: no lidar, no high-definition maps, a cheap sensor suite on cars customers already own, and one end-to-end neural network trained on fleet data. It has sold "Full Self-Driving" for a decade while the system has remained, legally, a supervised driver-assistance feature. That gap between promise and product has produced regulatory probes, a recall of ~2m vehicles (December 2023), a ~$242.5m jury verdict (August 2025) and a California ruling that its marketing was misleading (December 2025). By October 2026 Tesla reported ~1.74m active FSD subscriptions and unsupervised robotaxi rides in Austin, and its CEO had a pay package (approved November 2025) tied to 10m FSD subscriptions and 1m robotaxis.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2003, San Carlos, California, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning; Elon Musk led the 2004 Series A and became chair, then CEO (2008); JB Straubel and Ian Wright are also counted as co-founders after a 2009 settlement
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas (Giga Texas) since December 2021; Palo Alto engineering; factories in Fremont, Nevada, Shanghai, Berlin
- Ownership / structure
- Public (Nasdaq: TSLA, IPO June 2010); Musk owns ~13% plus options (reported, verify); reincorporated in Texas (June 2024)
- Leadership (2026)
- Elon Musk (CEO, also CEO of SpaceX, which owns xAI and X); Vaibhav Taneja (CFO); Ashok Elluswamy (head of AI software, Autopilot/FSD); Robyn Denholm (board chair) (verify current titles)
- AI products
- Autopilot (standard driver assistance 2014–January 2026 in the US and Canada); FSD (Supervised), sold outright until 14 February 2026 and by subscription ($99/month); Robotaxi app and service (Austin, from June 2025; Bay Area with safety drivers); Cybercab (two-seat robotaxi without steering wheel or pedals, rides from 3 September 2026); in-car AI computers HW3 (2019), HW4/AI4 (2023), AI5 (planned); Dojo training computer (2021–25; "Dojo 3" restart announced January 2026); Cortex training clusters at Giga Texas; Optimus humanoid robot; Grok assistant in cars (from July 2025, via xAI)
- Scale
- ~1.74m active FSD subscriptions and FSD on >75% of new North American deliveries (Q3 2026, company via coverage); ~2m cumulative unsupervised robotaxi miles (Q3 2026, company); FSD (Supervised) approved in nine EU countries (Q3 2026, company); Q3 2026 revenue ~$28.05bn, deliveries ~486,500 (company via coverage); training compute targeted at ~400 MW by end-2026 (company)
- Capital
- Funded from operations and equity markets; cash and short-term investments ~$45.5bn (30 September 2026, reported); Q3 2026 capex ~$4.7bn; ~$2bn invested in xAI (January 2026), converted into a right to SpaceX stock after SpaceX bought xAI (reported, verify)
- Key partnerships
- Mobileye (Autopilot HW1 chip, 2014–16); Nvidia (HW2 computer 2016–19; training GPUs); Samsung (HW3 chips; ~$16.5bn AI6 contract, July 2025); TSMC (AI5); xAI (Grok in cars; shared talent and chips)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Autopilot and the Mobileye split (2014–16); the Full Self-Driving promise and hardware bets (2016–19); FSD beta and the supervised subscription (2020–26); Dojo and its shutdown (2021–26); the NHTSA recall and probes (2021–26); the Benavides verdict and California DMV ruling (2025); the Austin robotaxi launch (2025–26); xAI ties, Grok and the pay package (2024–26)
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2014
Autopilot and the Mobileye Split
Launch / partnership (ended)
2016
Full Self Driving Promise and Hardware Bets
Launch / chip strategy / product claim
2020
FSD Beta and the Supervised Subscription
Launch / pricing / model architecture change
2021
Dojo Supercomputer and Its Shutdown
Compute bet / custom chip / shutdown (and partial revival)
2023
NHTSA Autopilot Recall and Probes
Regulatory action / recall
2025
Austin Robotaxi Launch
Launch
2025
Benavides Verdict and California DMV Ruling
Lawsuit / regulatory action
2025
xAI Ties Grok and the Pay Package
Related-party investment / partnership / governance (executive pay)