Elon Musk’s new vision for Tesla is controlling company’s ‘robot army’; says ‘Optimus will be incredible surgeon’

Tesla has reported record vehicle deliveries in the third quarter of 2025, giving the company a brief recovery after a poor start to the year. The surge came largely from US customers rushing to buy cars before the federal EV tax credit expired.

The company shipped 497,099 vehicles, earning $21.2 billion in automotive revenue — its best figure in over a year. However, profit remained under pressure, standing at $1.4 billion, which is still 37% lower than the same quarter last year, TechCrunch reported.

Despite the record sales, the gains were offset by rising costs and weaker margins. Tesla said its operating expenses rose by 50% compared to last year due to higher spending on AI, research and development, and “restructuring” charges of nearly $240 million. The company did not explain those charges, though they may be linked to the recent closure of its six-year-old Dojo supercomputer project.

Why did Tesla’s profits fall despite record sales?

Apart from higher R&D costs, Tesla cited tariffs as another major reason for reduced profit. Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja speaking with TechCrunch on Wednesday said that the impact from tariffs was about $400 million.

The irony, analysts note, is that Elon Musk had spent millions supporting policies that have since hurt Tesla’s operations.

“We’re at a critical inflection point for Tesla and our strategy going forward as we bring AI into the real world,” Musk said. He added that Tesla is at the “beginning of scaling, quite massively, Full Self-Driving and Robotaxi, and fundamentally changing the nature of transport.”

Can Tesla sustain its sales momentum?

After a record-breaking quarter, the pressure is now on Tesla to maintain momentum in the year’s final quarter. The company still needs another record quarter to merely match its 2024 or 2023 sales numbers.

The introduction of lower-cost versions of the Model 3 and Model Y could help boost demand. However, even with those models, Tesla remains far from achieving the 50% annual growth once promised to investors.

What is Musk’s new vision for Tesla?

Elon Musk continues to urge investors and employees to look beyond Tesla’s traditional car business. His focus is now firmly on artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles, and humanoid robots.

He envisions a “vast network of self-driving cars” to rival Uber, while predicting that the humanoid robot Optimus will become Tesla’s best-selling product.

Tesla offered little new detail on those initiatives in Wednesday’s shareholder letter. Musk said the company may begin building the third version of Optimus in early 2026, although he had once promised to produce thousands by the end of 2025. Reports suggest Tesla has faced technical difficulties in early production.

“Bringing Optimus to market is an incredibly difficult task, to be clear. It’s not like some walk in the park,” Musk said.

Still, he made ambitious claims about the robot’s potential, saying it could help “create a world where there is no poverty, where everyone has access to the finest medical care,” even suggesting that “Optimus will be an incredible surgeon.”

How much will Tesla’s AI and robotics push cost?

CFO Taneja speaking to TechCrunch said Tesla’s capital expenditure will rise “substantially” in 2026, mainly due to projects like Optimus, Full Self-Driving, and the upcoming two-seater Cybercab. The company is also spending more on employee compensation amid the fierce global competition for AI talent.

What’s at stake in Musk’s $1 trillion pay package?

Tesla’s third-quarter results come as shareholders prepare to vote on a $1 trillion compensation plan for Musk at the company’s upcoming annual meeting. Despite opposition from advisory groups ISS and Glass Lewis, the package is expected to pass, given Musk’s strong support among investors.

Musk has warned that he might walk away from Tesla if the plan is not approved. On Wednesday’s call, he repeated that his main concern is control over the company, not personal wealth.

“I just don’t feel comfortable building a robot army here and then being ousted because of some asinine recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis, who have no friggin’ clue. I mean, those guys are corporate terrorists,” Musk said.