Hats off to you, Mr. Musk (Jim Watson/Getty Images)

Why the proposed end of EV tax credits could actually be a big win for Tesla

That’s because vehicles assembled in America might be getting their own tax break.

5/13/25 8:28AM

The $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles will likely be out by year’s end, according to a markup of a proposal by the House Ways and Means Committee published yesterday that’s expected to be incorporated into President Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.”

That would seem like bad news for electric vehicle makers, who rely on the credit to subsidize some of the higher price of purchasing EVs, but maybe not as much for Tesla.

When asked about how rolling back the Biden-era tax credits might affect his company during an earnings call last July, CEO Elon Musk said something sort of incomprehensible:

“I guess there would be like some impact. But I think it would be devastating for our competitors and would hurt Tesla slightly. But long term, probably actually helps Tesla, would be my guess.”

He didn’t explain why that might be, but he might actually be right.

Tesla buyers are less likely than other EV owners to say they wouldn’t have made their purchase without the federal tax credit, according to survey data of EV owners by insurance comparison website Insurify this year. While more than half of Toyota EV owners said so, only about a third of Tesla owners did.

Additionally, the proposed legislation introduces a tax deduction for car loan interest for passenger vehicles assembled in the US, which is the case for Tesla. That could save typical car buyers on average $4,500 over the course of their loan, depending on the car they buy and the interest rate they get. (Or, conversely, much less than that.)

Of course, the same goes for Bezos-backed Cybertruck competitor Slate Auto, which like Tesla is also set to be assembled in the US. Unlike Tesla, its starting price of less than $28,000 is relatively affordable to begin with, even without the tax credit.

Tesla, however, has much bigger problems than the federal tax credit reversal, like slowing demand — as evidenced by declining sales, a week-long labor pause, and confirmation from Tesla employees themselves.

Jon Keegan10/17/25

Google’s Gemini 3.0 reportedly due to be released in December

Google is aiming to release the latest version of its flagship AI model, Gemini 3.0, in December, according to a report from Sources.news.

The updated model is expected to make significant gains that should boost it to the top of the leaderboards, according to the report.

The Gemini app also spent some time at the top of the iOS App Store leaderboards, propelled by Google’s Nano Banana image generation model, which proved popular with users looking to turn themselves into action figures. Gemini briefly knocked ChatGPT from the top spot, which is now occupied by OpenAI’s other hot app, Sora.

Recently, there have been signs of ChatGPT downloads slowing, which could provide an opening for Gemini to gain market share. Adding some premium Gemini features to the free tier is a plan under discussion within Google, per Sources.news.

Sources.news also reports that a “small, secretive team” inside Google is working to integrate Gemini into Apple’s operating systems.

Google readies Gemini 3, Perplexity hits its goal

Sources.news also reports that a “small, secretive team” inside Google is working to integrate Gemini into Apple’s operating systems.

Jon Keegan10/17/25

Meta strikes $30 billion deal with Blue Owl to finance Hyperion data center

Meta’s Hyperion mega data center site in Richland Parish, Louisiana, is currently under construction. The city-sized development will be the home to one of the largest data centers in the world, housing around 2 million pricey GPUs, and will scale up to an eventual 5.5 gigawatts.

So, how is Meta planning to pay for this expensive project?

Bloomberg reports that Meta has signed a deal with asset management company Blue Owl Capital to finance $30 billion to pay for the project, marking what could be the largest private capital deal ever.

According to the report, Blue Owl and Meta would co-own the site, with Meta retaining a 20% stake in the project. PIMCO is also part of the financing for the deal, as the anchor lender.

Raising the massive capital to fund all of these huge AI data center projects is pushing companies to use unusual financing arrangements. The Information reported that xAI made such a deal with Valor Equity Partners worth $20 billion to rent the GPUs needed for its Colossus 2 data center.

Blue Owl Seals Largest Private Capital Deal for Meta’s AI Growth

According to the report, Blue Owl and Meta would co-own the site, with Meta retaining a 20% stake in the project. PIMCO is also part of the financing for the deal, as the anchor lender.

Rani Molla10/17/25

EssilorLuxottica surges to record high after saying Ray-Ban Meta glasses helped boost revenue growth

European eyewear company EssilorLuxottica said during its earnings call yesterday that its Ray-Ban Meta glasses helped boost its revenue growth, something that’s sent the ADR up to a record high.

“Clearly, there is a lift coming from Ray-Ban Meta wearables as a product category,” the company’s CFO, Stefano Grassi, said on the call Thursday. “The contribution from Ray-Ban Meta in wearables, as I mentioned before, is in excess of 4 percentage points overall for the group.”

EssilorLuxottica’s revenue was up 11.7% in the third quarter compared with a year ago.

Meta has a nearly 3% stake in the eyewear company, which it has partnered with on the smart glasses. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also claimed that its Ray-Ban Metas are a hit, saying that the “sales trajectory that we’ve seen is similar to some of the most popular consumer electronics of all time.” We looked at the numbers and aren’t so sure.

Tom Jones

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10/17/25

The revenue race between Anthropic and OpenAI is getting more heated

Hey Claude, when do you think you’ll start making more money than ChatGPT?

44%

Matt Phillips10/16/25

JPMorgan economists estimate that the basket of stocks they use as a rough gauge of AI’s market impact is now worth about 44% of the S&P 500’s total market cap, up from 26% in 2022.

Using a basket of 30 AI stocks picked by the bank’s equity analysts as a barometer of AI, the economists find that American households have seen their aggregate wealth go up by about $5 trillion over the last year as a result of AI, they reported in a note published Thursday.

They also estimate the surge in stock market wealth could raise annualized US consumer spending by some $180 billion, due to wealth effects.

JPM acknowledges some uncertainty around this estimate, noting that the spending impact could be lower “if the wealth gains are accruing disproportionately to upper income households with lower [marginal propensity to spend].”