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Rani Molla

Tesla is testing Robotaxis in Austin without people in the front (or back)

It looks like Tesla’s driverless cars are finally ditching the driver. On Sunday, eyewitnesses spotted at least two Robotaxis driving around Austin without safety monitors — the Tesla employees who’ve been stationed in the front seats since the service launched in June.

In a post on X, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the company is testing the service “with no occupants in the car” — so no safety monitors or passengers.

The development suggests that Tesla is making progress toward its promise, announced on its last earnings call, of removing safety drivers from the ride-sharing service in “at least large parts of Austin” by year’s end. Just last week at an xAI event, Musk reiterated that timeline.

Having a truly autonomous ride-hailing service would bring Tesla closer to catching up with Google’s Waymo, which is leading the battle for the driverless future. Tesla ultimately hopes to use its autonomous tech to turn much of its existing fleet into driverless cars and quickly scale its Robotaxi service — a move that would help prove itself to be an AI company rather than just a car company.

Always ahead of the curve, Musk last week told a Google executive that “Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla.”

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Rani Molla

Dan Ives’ rosy predictions for Tesla

Wedbush Securities analyst and Tesla bull Dan Ives is excited for the company’s new year and next decade. To demonstrate, Ives, who says he “never viewed Tesla simply as a car company,” published a series of characteristically bold predictions today. Here’s what he thinks.

Autonomous expectations:

  • Aggressive Robotaxi expansion across the US next year, reaching 30-plus cities.

  • Volume production of Cybercabs beginning in April or May, with full-scale production of autonomous vehicles and robotics ramping later in the year.

  • Tesla will command about 70% of the global autonomous market over the next decade (a view that differs from Morgan Stanley’s).

  • Full Self-Driving penetration could rise above 50% (up from 12% now), which Ives said would “change the financial model/margins” for Tesla.

Regulatory regression:

  • Federal regulatory barriers around FSD/autonomous driving will ease significantly under President Trump, according to Ives.

  • He expects an executive order in early 2026 that would shift more authority to federal regulators and reduce state-level control over autonomous driving rules.

Financial predictions:

  • With a current ~$1.4 trillion market cap, Tesla could reach $2 trillion within the next year, with a bull case of $3 trillion by end of 2026.

  • Ives reiterated his $600 price target and “outperform” rating.

  • In a bull case scenario, he sees Tesla, now around $465, at $800 within 12 to 18 months.

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Rani Molla

Trump AI executive order is a “major win” for Open AI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, says Ives

President Trump’s new executive order aiming to keep states from enacting AI laws that inhibit US “global AI dominance” is a “major win” for OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. Big Tech companies have collectively plowed hundreds of billions into the technology, while seeing massive stock price gains, and Ives believes they stand to gain much more.

“Given that there have been over 1,000 AI laws proposed at the state level, this was a necessary move by the Trump Administration to keep the US out in front for the AI Revolution over China,” Ives wrote, adding that state-by-state regulation “would have crushed US AI startup culture.” The presidential order would withhold federal funds from states that put in place onerous AI regulations.

This morning, Whitehouse AI adviser Sriram Krishnan said in a CNBC interview that he’d be working with Congress on a single national framework for AI.

Despite Ives’ rosy read-through on the order, with the exception of Nvidia, which jumped on a report of boosted Chinese demand, many AI stocks are in the red early today. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF is down nearly 1% premarket, as the AI trade struggles thanks to underwhelming earnings results from Oracle earlier this week.

Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence

Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence

“Given that there have been over 1,000 AI laws proposed at the state level, this was a necessary move by the Trump Administration to keep the US out in front for the AI Revolution over China,” Ives wrote, adding that state-by-state regulation “would have crushed US AI startup culture.” The presidential order would withhold federal funds from states that put in place onerous AI regulations.

This morning, Whitehouse AI adviser Sriram Krishnan said in a CNBC interview that he’d be working with Congress on a single national framework for AI.

Despite Ives’ rosy read-through on the order, with the exception of Nvidia, which jumped on a report of boosted Chinese demand, many AI stocks are in the red early today. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF is down nearly 1% premarket, as the AI trade struggles thanks to underwhelming earnings results from Oracle earlier this week.

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