Musk

Tesla Cuts EV Discounts to “Optimize” Sales and Delivery Process

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One of Tesla’s delivery workers who was cut this week and spoke to TechCrunch on the condition of anonymity said their location was “short staffed” but still lost multiple employees. The decision to end discounts across its lineup in the United States, including the Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X is a bit of a whiplash moment for Tesla. And in the first quarter of 2024, Tesla’s delivery numbers fell year-over-year. It’s not clear how removing discounts on Tesla vehicles fits into the automaker’s new strategy to streamline sales and delivery. But beyond the initial purchase, Tesla has almost always been making changes to its sales and delivery strategy.

Top-Performing Employees at Tesla Affected by Layoffs, Multiple Departments Cut, Sources Reveal

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Tesla layoffs hit high performers, some departments slashed, sources say 'I lost 20% of my team, some really good players too'Tesla management told employees Monday that the recent layoffs — which gutted some departments by 20% and even hit high performers — were largely due to poor financial performance, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. High performers also cutMany of the laid-off employees were high performers, according to two sources who spoke to TechCrunch on condition of anonymity. Some departments saw layoffs beyond the 10% outlined in the companywide email, according to sources. In 2022, he told employees that he wanted a “clean robotaxi” with no steering wheel or pedals. Patel told TechCrunch he decided Sunday evening to leave Tesla because of “[b]ig overall changes” at the company.

“Sources Report Widespread Job Cuts and Department Reductions for Top Talent at Tesla”

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Tesla layoffs hit high performers, some departments slashed, sources say 'I lost 20% of my team, some really good players too'Tesla management told employees Monday that the recent layoffs — which gutted some departments by 20% and even hit high performers — were largely due to poor financial performance, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Its margins, however, took a hit after Tesla repeatedly slashed prices in a bid to drum up sales and undercut the competition. High performers also cutMany of the laid-off employees were high performers, according to two sources who spoke to TechCrunch on condition of anonymity. In 2022, he told employees that he wanted a “clean robotaxi” with no steering wheel or pedals. Patel told TechCrunch he decided Sunday evening to leave Tesla because of “[b]ig overall changes” at the company.

Elon Musk’s Strategy to Monetize Posting for New X Users

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Elon Musk is planning to charge new X users a small fee to enable posting on the social network and to curb the bot problem. Earlier this month, X said that the platform was starting a major purge of spam accounts, warning users that their follower count might be affected. However, with a plan to charge new users, the social media company seemingly aims to tackle the bot problem better. Earlier this month, xAI made its Grok chatbot available to Premium users of X, who pay $8 per month. Last week, Fortune reported that X plans to make Grok available to users to compose posts.

Tesla Cuts Global Workforce by Over 10%

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Tesla is laying off thousands of employees as it tries to simultaneously cut costs and boost productivity, according to an internal email sent to staff by CEO Elon Musk, Electrek and Bloomberg News reported. The electric automaker is cutting “more than 10%” of its global headcount, Musk said in the email. Tesla finished 2023 with over 140,000 employees, meaning the cuts could impact more than 14,000 people. The company has warned investors that sales growth could be “notably lower” in 2024 than its stated goal of 50% growth each year. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle,” Musk wrote.

Elon Musk Under Fire for Capitalizing on Crisis: Study Uncovers X’s Incentives for Inciting Hatred during Israel-Gaza Conflict

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The study builds on earlier work investigating his impact on online speech by spotlighting how policy changes Musk enacted are actively rewarding hate speech posters with increased reach, engagement and even direct payouts through X’s subscriber feature. Some of the accounts pivoted to war hate posts after previously posting COVID-19-related conspiracy theory content, per the report. The CCDH found these accounts were able to boost their reach on X after posting hateful content targeting the war. But not all: The CCDH found ads being served alongside hateful posts made by all the tracked accounts. “We found ads for Oreos, the NBA, the FBI and even X itself placed near hateful posts,” it wrote.

Possible options: 1. The Threat to Tesla’s Dominance: An Affordable Electric Vehicle is Key 2. Tesla’s Competitive Edge in Jeopardy Without a Budget-Friendly EV 3. Will Tesla’s Reign End Without an Affordable Electric Car? 4. The Importance of an Economical EV

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Elon Musk’s decision to green light a robotaxi over an affordable EV might cost the company its lead. Last week, Musk reportedly canned the effort in favor of a robotaxi, the sort of pie-in-the-sky project that defined his first decade at the helm. Tesla was reportedly on the cusp of building a $25,000 EV. Given flagging sales of the company’s existing product line, it would have been a welcome shot in the arm. It also would have given the company a product to hold its ground against a predicted onslaught of inexpensive Chinese EVs.

th Elon Musk Reveals Plans for Tesla Robotaxi Debut on August 8th

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Hours later, Musk posted on X that a “Tesla Robotaxi” will be unveiled August 8. Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2024Reports have swirled for years that Tesla was working on these two vehicles. Musk has been promising autonomous capabilities in Tesla vehicles for years. Tesla vehicles come standard with a driver-assistance system branded as Autopilot. Tesla vehicles are not self-driving.

Tesla allegedly cancels plan for $25,000 electric vehicle production

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Tesla is reportedly abandoning its plan to build a lower-cost EV thought to cost around $25,000, according to Reuters, despite that vehicle’s status as a pivotal product for the company’s overall growth. The company will instead focus its efforts on a planned robotaxi that is being built on the same small EV platform that was also supposed to power the lower-cost vehicle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed, without proof, that Reuters is “lying” in a post on his social media platform, X, and did not dispute any specific details. He also responded with an eyes emoji to another post that effectively summed up the Reuters report in different words. Tesla was reportedly targeting a price of around $25,000 for the next-generation EV.

X cautions about potential loss of followers due to another bot sweep

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X warns that you might lose followers as it does another bot sweepX is warning users they may see a reduction in their follower counts as the company attempts to clear the network of some spammers and bots in a large sweep. Today, we're kicking off a significant, proactive initiative to eliminate accounts that violate our Rules against platform manipulation and spam. While we aim for accuracy in the accounts we remove, we're casting a wide net to ensure X remains secure and free of bots. But these days, Musk is touting how X is seeing record traffic, without clarifying if his own numbers include bots and spam. X also shared a link to a form where users inadvertently affected by the bot sweep could appeal.