Tesla chief executive Elon Musk now spends nearly half of his earnings-call remarks discussing artificial intelligence, Full Self-Driving, robotaxis and robotics, according to an analysis by TechCrunch and financial research company Hudson Labs. The shift has accelerated while Tesla’s automotive business remains its largest source of revenue.
Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles during the second quarter of 2026 and generated about 70% of its $28.24 billion in quarterly revenue from automotive sales. However, Musk devoted less than one-third of his remarks to cars and manufacturing during some recent calls.
AI and Autonomy Take More of Musk’s Attention
Hudson Labs analysed Tesla earnings-call transcripts from S&P Market Intelligence dating back to 2019. Its Co-Analyst research tool assigned a topic to each sentence before measuring how frequently executives discussed different areas of the business.
The analysis found that AI, robotaxis and Full Self-Driving now account for nearly 50% of Musk’s speaking time. In 2022, those subjects generally represented between 15% and 20% of his remarks.
Musk has repeatedly argued that investors should not value Tesla only as an automaker. During the first-quarter 2024 call, he said people who did not believe Tesla could solve autonomous driving should not invest in the company.
Optimus Becomes a Larger Part of Tesla’s Story
Tesla first announced its Optimus humanoid robot project in 2021. Musk spent about 2% or less of his earnings-call remarks discussing the programme during the following year.
Over the past year, Optimus has accounted for at least 10% of his comments on several calls. During Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 call, the robot occupied almost one-third of his speaking time, according to the analysis.
The increased attention has come as Tesla directs more spending towards AI infrastructure, autonomous vehicles and robot production. Its second-quarter shareholder update described AI, robotaxis and Optimus as central parts of the company’s future product plans.
Other Executives Remain More Focused on Cars
Tesla executives including chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja and vice-president of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy have changed their emphasis more gradually. They still spend about 30% of some recent calls discussing vehicle production and sales.
These executives previously devoted close to half of their remarks to the automotive business. Their focus began changing more noticeably in 2024 as Tesla faced stronger competition from established automakers and Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers.
Taneja said during the second-quarter 2026 earnings call that Tesla’s investments would progress unevenly as it pursued long-term opportunities. The company’s automotive operations currently produce most of its revenue, while robotaxis and Optimus have yet to generate comparable financial returns.
The full earnings-call analysis was published by TechCrunch.
Featured image credits: Bret Hartman / TED via Flickr
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