Tesla Doubles Down on AI to Boost Faltering Profits
Tesla reports its third quarter of thinning operating margins amid factory upgrades and a high interest rate environment. Despite holding $275 million in Bitcoin (BTC), Tesla suffered from price cuts and investments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Tesla’s Q3 vehicle delivery missed expectations, but CEO Elon Musk expects its Cybertruck to contribute to cash flow in 18 months. Tesla still holds 9,720 BTC ($275 million), having made no sales since selling 75% of its holdings last year.
Tesla Bets on New Supercomputer
The Cybertruck, due for imminent launch, may take 18 months to create positive cash flow, Musk said.
“We dug our own grave with Cybertruck. It is going to require immense work to reach volume production and be cash flow positive at a price people can afford.”
Musk added that high interest rates were hampering prospective customers seeking finance. Tesla also spent big on a supercomputer called Dojo that it wants to use to advance innovation in autonomous vehicles.
The company believes Dojo could give Tesla a significant edge by using data it collects from vehicles to refine a technology that has, at times, hurt the company’s reputation. The family of a deceased owner has asked if Tesla must be held responsible for fatal crashes involving its autonomous tech.
Musk Predicts Tesla AI ‘ChatGPT Moment’
Dojo uses Tesla semiconductors to run machine learning algorithms to improve its autonomous vehicles. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology uses a collection of programs that perform specific tasks, like steering or recognizing road markings.
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While the model could be improved with more data Tesla collects from vehicles on the road, it is fundamentally different from a large-language model that specializes in processing text. Its use of high-bandwidth data sources requires significant processing power to reach what Musk calls a “ChatGPT moment.”
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Musk’s recently launched xAI, an independent venture that aims to “understand reality,” whose work could refine FSD’s understanding of real-world physics. But the three-year launch delay for the Cybertruck suggests Musk and Tesla’s ChatGPT dreams may only have a meaningful impact on Tesla’s bottom line in a few years.