The Robotaxi Reality Gap

Tesla’s equity performance is facing a sobering reality check as the gap between autonomous promises and execution widens. The stock ended the week at $361.83, representing a nearly 20% slide over the last six months CleanTechnica. While Elon Musk predicted in July 2025 that Tesla robotaxis would cover half the U.S. population by year-end, the current service remains limited to a small area in Austin, Texas, still utilizing human safety drivers to monitor Full Self-Driving (FSD) CleanTechnica.

Compounding this pressure is the rapid commercial acceleration of Alphabet’s Waymo, which now facilitates 500,000 paid trips per week TechCrunch. Waymo’s ridership has grown tenfold since May 2024, expanding into seven Sun Belt cities in just the past year, including Houston and Orlando TechCrunch. As competitors scale, investors are increasingly concerned that Tesla’s sales slump is overriding its autonomous narrative, with vehicle sales continuing to shrink even as the broader EV market grows CleanTechnica.

Musk’s $97 Billion OpenAI Play

Newly unredacted court documents from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI have revealed a massive $97.4 billion unsolicited bid for the AI firm's intellectual property, launched on February 10, 2025 Let's Data Science. The filings include February 2025 text messages where Musk asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to join the bid Let's Data Science. Zuckerberg reportedly offered operational support and instructed his teams to address doxxing issues related to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Let's Data Science.

This legal battle is moving toward a critical phase, with jury selection scheduled to begin on April 27 in Oakland, California Let's Data Science. The outcome could have significant implications for Musk’s broader AI strategy, including the development of Tesla’s xAI integrations and the future of the FSD neural network. The documents highlight Musk's aggressive attempt to consolidate AI resources under his control as he battles Sam Altman over the company's original non-profit mission Let's Data Science.

The Vision-Only Architect: Ashok Elluswamy

As Tesla navigates these commercial hurdles, the technical roadmap remains firmly in the hands of Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI. Elluswamy was the first engineer hired for the Autopilot team in 2014 after responding to a post by Musk on X Not a Tesla App. He has been the primary advocate for "Tesla Vision," a controversial move to remove radar and rely solely on camera inputs for general autonomy Not a Tesla App.

Under Elluswamy’s leadership, Tesla transitioned to the end-to-end neural networks found in FSD V12. This approach argues that because humans drive using vision and biological neural networks, vehicles should do the same Not a Tesla App. However, the industry remains divided. While Tesla bets on pure vision, competitors like Waymo and academic teams like the WVU RoboRacer group continue to rely on LiDAR to measure the time it takes for light to reflect off objects for precise mapping WDTV.

Market Watch

Tesla (TSLA) closed Friday, March 27, 2026, at $361.83, down 2.76% for the session. Markets are currently closed for the weekend. The stock has faced a difficult month, shedding more than 10% of its value in the last 30 days CleanTechnica. Despite the recent downturn, TSLA remains up 37% on a year-over-year basis CleanTechnica. Analyst Gunjan Banerji noted a broad decrease in activity from retail investors, which has historically been a primary driver of Tesla's valuation premiums CNBC.