GOP Lawmakers In D.C. Poised To Vote On Waivers That Allow California To Set Own Emissions Standards

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US electric vehicle sales are expected to slide nearly 40% in Q4

This is weirdly good news for Tesla.

12/18/25 10:05AM

Last quarter, electric vehicles enjoyed record sales in the US as buyers rushed to get ahead of the end of the federal EV tax credit. Now comes the aftermath.

This quarter, electric vehicle sales are expected to plummet 37% in the US to 230,000, compared with 364,000 in Q4 2024, according to new estimates from Cox Automotive. In a strange turn of events, the decline might actually be good news for Tesla, the biggest EV maker in the US.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet currently expect Tesla deliveries in Q4 to decline 9.5% year over year to 449,000 — down substantially, but not by as much as EVs overall. That means Tesla is picking up EV market share. And as other traditional automakers dial back their EV programs in light of the EV drawdown, Tesla and other pure-play EV companies could continue to gain a bigger slice of a smaller pie.

The data also suggests good news for forthcoming Tesla competitor Slate Auto, which still expects to release an EV truck in the mid-$20,000s next year.

It appears the government’s $7,500 tax credit was integral for growing the EV market, because EVs just aren’t that affordable without the tax credit. There are currently only nine EV models that cost $40,000 or less, Cox reports, compared with 56 models with internal combustion engines under $40,000.

If Slate manages to retain its price target, consumers won’t need the credit to buy one.

Jon Keegan12h

Report: OpenAI may tailor a version of ChatGPT for UAE that prohibits LGBTQ+ content

In June of last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared in Abu Dhabi, UAE, alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to announce “Stargate UAE,” a project that includes a 1-gigawatt AI data center in Abu Dhabi, and a commitment to invest in the Stargate USA project.

OpenAI has announced that it is interested in jumping on the “sovereign AI” train, helping countries roll out their own AI services that reflect their own language, culture, and version of history.

Today, Semafor is reporting that OpenAI is in talks to develop a tailored version of ChatGPT for the UAE that would align with the kingdom’s conservative social laws and speech restrictions, such as disallowing discussion of LGBTQ+ content. The UAE-owned MGX investment firm is an investor in OpenAI.

The company announced its OpenAI for Countries initiative in May of last year, which aims to “help interested governments build sovereign AI capability in coordination with the U.S. government — rooted in democratic values, open markets, and trusted partnerships.”

The UAE is a monarchy with a history of human rights violations.

OpenAI’s plan for “democratic AI”

The UAE is a monarchy with a history of human rights violations.

Allen & Co Brings Together Media And Tech Titans In Sun Valley

Analysts think Amazon’s sky-high capex is a good thing, even if there’s “shock value” for investors

That said, several analysts also lowered their price targets for Amazon the day after its downbeat earnings report.

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Jon Keegan15h

Big Tech’s $1.1 trillion cloud computing backlog

Now that the big dogs of cloud computing have all reported their quarterly earnings, we can step back and get a sense of the searing demand that AI is driving toward their businesses.

Amazon, Google, and Microsoft each reported hundreds of billions in RPO (remaining performance obligations) — signed contracts for cloud computing services that can’t yet be filled and haven’t yet hit the books.

Collectively, the big three cloud providers reported a $1.1 TRILLION backlog of revenue.

This gargantuan demand could be good news for the “neoscalers” like CoreWeave and Nebius. But even CoreWeave is reporting a substantial backlog of its own — $55 billion last quarter.

Rani Molla

Apple of another’s AI

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Apple is the only Big Tech company whose capex declined last quarter

One of these companies is not like the others.

Apple Headquarters in Cupertino of California

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Big Tech capital expenditure soared in 2025. It’s going up another 50% in 2026.

Last quarter was one for the record books when it came to Big Tech’s purchases of property and equipment. Combined, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta spent nearly $400 billion on capex, sans leases, in total last year, mostly in service of building out the AI infrastructure that they hope will furnish their futures.

And 2026 is only getting more expensive.

The four are expected to spend 50% more in 2026 than in 2025: roughly $600 billion. Amazon said it’s on the hook for $200 billion in capex this year, while Google expects to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion. Not too far behind, Meta estimated its 2026 capex would be $115 billion to $135 billion. Microsoft didn’t give an estimate, but analysts have its 2026 calendar year capex at around $114 billion. However, it should be noted that analysts’ expectations for 2026 were way lower than the reality for the rest.