Elon Musk worries about taking control of Tesla’s ‘robot army’ as auto industry recovers slightly | TechCrunch

Tesla’s record revenue quarter has given the company a reprieve after a terrible start to 2025. But CEO Elon Musk is focused on building a “robot army” and delivering on his longstanding, unfulfilled promise of self-driving cars – tasks he must accomplish if he wants to unlock the full value of the $1 trillion compensation package Tesla wants to award him.

The tension between Tesla’s current car-driven company and the AI-focused company Musk is aiming for has never been more apparent.

Tesla delivered a record number of vehicles in the third quarter of 2025, thanks in large part to an influx of customers in the United States taking advantage of the expiring federal EV tax credit. But that record quarter did not lead to higher profits. In fact, Tesla’s third-quarter profit was still 37% lower than the same quarter last year.

Tesla shipped 497,099 cars in the third quarter, generating $21.2 billion in auto revenue – the company’s best sales figure in more than a year. But Tesla only posted a profit of $1.4 billion, up just $200 million from the second quarter of this year, according to a letter from shareholders. issued Wednesday. The record quarter came after a dismal start to the year for Tesla, where sales fell sharply in part due to Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.

The company explained in the letter that a large increase in operating costs – 50% higher compared to the third quarter last year – was one of the culprits. That increase in operating costs was due to spending on AI and other R&D projects, as well as “restructuring costs” of nearly $240 million. Tesla did not explain what those restructuring costs were for, but it may be related to the recent decision to halt the company’s six-year Dojo supercomputer project.

Tesla cited tariffs as another drag on last quarter’s profits, meaning Musk spent about $300 million to help elect a president who has hurt the company’s business. Tesla Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said on a conference call Wednesday that the rate increase was about $400 million.

“We are at a critical inflection point for Tesla and our future strategy as we bring AI into the real world,” Musk said on the call. Tesla is on the cusp of “scaling Full Self-Driving and Robotaxi at scale, and fundamentally changing the nature of transportation,” he said.

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

Tesla already needs another record quarter (and more) if it simply wants to match the number of cars it shipped in 2024 or 2023. The company could get some help from the new, slightly cheaper, stripped-down versions of the Model 3 and Model Y EVs. But even in that best-case scenario, Tesla is still far from the 50% annualized growth path it once promised to investors and shareholders.

But Musk has spent the past few years trying to get shareholders, investors, employees and everyone else to look beyond the company’s core business of making and selling cars. He is confident that Tesla’s future will depend on creating a vast network of self-driving vehicles that he believes can challenge Uber. And he thinks the humanoid robot Optimus will become the best-selling product ever.

Tesla offered little new information about those programs in Wednesday’s letter. Musk said during the conference call that Tesla could start building the third version of 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 has reported, Tesla has done so. encountering issues in early production with Optimus.

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

But Musk continued Tesla’s vague, non-specific 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 will be an incredible surgeon.”

The increased focus on AI, robotics and self-driving cars (including starting production of the two-seater ‘Cybercab’) will also cost Tesla more next year. Taneja said capital expenditure will increase “substantially” by 2026 thanks to these projects. He also said Tesla has had to increase workforce-related spending to stay competitive in the ongoing AI talent war.

Tesla’s third-quarter results come against the backdrop of the company’s proposal to hand over $1 trillion of stock to Musk. That plan will be voted on at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in a few weeks. The company – and Musk – are campaigning hard. While advisor groups As ISS and Glass Lewis recommend against the compensation package, it will most likely be adopted given the overwhelming support from shareholders for previous efforts.

That hasn’t stopped Musk from threatening to walk away from Tesla the package is not approved.

During Wednesday’s call, he repeated his claim that he cares more about the voting control the compensation package would give him than the money.

“I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here and then getting ousted because of some idiotic recommendations from the ISS and Glass Lewis, who have no idea. I mean, those guys are corporate terrorists,” Musk said.

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