President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the United States will win the artificial intelligence race. He made the declaration before signing three executive orders aimed at expediting AI-related infrastructure projects, promoting and exporting American-made AI technology, and preventing woke AI in the federal government.
Earlier in the day, the White House released a 28-page AI Action Plan, which lays out a detailed policy agenda to accelerate AI innovation, build AI infrastructure, and lead in international AI diplomacy and security.
The plan paints a bucolic picture of sorts, in which American workers will benefit from the opportunities created by this technological revolution, including high-paying jobs and scientific discoveries, while the private sector is unencumbered by bureaucratic red tape and onerous regulations.
‘Whatever it takes’
But Trump also made clear that his AI policy marks a stark departure from the AI guardrails endorsed by President Joe Biden. During a speech Wednesday at an event cohosted by the Hill and Valley Forum and the All-In podcast, Trump took swipes at a number of policies endorsed by his political opponents and told the audience, Were getting rid of woke.
The White Houses AI agenda outlines risks to innovation from anything perceived as a hindrancebe it ideological policies or environmental regulationsand the executive orders continue a pattern of Trump revoking the policies of his predecessor. The president vowed to do whatever it takes to lead the world in AI innovation.
With your help, that golden age will be built by American workers, it will be powered by American energy, it will be run on American technology improved by American artificial intelligence, and it will make America richer, stronger, greater, freer, and more powerful than ever before, he told the tech-heavy audience.
Recommended policy actions
Among dozens of recommended policy actions, the AI Action Plan calls for eliminating references to misinformation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and climate change. Whats more, it notes that AI models must be built on what are referred to as American values, without providing specifics about what those values are.
One of the executive orders that Trump signed Wednesday also calls for modifying various environmental regulations to streamline and accelerate the federal permitting of data center infrastructure.
Silicon Valley’s role
Trumps AI policy was heavily shaped by his Silicon Valley donors, including David Sacks, one of four cohosts of the All-In podcast and Trumps special adviser for AI and crypto.
While Trump complimented the genius and creativity of Silicon Valley, he also called on change from the technology community. Winning the new AI race will demand a new spirit of patriotism and national loyalty in Silicon Valley.
More than 100 groupsincluding the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and Oxfam Americasigned a resolution opposing the AI action plan, which they describe as being written by Big Tech and Big Oil. These groups instead advocated for a Peoples AI Action Plan.”
‘Just popped out of the air’
But even Trump seemed, at times, dubious or just naive about the technological revolution he intends to lead. Though AI technology is hardly new, Trump said it was something that nobody expected, it just popped out of the air and also suggested that AI needs a new moniker because he doesnt like the word artificial and prefers the word genius instead.
Whether we like it or not, were suddenly engaged in a fast-paced competition to build and define this groundbreaking technology that will determine so much about the future of civilization itself, he told the audience.
U.S. automakers worry that President Donald Trump’s agreement to tariff Japanese vehicles at 15% would put them at a competitive disadvantage, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors.“We need to review all the details of the agreement, but this is a deal that will charge lower tariffs on Japanese autos with no U.S. content,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the Big 3 American automakers, General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis.Blunt said in an interview the U.S. companies and workers “definitely are at a disadvantage” because they face a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on parts and finished vehicles, with some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into effect in 2020.The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump’s promises there can be genuine tradeoffs from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and of identity.The United Auto Workers said in a statement it was “deeply angered” by the deal. “A better deal would have held Japanese automakers to the same standards U.S. workers have fought for at GM, Ford, and Stellantis,” the UAW said.“If this becomes the blueprint for trade with Europe or South Korea, it will be a major missed opportunity,” the union added. “We need trade deals that raise standards not reward the race to the bottom. This deal does the opposite.”Trump portrayed the trade framework as a major win after announcing it on Tuesday, saying it would add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy and open the Japanese economy in ways that could close a persistent trade imbalance. The agreement includes a 15% tariff that replaces the 25% import tax the Republican president had threatened to charge starting on Aug. 1. Japan would also put together $550 billion to invest in U.S. projects at the “direction” of the president, the White House said.The framework with Japan will remove regulations that prevent American vehicles from being sold in that country, the White House has said, adding that it would be possible for vehicles built in Detroit to be shipped directly to Japan and ready to be sold.But Blunt said that foreign auto producers, including the U.S., Europe and South Korea, have just a 6% share in Japan, raising skepticism that simply having the open market that the Trump administration says will exist in that country will be sufficient.“Tough nut to crack, and I’d be very surprised if we see any meaningful market penetration in Japan,” Blunt said.Asked at Wednesday’s briefing about whether Trump’s sectoral tariffs such as those on autos were now subject to possible change, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the issue had been going through the Commerce Department.The framework with Japan was also an indication that some nations simply saw it as preferential to have a set tariff rate rather than be whipsawed by Trump’s changes on import taxes since April. But for the moment, both Japan and the United Kingdom with its quotas on auto exports might enjoy a competitive edge in the U.S.“With this agreement in place it provides Japan with a near-term operating cost advantage compared to other foreign automakers, and even some domestic U.S. product that uses a high degree of both foreign production and parts content,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “It will be interesting to see if this is the first domino to fall in a series of foreign countries that decide long-term stability is more important that short term disputes over specific tariff rates.”Autos Drive America, an organization that represents major Japanese companies Toyota, Honda and Nissan and other international automakers, said in a statement that it is “encouraged” by the announced trade framework and noted its members have exceeded domestic automaker production for the past two years.The statement urged “the Trump administration to swiftly reach similar agreements with other allies and partners, especially the European Union, South Korea, Canada and Mexico.”The Japanese framework could give automakers and other countries grounds for pushing for changes in the Trump administration’s tariffs regime. The president has previously said that he values flexibility in negotiating import taxes. The USMCA is up for review next year.Ford, GM and Stellantis do “have every right to be upset,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president at consultancy AutoForecast Solutions. But “Honda, Toyota, and Nissan still import vehicles from Mexico and Canada, where the current levels of tariffs can be higher than those applied to Japanese imports. Most of the high-volume models from Japanese brands are already produced in North America.”Fiorani noted that among the few exceptions are the Toyota 4Runner, the Mazda CX-5 and the Subaru Forester, but most of the other imports fill niches that are too small to warrant production in the U.S.“There will be negotiations between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico, and it will probably result in tariffs no higher than 15%,” Fiorani added, “but nobody seems to be in a hurry to negotiate around the last Trump administration’s free trade agreement.”
St. John contributed from Detroit.
Josh Boak and Alex St. John, Associated Press
You landed a job interview: Youve researched the company, reread the job listing, and practiced your talking points. But have you considered the importance of choosing the right time of day to interview? According to new research, when you interview might impact how well you do.
In a study analyzing the timing and performance of Italian students in oral interviewswhich are required to pass many classes at Italian universitiesresearchers found that the time of day had a big impact on students likelihood of success. Researchers believe the study could shed light on successes and failures in other high-pressure situations, like job interviews.
Researchers utilized a University of Messina database of interview-style exam results from October 2018 to February 2020. Data from more than 100,000 exams revealed that the rate of students who passed followed a bell curve that peaked between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and was much lower in the early morning and late afternoon.
The research was inspired by a study that found judges are more lenient in their sentencing at the beginning of the court session or after meal breaks, says Carmelo Vicario, a neuroscientist at the University of Messina and lead author of the new study. After seeing the data on judicial rulings, Vicario says he was interested in discovering whether the same principle might apply to other fields, including education.
This was, of course, a completely different field, Vicario tells Fast Company. But we found this similarity.
Since the study analyzes existing data, rather than data from controlled trials, Vicario says he isnt able to confirm exactly why the middle of the day seems to be when students are most successful. Still, the researchers have a number of theories.
For starters, since younger people tend to be night owls and older people tend to prefer the morning, the middle of the day might help mitigate the clash between these chronotypes, or biological rhythms that impact how alert people are throughout the day. Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. could be a middle ground when both students and their professors are in their prime.
This same mismatch between chronotypes could contribute to the difference in interview success during the hiring process for young workers being interviewed by more senior employees, adding to the bias that an estimated 36% have against Gen Z candidates, according to a recent ResumeBuilder survey.
More than 80 genes regulate the circadian rhythms behind different chronotypes, and people consistently operating outside the hours that work with their circadian rhythm can experience issues with productivity, as well as health problems and work-related anxiety.
To help overcome bias related to the time of day, experts have a few tips that can be applied to everything from exams to job interviews and beyond, such as offering flexible meeting hours and scheduling collaboration when both parties have high energy levels.
By recognizing biological differences in how and when people work bestand making room for that diversityleaders can reduce hidden bias, unlock untapped potential, and build more productive and inclusive teams, Camilla Kring, a researcher who studies applied chronology, wrote in a recent article for Fast Company.
Still, authors of the new study note that more research is needed to determine whether mismatched chronotypes are the hidden force behind varying interview success.
Even this is a speculative interpretation, Vicario says, noting his hope that this work will inspire future research that helps to pin down exactly why interviews in the middle of the day tend to go better. Vicario also hopes people will consider researching the impact of timing on decision-making in other high-pressure situations.
When theres a kind of pressure, the influence of the time of the day can be stronger compared to when you have a large amount of time to evaluate the details of the situation, Vicario says. Being aware [of timings impact] can make decisions fairer.
President Donald Trump is visiting the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington Thursday, a week after indicating that Fed chair Jerome Powell’s handling of an extensive renovation project on two Fed buildings could be grounds for firing.Trump has criticized Powell for months because the chair has kept the short-term interest rate the Fed controls at 4.3% this year, after cutting it three times last year. Powell says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.Powell’s caution has infuriated Trump, who has demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt.The Fed has been renovating its Washington headquarters and a neighboring building. With some of the construction occurring underground and as building materials have soared in price after inflation spiked in 2021 and 2022, the estimated cost has ballooned to about $2.5 billion, from $1.9 billion.When asked last week if the costly rebuilding could be grounds to fire Powell, Trump said, “I think it is.”“When you spend $2.5 billion on, really, a renovation, I think it’s really disgraceful,” Trump said.Firing Powell would threaten the Fed’s independence, which has long been supported by most economists and Wall Street investors.
Chipotle Mexican Grill announced its second-quarter financial results on Wednesday, July 23, and the news isnt great.
The fast casual restaurant chain failed to reach its quarterly sales estimates and reduced its targeted annual sales growth. Chipotle reported net income of $436.1 million (32 cents per diluted share), a decrease from $455.7 million (33 cents per diluted share) year-over-year (YOY).
In premarket trading, Chipotles stock price (NYSE:CMG) has plummeted over 12% since the market closed Wednesday night.
While Chipotle reported a 3% increase YOY in total revenue, it credited the $3.1 billion sum to the opening of 61 new restaurants. In reality, restaurants saw comparable sales drop 4%, thanks to smaller bills. Wall Street had predicted a 2.9% decrease, according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC.
What’s eating American diners?
In a post-earnings investors meeting, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright blamed ongoing volatility in consumer environment trends.
Much of what were experiencing right now is due to macro and the consumer. The low-income consumer is looking for value as a price point at present, Boatwright stated.
Tariffs are also a factor, with Chipotle estimating a 0.5% rise in cost of sales.
Chipotles decline is part of a broader trend. Fast food restaurants saw a 0.9% decrease in traffic YOY during quarter two, according to a report published this month by Revenue Management Solutions (RMS).
At the same time, prices at these quick-service restaurants increased by 1.3% YOYthough this is less than quarter ones 3.1% increase. Meanwhile, the average bill at Chipotle increased by 0.9%.
Investors in Tesla cant seem to catch a break. Yesterday, Elon Musks electric vehicle company reported its Q2 2025 resultsand they werent good. Today, the stock (Nasdaq: TSLA) is down significantly because of it. Heres what you need to know about TSLAs latest movement.
TSLA shares hit in early trading
As of the time of this writing, TSLA shares are currently down over 6%, or $20 per share, to $312.56 in premarket trading. That drop comes after the company reported its second-quarter results for its fiscal 2025 yesterday.
The company reported that it produced 410,244 vehicles during the quarter, over 396,000 of which were its popular models 3 and Y. During the same period, Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles, its models 3 and Y accounting for over 373,000 of those deliveries.
But what seems to have concerned investors the most about the companys Q2 results is its revenue number.
For the quarter, Tesla reported revenue of $22.5 billion. That was a 12% decline from the $25.5 billion that the company posted in the same quarter a year earlier. It was also worse than the $22.74 billion in revenue that many analysts were expecting.
Even worse was that this revenue decline was the second quarterly revenue drop in a row, and it came after Tesla launched refreshed versions of its popular Model Y SUV.
3 factors weighing Tesla down
Tesla is facing several problems, which are both impacting its revenue and making investors nervous for the future.
The main problem is that Teslas revenues are declining. This decline can be attributed to multiple factors, the first being Musk himself.
Ever since CEO Elon Musk leapt headfirst into politics earlier this year, Teslas brand has taken a popularity hit.
Musks leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)and the extreme cuts it implemented after President Trumps inaugurationwas deeply unpopular with progressives, who have historically been the ones attracted to Teslas electric vehicles. This alienation of a large part of Teslas customer base hasnt done the company any favors as far as sales are concerned.
But Musk isnt directly to blame for all of the problems Tesla is facing. The second factor hurting the company is increased competition from electric vehicles produced by competitors around the world. Car manufacturers of all stripes, from America to Europe to Asia, are releasing EVs that are often much more affordable than Teslas, giving customers cheaper options to choose from.
A third factor that is likely weighing on investors minds is the upcoming expiration of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit in the United States. This EV credit was killed in Trumps Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Elon Musk vehemently opposed. The credit expires on September 30, and investors are nervous about how the loss of the credit will impact sales of Teslas pricy EVs.
TSLA shares have had a rough 2025
After Teslas disappointing Q2 2025 earnings yesterday, the stock is down over 6% in premarket trading this morning as of the time of this writing. However, thats not the worst news when it comes to Teslas stock price.
After hitting an all-time high of $488.54 per share in December 2024, TSLA shares have declined sharply. As of yesterdays close at $332 per share, Teslas shares have declined 17.6% this year.
Teslas additional 6% decline is only compounding those losses and shows that investors are still jittery about where the companys sales go from here.
Chris Guillebeau spent years racing against time, visiting all 193 countries before he turned 35, hosting annual gatherings of thousands, and writing bestsellers like The $100 Startup. But his latest book, Time Anxiety, tackles something different: our collective panic about never having enough hours in the day.
The book challenges productivity culture’s relentless optimization, offering counterintuitive solutions like embracing “granny hobbies” and creating reverse bucket lists. For Guillebeau, who admits he’s “very forward-minded” and constantly asking What’s next? these insights emerged from his own struggles with time pressure.
Fast Company spoke with Guillebeau about why excellence isn’t always the goal, what he learned from visiting every country, and how to find meaning when you can’t control your legacy.
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You introduce this concept of the reverse bucket list. Why is looking backward as important as looking forward?
I am a very forward-minded person. Im always like, What’s next? It’s like, Oh, the book is out. What’s the next book? And its like, well, I just spent two years writing this book. Maybe I should live in that zone for a little bit.
The reverse bucket list is just like it soundswhat have I done that is interesting or notable, whether to other people or not? I think its helpful to just celebrate or even observe some of those things. You can do it as a big picture, like a life bucket list, or you can just be like, whats your list of things that youve gotten done today?
For those of us who tend to be thinking more about the future, perhaps reflecting on what we’ve been able to do thus far can actually bring us to a centering point.
You visited every country in the world before age 35. What surprised you about that experience?
I first got into that idea because Im kind of compulsive, and I am a list maker. I was an aid worker in West Africa in my early twenties, and Id been to maybe 70 countries. I was like, how many are there, and what would it take to do that?
Some of my favorite discoveries were the Baltics and the Balkans. Places like Lithuania and Montenegro ended up being really peaceful spots where I had great experiences and met interesting people. I definitely wouldn’t have gone to either of those places if it wasn’t for having this objective. There was something about combining a love of travel with a love of goal setting and list making that made it really work for me.
The book mentions someone who flew to different European cities every Wednesday, only to fly right back without visiting. What’s the lesson there?
This Dutch guy would go to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam every Wednesday for 20 years and fly somewhere within EuropeStockholm or Barcelonaspend a couple of hours in the terminal, then fly back. That was his happy place, his Zen.
A lot of people are gonna say, Oh, that’s so dumb. He’s doing all this travel without ever traveling anywhere. But the point is, that’s something that made him feel alive. It gave him a little milestone to anchor the rest of his life with. There’s some weird thing like that for everybody. The whole point is to figure out what that looks like to you.
You advocate for granny hobbies and tactile breaks. Why are these important in our digital age?
There’s actually research behind having a hobby that’s hands-on but thumbs-downmeaning not digital, not scrolling. It could be knitting, baking, gardening. These are things that are really easy to pick up, and you can leave them for a while and come back.
The research shows this actually can reduce anxiety and contribute to peace of mind. And its low pressure. If your knitting project goes awry, oh well. Its not like you forgot to use BCC and emailed a hundred people by mistake. These hobbies get us operating on a different time scheduleyou’re not racing against a digital deadline, but working more slowly to hand-make something.
Your three-quarter-ass rule seems to challenge conventional wisdom about aiming for consistent excellence. Why do we need permission to not do our best?
I used to run an event series, and the team would spend forever talking about tiny details. Someone finally said, We don’t want to half-ass it, but do we really need to put our full ass behind this thing? Can we just three-quarter-ass it?
You cant actually do your best at everything. Its not possible. Life is about choice and selection. You want to maybe pick a couple of things to be excellent at, and for everything else, there are ways of not doing things or doing them adequately. Excellence is not always the standard. Sometimes done is better than perfect, especially for those of us who get stuck because we want things to be perfect and don’t even know where to begin.
How has writing this book changed your own relationship with time?
I used to think a lot about legacy: What do we leave behind? But I’ve distanced myself from that because legacy is something we can’t really control. Most things we do are forgotten. People who leave legacies aren’t on some 60-year strategic plan. They’re just doing things that ultimately have a positive impact.
So I’ve shifted to focusing more on living well. What does it mean to live well? Hopefully that involves contribution and service. I want to make some part of the world a little better, and thats achievable. Its measurable for those who want to measure it, and even if you dont, its intuitively knowable.
A company that has name recognition among both students and their parents is going public today. McGraw Hill, the education publisher, has priced its initial public offering of shares and is expected to make its market debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Heres what you need to know about McGraw Hills IPO
What is McGraw Hill?
If youve ever been a student, youve likely come across the name McGraw Hill. The company is one of the largest educational publishers in the world. It produces myriad educational materials, from the textbooks used in classrooms across the country to digital learning platform software for teachers.
McGraw Hill is one of the oldest education companies operating in America. It was founded over 137 years ago in 1888 and is currently headquartered in New York City. Though the company is American, it provides educational solutions for countries across the world. Currently, its educational products are available in more than 80 languages.
The brand has been in the hands of private equity for more than a decade. It was purchased from its former parent company by Apollo Global Management in 2013 and later sold to Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.
From textbooks to digital
While McGraw Hill has historically been one of the biggest publishers of school textbooks, in recent years, the company has gone all-in on digital education solutions as the worlds learning moves online.
According to its Form S-1 registration statement, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), McGraw Hill serves 60 million digital learners each year. Twenty-six million of those learners are paid digital users.
For its fiscal year that ended March 31, McGraw Hill says it had an adjusted EBITDA of $727 million, with $1.4 billion in digital revenue.
It is the most recent company to go public this year, which has seen renewed interest from investors in initial public offerings. Other recent notable IPOs include listings from Chime, Circle, MNTN, and Hinge Health.
When is McGraw Hills IPO?
McGraw Hill priced its shares yesterday and is expected to list today: Thursday, July 24, 2025. The offering was led by Goldman Sachs & Co., along with BMO Capital Markets, J.P. Morgan, Macquarie Capital, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, and UBS Investment Bank.
What is McGraw Hills stock ticker?
McGraw Hills stock ticker is MH.
What exchange will McGraw Hill shares trade on?
McGraw Hill shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
What is the IPO share price of MH?
McGraw Hills IPO price is $17 per share. That was below its earlier estimated IPO price range of between $19 and $22 per share.
How many MH shares are available in its IPO?
According to a company press release, McGraw Hill offered 24,390,000 shares of its common stock in its IPO.
How much did McGraw Hill raise in its IPO?
McGraw Hill says it received approximately $385,697,545 million from the sale of its shares in its IPO.
How much is McGraw Hill worth?
At its $17 IPO price, McGraw Hills market cap is now valued at $3.25 billion, according to Reuters.
Tequila, the Mexican hard liquor that’s become a bar staple, has its very own holiday to celebrate its crisp, earthy flavors.
Today (Thursday, July 24) is National Tequila Day. Lets take a look at the history of the adult beverage so you can wow your coworkers at happy hour. Then we can explore some fun offers to celebrate the day.
A shot or two of tequila history
A forerunner to the modern hard liquor dates back to the Aztecs (and possibilty even earlier civilizations) in Mexico, as noted by Liquor.com. They fermented the sap of the agave plant to create a milky beverage called pulque and worshipped the husband-and-wife god duo behind this act, Mayahuel and Patecatl.
The Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1517 and two years later began their conquest to take over. The soldiers missed brandy and began to experiment with mud stills and agave to replace it.
Eventually the Marquis of Altamira took things a step further. He opened the first major distillery in the early 1600s in present-day Tequila, Jalisco.
The Cuervo family took things commercial in 1758 with their own distillery. The Sauza family followed suit in 1873.
It is believed that Don Cenobio Sauza first imported tequila to the United States in 1873. The alcohol was present at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The spirit also grew in popularity during Prohibition as it was easily smuggled into the country.
The invention of the margarita in the 1940s further strengthened tequilas public relations.
In 1974 Mexico declared tequila its intellectual property meaning it had to be made and aged in certain regions of the country. The Tequila Regulatory Council was formed 20 years later in part for quality control.
What truly cemented tequilas legacy was when imported tequila shifted from mixto, a combination of a tequila from agave plants and other sugars, to a 100% agave tequila.
Bartenders loved using these pure liquids to create even more yummy cocktails.
Additionally, these smaller batched craft creations helped elevate the liquor, while the celebrity endorsements didnt hurt either. (Were looking at you, George Clooney and Casamigos.)
These days, the United States is tequilas best customer. In 2024, almost 32.2 million 9-liter cases were sold, making it the best year ever for the spirit, according to Statista.
How to celebrate National Tequila Day
After that lengthy history lesson, you probably worked up a thirst and want to help the 2025 statistics. Below are a few deals to be had for National Tequila Day:
Chili’s: Restaurant chain Chilis is here to help. It is offering $5 Tequila Trifectas. This cocktail contains three kinds of tequila: El Jimador Blanco, 1800 Reposado, and Jose Cuervo Gold.
Chuy’s: Your local Chuy’s features Grande ‘Rita specials and $5 tequila shots.
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant: The chain boasts $5 Don Julio Blanco shots and $7 Cadillac Margaritas made with Don JulioReposado. You can even get a $19.42 Don Julio1942 Margaritas that comes with a free Don Julio hat while supplies last.
Hooters: Participating Hooters locations like the one in Brunswick, New Jersey, have $5 margaritas.
Red Robin: If you are looking for something more family friendly, Red Robin always offers $4 margaritas during Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
However you choose to celebrate, cheers!
Tesla is speeding toward a head-on collision with the realities of the auto industry. Amid protests over CEO Elon Musks involvement with President Donald Trumps administration, not to mention Teslas stagnant model line and obsolete technology, the companys revenue for the first quarter of 2025 slid 9% year over year to $19.34 billion while global deliveries shrank 13%. The second quarter was equally dire: Tesla delivered just 384,122 cars, down 13% year over year, and took in $22.5 billion in revenue, 12% lower than the same period last year. Tesla sales have now been eclipsed by Chinas BYD for three consecutive quarters.
But Musk wants Tesla fanboys not to worry. Instead of focusing on the companys declining sales figures, Musk spent most of his opening remarks on his recent earnings call talking about the enormous potential of the companys Robotaxi service and Optimus humanoid robots to make Teslaand its investorsvery, very rich.
Those promises are still rather hollow. Teslas Robotaxi service, which arrived in Austin in June, is still an invite-only test limited to a small geofenced area. Competitor Waymo has more than 100 fully autonomous vehicles operating on the Uber platform in that city, covering a 90-square-mile area. Tesla covers a fraction of that in a zone shaped like a penis because Musk is a comedy genius. (“It’s going to get bigger and longer,” he told investors on his recent earnings call.) Its also full of dangerous glitches that reveal the limitations of Musks self-driving solution, which currently relies heavily on tele-operators to avoid fatal accidents.
Weeks after the Tesla service launched, the city of Austin says the test remains limited to 10 to 20 Model Y cars, which look nothing like the actual Robotaxi design Musk originally presented to investors. Meanwhile, Google’s Waymo and Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous cab services continue to expand across the planet, with thousands of cars already on the streets thanks to designs that combine AI brains with multiple optical, radar, and laser sensors.
The other promisethe really big oneis Optimus, the humanoid robot that Musk has said could one day transform his company into a $25 trillion market-cap, world-dominating empire. In Musks vision, legions of 5-foot-8 electric androids running Teslas vehicle-grade AI will ferry battery cells, haul parts carts, and stack sheet-metal blanks across the companys gigafactories, taking on the dull, injury-prone chores no human wants.
These bots, he has said, will be working on Tesla assembly lines by the end of 2025. Next year, theyll roam third-party warehouses and logistics hubs across North America. Within five years, Musk promises, Tesla will be making 1 million units per year. Within a decade, there could be 100 million of them in the wild as companies worldwide deploy them for stockroom restocking, parcel delivery, elder-care assistance, and other services. Conveniently, their sales would buoy Teslas share price just as its core EV lineup shows its vulnerabilities.
Optimus has the potential to be north of $10 trillion in revenue, like its really bananas, Musk told investors in April. “It will be the biggest product ever,” he reiterated on the July 22 earnings call.
Except, just like with Robotaxi, it doesnt look like thats working out as promised. At this point, it’s extremely hard to believe that Optimus will materialize in any meaningful way within the timeframe Musk anticipates. Its even harder to believe that the program can get off the ground quickly enough to compete with companies that appear to be further ahead in developing and deploying humanoid robotsespecially in China, where competitors have the advantage of fully dominating the supply chain to manufacture bots at scale.
[Image: Tesla]
Market analysts predict the entire humanoid robot market could reach $13 billion to $38 billion between 2030 and 2035 (making Musk’s claims of $10 trillion in annual revenue mathematically impossible, at least for the next decade). Meanwhile, the industry is still in its Macintosh era, according to Jeff Cardenas, CEO of Apptronik, which makes the Apollo 1 humanoid robot.
This is like the early 1980s for personal computers, Cardenas told me recently. We’re in the early days. That means theres a chance for Tesla to catch up. But it also means theres a Mars-size gap between Musks $25 trillion robot revolution and the hard work of actually engineering it.
ROBOT DREAMS MEET HARD REALITY
Here is the Optimus reality today: Production reportedly froze in mid-June when the bots overheating joints, limp wrists, and batteries that croaked before lunchtime forced a complete procurement pause. By then, only about 1,000 bots had rolled off the Fremont, California, pilot line, costing around $60,000 apiece to make. According to videos of the bots working, they were moving at less than half the speed of the humans they are meant to replace.
Optimuss problems have prompted a redesign to improve the robots performance. Tesla, according to reports, is evaluating new providers of all its key failing components, a process that will further delay an already delayed schedule. According to AInvest, two soures in the Optimus supply chain claim that “Tesla had procured enough parts to produce 1,200 Optimus units and had manufactured close to 1,000. Though Musk had claimed the company would produce 5,000 units in 2025, according to these sources, With the suspension of parts procurement, this target is now largely unattainable. (The Information confirmed the report.)
On his Q2 earnings call, Musk said that Tesla is now working on an Optimus 3 prototype. We are gonna retool a bunch of things, so its gonna probably be prototypes of Optimus 3 [at the] end of this year and then scale production next year, he said.
The rosary of failures may explain why Optimus’s program chief, Milan Kovac, bolted in June. Kovac left Tesla abruptly, citing family reasons (“I want to make it clear that this is the only reason,” he insisted on social media). The project is now in the hands of Tesla’s Autopilot boss, Ashok Elluswamy.
Some old-design Optimus robots are currently in Tesla factories doing limited jobs. The company has shown the robots performing specific tasks, like folding a T-shirt and moving batteries at glacial speeds. Musk also recently reposted a video of an Optimus serving popcorn at the new Tesla Diner in Hollywood, though the clip is speeded up, giving the impression that the robot functions at a normal pace.
The Jetsons-esque diner, which houses a Supercharger station, is a smokescreen, detonated the day before the company’s Q2 results and meant to distract from yet another empty promise: Musk hasnt yet delivered batteries that load as fast as gas pumps, so hes now inviting drivers to fill up on pancakes and burgers while waiting for their cars to charge. The popcorn-serving Optimus, meanwhile, is a prop used by the company to distract fans and investors.
A MAGNET-SIZE PROBLEM
Optimuss problems run deep, starting with the rare-earth magnets it needs to power its motors. Without the magnets, theres no way to make robots that can move with the speed and precision of real humans. While Tesla hasnt disclosed the number of magnets the Optimus requires, analyst Luke Lango says it may use up to 8 pounds of magnets. (A typical humanoid robot needs more than 40 servo motors, and each of those requires up to 3.5 ounces of magnets.)
Back in March, Musk blamed Optimuss manufacturing problems on the lack of rare-earth magnets. Beijing had canceled exports when Musk’s former best buddy declared a trade war against China. In June, Chinas Ministry of Commerce resumed issuing permits for rare-earth magnet exports, putting them on a short leash while cracking down on smuggling. But this is a problem that is not going to be solved anytime soon, if ever. As long as geopolitical tensions exist, no Western company can fully rely on Chinese magnets.
[Image: Tesla]
The U.S. government is trying to stop Chinese dominance by investing in MP Materials, an American company that just built a small magnet supply chain thats still in its embryonic state. To make the millions of magnets that Musk needs for Optimus to succeed at scale, Tesla would have to put itself at the front of the line, ahead of everyone from carmakers to gadget peddlers, including Apple (which itself bought into the MP Materials pipe dream this month). Such a supply chain will be very hard to build and could disintegrate at any time.
DESIGNED TO FAIL?
Even ifand that is a Starship-size ifTesla manages to secure a steady supply chain to scale up production to the levels that Musk needs, Optimus’s design may be doomed from the start.
Tesla is chasing the hardest form factor in robotics, humanoids, without lidar, which means its robots will encounter the same issues that plague the company’s Full Self-Driving mode and Robotaxi. While Musk claims that lidar is for losers, the exclusive use of regular cameras has proven insufficient to understand the world around cars, leading to accidents. (From 2019 to 2023, Tesla’s Autopilot was involved in 736 crashes, including 17 fatal ones. And thats without counting the near-misses and car bumper accidents.) It will be the same with robots, which is why many of Tesla’s rivals, including startups like Unitree and AgiBot, are leaning on proven sensor stacks.
And even then, the humanoid form factor may not be right in some settings. Chris Walti, Tesla’s first Optimus lead, who left in 2022 to found the non-humanoid robotics startup Mytra, recently argued that human-shaped robots are “the wrong option for factory work” because the human form “evolved to escape wolves and bears, rather than perform repetitive industrial tasks, making it a suboptimal system.
A Tesla Optimus robot scoops popcorn and gestures at customers during the opening of the Tesla Diner in Hollywood on July 21, 2025. [Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images]
The reality today is that specialized, purpose-built automation consistently outperforms general-purpose humanoid robots in cost, reliability, and efficiency for industrial tasks. That makes Tesla’s approach both an expensive engineering exercise and one that may lack a viable business strategy. Unless Optimus mutates into something tougher, easier to make, and a lot cheaper (Unitrees model has a $16,000 price tag), its destined to remain a showroom tease for a long time.
Apptroniks Cardenas is still bullish on humanoids, which he argues can one day be deployed to perform a multitude of tasks. (Most bots today are created for single purposes.) “My view is that the key thing for robotics to scale is versatility, he says, noting his belief that we will someday see humanoids everywhere in the world, both legged and wheeled. Investors seem to agree. Financing for the sector has been growing wildly, especially in China, where the humanoid robot industry is most advanced. There, total funding reached $4.4 billion as of July 2025, doubling the previous years high-water mark, according to data from ITjuzi, which tracks Chinas venture-capital market.
On July 21, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com unveiled investments in three Chinese robotics startups: Engine AI, LimX Dynamics, and Spirit AI. Meanwhile, Hangzhou-based Unitree reached unicorn status in June with a new funding round that valued it at more than $1.3 billion. Investors included Alibaba Group Holding and affiliate Ant Group; Tencent Holdings; China Mobile; carmaker Geely; and Jinqiu Capital, an investment firm founded by former ByteDance employees.
Many of these Chinese companies are already lining up customers. Hong Kong-listed UBTech secured a $12.6 million purchase from state-owned car exporter MiEE (Shanghai) Automotive Technology, by far the largest deal in the humanoid industry. Unitree and AgiBot also struck deals with telecoms operator China Mobile, worth $6.4 million and $10.9 million, respectively. Unitree founder and CEO Wang Xingxing said the company’s annual revenue had surpassed $139.4 million.
These deals are far from the trillions that Musk covets, but they are a clear signal that his company is behind. Three months ago, Musk promised an army of Optimus robots marching through Tesla factories by the end of the year. Looking at the current state of the project, his 100-million robot party is turning into the Fyre Festival of robotics.
