It was a whirlwind of announcements at Tesla's Annual Shareholder Meeting held in Austin, Texas. The company announced significant updates about the company's future, including ambitious product plans, leadership changes, and bold strategies to address human rights issues in the supply chain. Musk's engagement with shareholders and his unexpected revelations left the audience more enthusiastic than ever about what lies ahead for the electric vehicle giant.
Musk to Continue as Tesla CEO
In his typically candid style, Elon Musk began the meeting by expressing his appreciation for the Tesla community, stating, "I just want to say I love you guys." This sentiment set the tone for the event, highlighting the close-knit relationship between Tesla and its shareholders.
Many investors breathed a sigh of relief as Musk announced he will not be stepping down as CEO of the company, squashing circulating rumors. Asserting the importance of Tesla's role in AI and AGI, Musk emphasized his necessity in overseeing the operations. Tesla co-founder JB Straubel was officially elected to the company's board of directors, alongside the re-election of Musk for another three-year term.
Tesla Dabbles in Traditional Advertising
In a surprising turn, Musk disclosed plans to venture into traditional media advertising — a departure from the company's typical non-traditional marketing approach. He acknowledged the importance of reaching potential customers outside of the company's devoted fan base. The crowd's overwhelming excitement caught Musk off guard, leading him to promise to evaluate the effectiveness of this new strategy.
Updates on Cybertruck and Tesla Roadster
In addition, Musk revealed that Tesla is targeting to deliver its first Cybertrucks within the year, with plans to deliver between 250,000 to 500,000 Cybertrucks annually. The return of the much-anticipated Roadster is slated for 2024. Musk gave insights into the challenges and breakthroughs in Cybertruck production, focusing particularly on the vehicle’s unique stainless-steel exoskeleton.
Despite rumors suggesting otherwise, Tesla successfully navigated the challenges, sticking to its original design intent and developing new manufacturing techniques for an exoskeleton-based vehicle. Further, the Cybertruck will be equipped with multiple attachment points to support third-party accessories.
Teaser of the Next-Gen Tesla Cars
In the meeting, Musk also teased two new electric vehicle models being designed by the company. One of these next-generation EVs appears to be a compact hatchback with a silhouette resembling the Model Y. No further details were given on the second vehicle. Still, Musk suggested that the combined production of both vehicles would exceed 5 million units per year.
Watch the Cyber Roundup Event
Watch Tesla's Cyber Roundup event in its entirety below. The Q&A session, one of the most interesting parts of the event, begins at the 1-hour 4-minute mark of the video below.
Update on the Next-Gen Tesla Roadster
Despite the excitement surrounding the next-generation Tesla Roadster, its production has been pushed back to 2024. While it will not be a significant contributor to revenue, Musk assured that its unique SpaceX thruster package will make it a "modest contributor to profitability."
Tesla Responds to Human Rights Concerns with Third-Party Audit
Tesla, facing increasing scrutiny over human rights abuses linked to its supply chains, has committed to a third-party audit. The concerns arise from the company's sourcing of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo, known for pervasive child labor, and potential ties to forced labor in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Amidst these allegations and ongoing lawsuits, Tesla's decision to hold a third-party audit marks a critical move toward addressing these issues.
Market Outlook Amid Economic Uncertainties
While Tesla has always been a forerunner in the electric vehicle market, Musk acknowledged that the company is not immune to the potential economic pressures that lie ahead. During the shareholder meeting, he cautioned about a potentially tough period for the economy and the consequent impact on consumer discretionary spending. Yet, he urged investors to remain resilient.
Musk offered some advice, saying, "Don't look at the markets for the next 12 months. If there's a dip, buy the dip." Despite acknowledging these challenges, he expressed confidence that Tesla will emerge stronger in the face of adversity, reinforcing the company's long-term investment appeal.
The Tesla annual shareholder meeting was packed with exciting revelations and announcements, from the CEO's continued leadership to the unveiling of future product plans. The surprises continued with the company's venture into traditional advertising and the commitment to cobalt auditing. As the meeting concluded, one thing was clear: Tesla continues to disrupt the industry with its forward-thinking strategies and unwavering dedication to innovation.
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Tesla is rolling out a fairly big update for its iOS and early-access-only Robotaxi app, delivering a suite of improvements that address user feedback from the initial launch last month. The update improves the user experience with increased flexibility, more information, and overall design polish.
The most prominent feature in this update is that Tesla now allows you to adjust your pickup location. Once a Robotaxi arrives at your pickup location, you have 15 minutes to start the ride. The app will now display the remaining time your Robotaxi will wait for you, counting down from 15:00. The wait time is also shown in the iOS Live Activity if your phone is on the lock screen.
How Adjustable Pickups Work
We previously speculated that Tesla had predetermined pickup locations, as the pickup location wasn’t always where the user was. Now, with the ability to adjust the pickup location, we can clearly see that Tesla has specific locations where users can be picked up.
Rather than allowing users to drop a pin anywhere on the map, the new feature works by having the user drag the map to their desired area. The app then presents a list of nearby, predetermined locations to choose from. Once a user selects a spot from this curated list, they hit “Confirm.” The pickup site can also be changed while the vehicle is en route.
This specific implementation raises an interesting question: Why limit users to predetermined spots? The answer likely lies in how Tesla utilizes fleet data to improve its service.
Here is the new Tesla Robotaxi pickup location adjustment feature.
While the app is still only available on iOS through Apple’s TestFlight program, invited users can download and update the app.
Tesla included these release notes in update 25.7.0 of the Robotaxi app:
You can now adjust pickup location
Display the remaining wait time at pickup in the app and Live Activity
Design improvements
Bug fixes and stability improvements
Nic Cruz Patane
Why Predetermined Pick Up Spots?
The use of predetermined pickup points is less of a limitation and more of a feature. These curated locations are almost certainly spots that Tesla’s fleet data has identified as optimal and safe for an autonomous vehicle to perform a pickup or drop-off.
This suggests that Tesla is methodically “mapping” its service area not just for calibration and validation of FSD builds but also to help perform the first and last 50-foot interactions that are critical to a safe and smooth ride-hailing experience.
An optimal pickup point likely has several key characteristics identified by the fleet, including:
A safe and clear pull-away area away from traffic
Good visibility for cameras, free of obstructions
Easy entry and exit paths for an autonomous vehicle
This change to pick-up locations reveals how Tesla’s Robotaxi Network is more than just Unsupervised FSD. There are a lot of moving parts, many of which Tesla recently implemented, and others that likely still need to be implemented, such as automated charging.
Frequent Updates
This latest update delivers a much-needed feature for adjusting pickup locations, but it also gives us a view into exactly what Tesla is doing with all the data it is collecting with its validation vehicles rolling around Austin, alongside its Robotaxi fleet.
Tesla is quickly iterating on its app and presumably the vehicle’s software to build a reliable and predictable network, using data to perfect every aspect of the experience, from the moment you hail the ride to the moment you step out of the car.
The massive legislative effort titled the "Big Beautiful Bill" is taking direct aim at what has become one of Tesla’s most critical and profitable revenue streams: the sale of US regulatory credits. The bill could eliminate billions of dollars from Tesla’s bottom line each year and will slow down the transition to electric vehicles in the US.
The financial stakes for Tesla are absolutely immense. In 2024, Tesla generated $2.76 billion from selling these credits. This high-margin revenue was the sole reason Tesla posted a profit in Q1 2025; without the $595 million from regulatory credits, Tesla’s reported $409 million in profit would have been a $189 million loss.
How the ZEV Credit System Works
Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) credits are part of state-level programs, led by California, designed to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. Each year, automakers are required to hold a certain number of ZEV credits, with the amount based on their total vehicle sales within that state. Under this system, automakers that fail to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles must either pay a significant fine or purchase credits from a company that exceeds the mandate.
Automakers who fail to sell enough EVs to meet their quota have a deficit and face two choices: pay a hefty fine to the state government for each missing credit (for example, $5,000 per credit in California) or buy credits from a company with a surplus.
As an all-EV company, Tesla generates a massive surplus of these credits. It can then turn around and sell them to legacy automakers at prices cheaper than the fine, creating a win-win scenario: the legacy automaker avoids a larger penalty, and Tesla gains a lucrative, near-pure-profit revenue stream.
This new bill will dismantle this by eliminating the financial penalties for non-compliance, which would effectively make Tesla’s credits worthless. While the ZEV program is a state law, the Big Beautiful Bill will fully eliminate the penalties at a federal level.
A Multi-Billion Dollar Impact
The removal of US ZEGV credits would be a severe blow to Tesla’s financials. One JPMorgan analyst estimated that the move could reduce Tesla’s earnings by over 50%, representing a potential annual loss of $2 billion. While Tesla also earns similar credits in Europe and China, analysts suggest that 80-90% of its credit revenue in Q1 2025 came from US programs.
Why the Program Exists
While the impact on Tesla would be direct and immediate, the credit system has a wider purpose. It creates a strong financial incentive for legacy automakers to develop and accelerate their zero-emission vehicle programs, whether it’s hydrogen, electric, or another alternative.
Eliminating the need for these credits would remove that financial pressure. This could allow traditional automakers to slow their EV transition in the US without the fear of a financial penalty, potentially leading to fewer EV choices for consumers and a slower path to vehicle electrification in the country.
Big, But Not Beautiful
On Sunday Morning TV, Elon Musk was asked his thoughts on the Big Beautiful Bill. They were pretty simple. A bill could be big, or it could be beautiful - I don’t know if it can be both, Musk stated.
Elon Musk in new interview: "I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit and undermines the work the DOGE team is doing. I think a bill could be big, or it could be beautiful—I don't know if it can be both." pic.twitter.com/DnyjHN7xCY
The bill poses a threat to Tesla’s bottom line and to the adoption of EVs in the US market, where automakers will no longer have a financial incentive to transition to cleaner vehicles, a market they’ve regularly struggled in when competing against Tesla.
Tesla will have to work carefully in the future to cut expenses to remain profitable after the elimination of these regulatory credits.
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