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It’s Electric

Tesla’s US sales were down 5% this year, while all EV sales rose 17%

Tesla faces steep competition and an aging lineup, in addition to protests aimed at CEO Elon Musk.

5/28/25 8:55AM

When Bloomberg asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week about declining sales in Europe, he responded, “Europe is our weakest market. We’re strong everywhere else.”

That wasn’t exactly true then and it’s not true now.

Data then showed that, in addition to plummeting European sales, China sales started off poorly in the second quarter. Analysts estimate that the quarter will end down, too, in China, Tesla’s second-biggest market.

Now we have registration from Tesla’s biggest market, the US, and sales appear down there as well.

New Tesla registrations in the US were down 5%, or -6,964 vehicles, in the first three months of 2025, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. Meanwhile, EV sales overall grew by 17%, or more than 40,000 vehicles over last year. S&P analyst Tom Libby noted that there’s a lot more competition in the EV space this year, with at least 70 EV models in the running. Tesla is also contending with an aging lineup of vehicles, having abandoned plans for its long-awaited low-cost car.

Musk’s forays into right-wing politics as the leader of a brand that sells left-wing cars is also likely not helping.

The confluence of poor sales data from around the world this year makes Musk’s claims that Tesla’s sales have turned around and demand has rebounded hard to swallow, though it’s possible that in the interim between when data becomes available publicly, things have flipped. We’ll wait for the data to believe it.

Jon Keegan2h

Meta reorganizes its AI teams yet again, this time slashing 600 positions

As it scrambles to catch up to rivals, Meta is yet again restructuring its AI teams, and will be laying off 600 researchers, according to Axios. This is the fifth reorg in the past eight months, based on news reports.

After stumbles from the release of Meta’s flagship model, Llama 4, CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a risky bet to shake up the company’s AI efforts.

Zuckerberg set out to build a new “superintelligence” team, made up of AI all-stars from around the industry lured with nine-figure pay packages and promises of near limitless computing resources.

The flood of new talent poached from competitors like OpenAI, Apple, Google, DeepMind, and others created some awkward tension within Meta, as it already had a prestigious AI team in place known as FAIR, led by neural networks pioneer Yann LeCun. The new recruits were assigned to a team named “TBD” and won’t be affected by the cuts, per the report.

Since hiring Alexandr Wang from Scale AI to run the new high-profile team, several rounds of restructuring have roiled the existing Meta AI talent, many of whom might be learning they have lost their jobs.

Exclusive: Meta overhauls its legacy AI operations

Rani Molla3h

Applied Digital jumps after announcing $5 billion AI factory lease

Applied Digital was up more than 4% premarket after it announced a $5 billion, 15-year AI factory lease from a “US based investment grade hyperscaler” at its Polaris Forge 2 campus, which is expected to begin coming online next year.

On its earnings call earlier this month, the data center company’s management teased the deal, saying it was “in advanced discussions with an investment-grade hyperscaler” to lease capacity at Polaris Forge 2 and “also entered negotiations with two additional hyperscalers for two new locations.”

“What sets us apart isn’t just the size of our pipeline — it’s how fast we can deliver,” Applied Digital Chairman and CEO Wes Cummins said in the press release. “The real constraint in this industry is execution, and our team continues to prove that large-scale, next-generation data centers can be designed, financed, and brought online faster and more efficiently than anyone thought possible.”

Rani Molla3h

Tesla recalls 13,000 vehicles over battery defect ahead of Q3 earnings

Tesla has some bad news ahead of its highly anticipated third-quarter earnings report later today: it’s recalling nearly 13,000 2025 Model 3s and 2026 Model Ys, due to a problem with a battery pack component that could result in the sudden loss of drive power. As of October 7, Tesla identified 36 warranty claims and 26 field reports related to this issue, but said it hadn’t found any accidents, according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This is the latest in a string of safety issues for Tesla. Earlier this month, the NHTSA launched a probe into Tesla’s full self-driving technology after reports that the feature was violating traffic laws.

Tesla is flat premarket and reports earnings after the bell on Wednesday.

Tesla to recall nearly 13,000 US vehicles over battery risk

Tesla is flat premarket and reports earnings after the bell on Wednesday.

Rani Molla4h

Apple “drastically” cuts iPhone Air production as consumers prefer iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro

Turns out that people don’t love skinny.

Apple is “drastically” cutting back its slim iPhone Air to “end of production” levels, Nikkei reports, as consumers greatly prefer its regular and Pro iPhone 17 models. On balance, that means Apple is maintaining its initial production forecast of 85 million to 90 million units for the iPhone 17 lineup, according to the report.

A survey released by KeyBanc today also found “virtually no demand for iPhone Air.” The preference for more expensive models suggests average selling prices rather than unit volume will drive growth in FY 2026, KeyBanc said.

This latest news comes after generally positive early sales for the latest iPhone suite, which recently helped push Apple shares to an all-time high.

Apple is down 0.7% premarket.

Apple slashes iPhone Air production plans, boosts other 17 models: sources

This latest news comes after generally positive early sales for the latest iPhone suite, which recently helped push Apple shares to an all-time high.

Apple is down 0.7% premarket.

Rani Molla20h

Apple reportedly delays its foldable phone to 2029 or later

Apple has pushed back the debut of its $3,000 foldable phone — part of its three-year plan to update how the iPhone looks — to 2029 or even later, Bloomberg reports. Originally Bloomberg reported that the iPhone maker had hoped for the foldable phone to come out in 2026, but thanks to “engineering challenges tied to weight, features and display technology,” customers will have to wait a few years longer.

For what it’s worth, as is the case with its upcoming touch screen MacBook Pro, many of Apple’s competitors, including Samsung and Google, already have foldable phones.

Apple’s Planned Foldable iPad With 18-inch Screen Hits Development Snags