Tesla Invests in AI, Anticipates ‘Next Major Growth Wave’

Tesla is investing in artificial intelligence (AI) as it anticipates the “next major growth wave.”

That wave will be driven by advances in autonomy and the introduction of new products, the company said in a presentation released Tuesday (July 23) in conjunction with its quarterly earnings call.

“We’re investing in many future projects, including AI training and inference and a great deal of infrastructure to support future products,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday during the earnings call.

The company’s autonomy offerings powered by AI software and hardware include its suite of driver assistance features called FSD (Supervised), its autonomous humanoid robot called Optimus, and its future autonomous driving and Robotaxi service.

During the second quarter, Tesla continued to increase the robustness of FSD (Supervised). It also reduced the price of that offering in North America and began giving free trials to owners of Tesla cars that have the correct hardware. The programs have shown results and are laying the foundation for “more meaningful FSD monetization,” per the presentation.

Musk said during the call that Tesla plans to start having staff show people how to use FSD (Supervised) when they bring their car in for service.

“Once people use it at all, they tend to continue using it, so it’s very compelling and I think will be a massive demand driver,” he said.

As for Optimus, Tesla now has this humanoid robot performing its first task — handling batteries in a Tesla factory, according to the presentation.

The company will start production of Optimus for use by Tesla in early 2025, expects to have several thousand of them produced and doing useful work in Tesla factories by the end of 2025, and expects to ramp up production and start offering them to outside customers in 2026, Musk said during the call.

“It’s just better for us to iron out the issues ourselves,” Musk said.

In the case of its future autonomous driving and Robotaxi service, the company is making progress in the development of these technologies. The deployment of the Robotaxi offering depends on technological advancement and regulatory approval, but Tesla is “working vigorously” on the project because of the Robotaxi’s “outsized potential value,” the company said in the presentation.

As it works toward its anticipated next major growth wave, Tesla achieved record quarterly revenues in the second quarter, according to the presentation. Its total revenues were up 2% year over year, with its total automotive revenues down 7%, its energy generation and storage revenue up 100%, and its services and other revenue up 21%.

The revenue growth was driven by rapid growth in the company’s energy storage business and a sequential rebound in vehicle deliveries, per the presentation. The latter was helped by improvements in overall consumer sentiment and by Tesla’s offering of financing options designed to offset the impact of high interest rates.

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