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Tesla has initiated earnings season — at least for this domain — and the shareholder letter, alongside Elon Musk’s comments during the conference call, revealed some quite astonishing disclosures that likely have left some investors either worried or at least confused. 

Tesla has withdrawn from earlier commitments to achieve “volume production” of the Cybercab, Tesla Semi, and Megapack 3 by 2026. While the firm has publicly announced the expansion of its Tesla Robotaxi service into additional cities in Florida and Texas, the quarter-over-quarter statistics reflect a decrease in paid robotaxi miles. 

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane examined a graph included in Tesla’s shareholder letter more closely.  At first glance, the chart seems to indicate steady growth in paid robotaxi rides from August 2025 to June 2026, as O’Kane points out. However, the figures presented are cumulative, and when analyzed quarterly, they reveal that Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet of Model Y SUVs transporting paying passengers covered approximately 1.1 million miles in the first quarter. That number dropped to about 700,000 miles in the second quarter, a decline of roughly 36%.

Musk also mentioned during the call that Tesla must gather driving data specific to the Cybercab before it can deploy significant numbers of the vehicles. This is not too unexpected; after all, the Cybercab is a new model. However, the rationale caught my attention. He shared that Tesla must collect miles from Cybercabs equipped with steering wheels and accelerator and braking pedals in order to calibrate them to the Cybercab chassis.

This represents a shift from the company’s earlier assertions. For years, Tesla claimed its fleet of nearly 10 million customer vehicles was accumulating data useful for training its advanced driver-assistance system, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), and upcoming robotaxis. Musk’s clarification implies a discrepancy between that fleet data and how it relates to the Cybercab.

On the financial side, Tesla’s Q2 earnings reveal a company investing significantly in its next generation of products (CapEx has doubled, and the firm has returned to negative free cash flow territory). Though revenue has increased, the gain wasn’t sufficient to counterbalance the operational costs. The company’s net income dropped 5% year over year.

Deals!

Travis Kalanick made a notable return to the robotics and mobility landscape earlier this year with Atoms — a newly branded holding firm overseeing his ghost kitchen initiative — and a deal to acquire Anthony Levandowski’s industrial automation company, Pronto. Now, the former Uber co-founder and CEO has $1.7 billion in funding to utilize. Venture capital titan Andreessen Horowitz spearheaded the round with contributions from Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and Uber. Ben Horowitz is set to join the company’s board post-investment.

This may come as a shock to those who recall Kalanick’s exit from Uber’s forefront nearly a decade ago — along with the series of scandals and legal issues that preceded his departure. What’s even more astonishing is that Uber took part in the funding round. Reports indicate Uber invested $100 million into Atoms; subsequent conversations have verified that amount and presented fresh information, including that the investment occurred six months prior.  

Keep in mind: Back in 2016, while Kalanick was still CEO, Uber acquired Levandowski’s self-driving truck startup Otto. Less than a year after, Levandowski’s previous employer Waymo (Google’s self-driving project) sued Uber for trade secret theft. Both parties reached a settlement on the fifth day of the trial. 

There’s a complicated backstory, much of it tumultuous, between Kalanick and Uber (and Levandowski as well). Nevertheless, it appears that the ride-hailing service remains open to investing in them. 

So, what plans does Atoms have for this funding? Details remain unclear, but a company email from Levandowski indicates that Pronto will play a significant role in those plans. 

The communication states that “Atoms is heavily investing in Industrial AI and physical automation tailored to mining and transport.” It later adds, “Pronto is a fundamental strategic priority for Atoms, and this funding round aims to expedite precisely what is crucial for your operations: the scale of practical, OEM-agnostic autonomy.”

Other noteworthy deals …

Einride, the Swedish firm focused on electric and autonomous trucking, has come to an agreement to acquire EV charging startup Flipturn in an all-stock transaction valued at $38 million.

IBM has entered into an agreement to purchase HRL Laboratories, a quantum computing research facility co-owned by Boeing and General Motors. 

Sila, the battery materials enterprise, secured $300 million in funding led by Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures, with contributions from 8VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. The capital will support Sila’s factory expansion in Washington state to produce enough anode material for over 100,000 EVs.

Notable reads and other tidbits

Aurora had some developments this week that may not have garnered significant attention, but arguably should have. The company unveiled its second-generation driverless trucks, featuring new hardware that is smaller and enhanced sensor-cleaning systems along with extended range lidar — all engineered to last a million miles. The initial fleet will be limited and operational on its Dallas-to-Houston route. Ultimately, it plans to expand to 200 driverless trucks by year-end, which will transport freight for clients such as Hirschbach, Uber Freight, McLane, and Detmar, the company reported. Crucially for Aurora, these trucks will not have a human observer in the cab.

Ford is looking at Apple for its upcoming generation of EVs. Specifically, Ford will integrate Apple Maps navigation and mapping via a new suite of developer tools named MapKit for Automotive into its new range of electric vehicles, kicking off with the $30,000 midsize truck in 2027. When I inquired about the impact on Google, which is already a partner, a company spokesperson informed me that the Apple announcement “does not alter Google Automotive Services’ role across our current and near-term production programs.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published a study titled “Rise of the machines: crash experiences of highly automated vehicles and human drivers.” The organization opted for a more sensational headline (Waymo’s driverless cars crash less often than people) to draw readers to its findings. However, that headline overlooks some of the nuances. The study does supply evidence that Waymo’s existing robotaxis experience lower crash involvement rates than human drivers. “Overall, factoring in police-reportable crashes, Waymo’s crash rate was 68% lower than that of human drivers,” the research indicates. It also importantly concludes that national crash and vehicle-miles-traveled data collection for Level 4 vehicles “can be enhanced for more timely and accurate safety evaluations.” 

Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua is set to step down from his leadership role after nearly three decades, coinciding with the company’s push into robotaxis and humanoid robots.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will explore the possibility of establishing new requirements for automakers to allow drivers and passengers to exit their vehicles safely — following a request that urged the agency to investigate a safety defect tied to the emergency mechanical door release on 2022 Tesla Model 3 cars. To clarify, this does not imply that new regulations will definitely be forthcoming. 

Rivian has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government seeking a “full refund” on tariffs incurred under President Trump’s “Liberation Day” taxes, which the Supreme Court later deemed unconstitutional. 

Two Volkswagen engineers have been accused of securities fraud after allegedly benefiting from insider information concerning the German automaker’s joint venture with Rivian. 

Waymo is reportedly holding internal discussions about terminating its contract with Uber, as reported by the Financial Times. Observers familiar with this partnership may have read this and thought “obviously!” However, there are interesting specifics, including that the Uber-Waymo agreement covering Atlanta and Austin is set to expire in May 2028. Uber informed TechCrunch that Waymo plans to launch its own app in Austin and Atlanta come January 2028.

WhatsApp is introducing a variety of new features, including an upgraded Apple CarPlay and Android Auto experience.