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Tesla is already discounting the new Model Y

The refreshed Model Y was supposed to spur more Tesla purchases but it’s already on sale, suggesting there isn’t as much pent-up demand as the EV company would have liked.

Just weeks after launching the less expensive version of the Model Y, the company is offering reduced interest rates of 1.99% APR or $0 due at signing, Electrek reports. That’s right on the heals of another $2,000 discount Tesla offered to existing Model Y owners. “This equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back,” Electrek wrote, pegging the value of the break at a “few thousand dollars.”

Last quarter, Tesla retooled its factories to start building the new Model Y, a transition that caused a decrease in production. That decrease, however, might have been a blessing, since that meant fewer unsold cars stashed in parking lots outside its factories (though, notably, there are a whole bunch of Cybertrucks).

Industry experts had speculated that some of Tesla’s declining vehicle sales might have had to do with people waiting for the new Model Y to make a purchase. Discounts suggest that’s not the case.

Last quarter, Tesla retooled its factories to start building the new Model Y, a transition that caused a decrease in production. That decrease, however, might have been a blessing, since that meant fewer unsold cars stashed in parking lots outside its factories (though, notably, there are a whole bunch of Cybertrucks).

Industry experts had speculated that some of Tesla’s declining vehicle sales might have had to do with people waiting for the new Model Y to make a purchase. Discounts suggest that’s not the case.

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Salesforce falls as Anthropic debuts Cowork tool

Salesforce is on track for its worst trading day in nearly two years, with shares down more than 6% Tuesday afternoon. One potential contributor: Anthropic’s release of Cowork, an autonomous digital assistant for completing office tasks. Essentially, Cowork is an agent-based version of Anthropic’s Claude chatbot that can access and manipulate files, automate workflows, and execute tasks on a user’s behalf.

Salesforce watchers will recall that the SaaS giant has thrown its weight behind its own agent-based workplace AI, Agentforce, which CEO Marc Benioff recently described as one of the company’s two main “momentum drivers.” In December, Benioff said he would consider renaming the company "Agenforce."

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Google reaches record high and crosses $4 trillion market cap after major wins for Gemini

Google parent Alphabet closed yesterday at a record-high stock price of $331.86, giving the company a market capitalization just above $4 trillion, as investors reward a string of wins for its Gemini AI model, including high-profile partnerships with Apple and Walmart.

After months of speculation, Apple announced a multiyear partnership to use Gemini to power its AI assistant, Siri, a major endorsement of Google’s AI prowess. That same day, Walmart said it would partner with Google to let customers purchase products directly through the Gemini chatbot, a move that would put Gemini in front of millions of Walmart shoppers and test whether AI chatbots can drive real commerce at scale rather than isolated queries. (Amazon, OpenAI, and Microsoft are experimenting with similar AI shopping tools.)

The stock is up nearly 1% again in premarket trading today. While Microsoft and Apple have both crossed $4 trillion in the past, they’ve since dipped below it, leaving Google and Nvidia as the only companies currently valued above the threshold.

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