Tesla's official owner's manual has replaced “FSD Computer” with “SI Computer” in sections for the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck, directing owners to check “Controls > Software” for the SI Computer to confirm the computer version. The move aligns with Elon Musk's renaming of SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI and Tesla AI to Tesla Super Intelligence, and may have been influenced by a Trump executive order.
Tesla executives said in an interview that the company plans to use Optimus humanoid robots to plug and unplug charging cables for Robotaxis, while continuing to develop more automated wireless charging. Tesla currently still relies on staff to manually charge driverless Robotaxis, with wireless charging as the ultimate goal but unlikely to be realized in the near term.
At Tesla's earnings call on October 25, 2026, Vice President Ashok Elluswamy said Tesla is developing an AI-based map and navigation system that will ship with FSD v15, using fleet-collected data and personalized route planning, with voice control support and Grok-powered voice commands planned for fall 2026.
In an X Takeover interview on Oct 22, 2026, Elon Musk said many impressive humanoid robot demos online are preprogrammed or remote-controlled rather than truly autonomous, and that real intelligent robots must handle unfamiliar scenarios. He said Tesla Optimus uses an end-to-end visual AI framework shared with FSD and Dojo supercomputing for autonomous learning, called dexterous hands the biggest hardware bottleneck, warned of supply-chain risks, and said Fremont's Optimus line will first prioritize internal data collection over rapid mass sales.
Tesla reported Q3 2026 revenue of $28.05 billion, down 0.2% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $0.48 beating estimates. Operating profit fell 56% to $718 million. The company cut its full-year capex guidance to $20 billion while continuing investments in AI computing and Optimus robot production.
At Tesla's Q3 earnings call, Elon Musk said Robotaxi would become a significant revenue source in 2027, with contributions emerging from Q2, and Optimus humanoid robots would start delivering to external companies by the end of 2027, citing AI architecture as the current bottleneck.
Musk said at a SpaceX conference call that Terafab, a chip venture jointly owned by SpaceX and Tesla, plans to reach volume production in Q3 2028, producing 1 terawatt of compute annually for AI and robotics. He also disclosed an internal target to produce a SRAM test chip at the Austin base around May or June next year.
At SpaceX's Q3 earnings call, Elon Musk confirmed that SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss a potential merger. No agreement has been reached yet, and any deal would require shareholder approval. Musk said he personally thinks a merger would be good but recused himself as an interested party. Analysts estimate a probability above 80%.
Tesla filed shareholder materials with the U.S. SEC, announcing that its third-generation humanoid robot Optimus V3 is ready for mass production, with the first production lines under construction.
In October 2026, Elon Musk acknowledged in a podcast interview hosted by biographer Walter Isaacson that his DOGE experiment had failed, saying the deficit cannot be solved from inside the government and that there is little political will to cut spending across the executive, legislative and judicial branches. He reflected that he had been “carried away” and away from his companies for too long, and hinted that a future administration could use more powerful AI tools; he believes only AI and robotics can truly address the U.S. fiscal deficit.