Tesla plans $25B capital spend to boost AI and autonomy
Tesla just announced it is ramping up its investment in the future: think AI, self-driving tech, and robotics.
CEO Elon Musk and CFO Vaibhav Taneja revealed that Tesla plans to spend $25 billion on capital projects in 2026, a massive jump from $9 billion in 2025.
Even though Tesla had a solid cash flow this past quarter, it is expecting some negative cash flow ahead as it doubles down on these big bets.
Tesla rolls out Model Y robotaxis
Tesla's putting serious money into things like robotaxis (hello, Cybercab!) and humanoid robots, which are central to its valuation.
Tesla has started rolling out Model Y robotaxis in Dallas and Houston, with plans to expand to more US states soon, and the Dutch vehicle authority RDW has notified the European Commission of its plan to seek European Union-wide approval for the Full Self-Driving software system.
As Taneja put it, "We are in a very big capital investment phase, which is going to start now and would last a couple of years," even if it means tighter cash now.