00:00Tesla reported lower third-quarter profits on Wednesday as Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker ramped up spending on artificial intelligence,
00:08robotics, and autonomous transport.
00:11The automotive giant reported third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $787 million, or 22 cents per share, down
00:2143% from the same period last year.
00:24Besides marginally lower car sales, Tesla saw a drop in revenues from regulatory credits, energy generation, and storage.
00:33Revenue was essentially flat at $28 billion, falling slightly short of the company-compiled average analyst forecast of $28.3
00:41billion, but the firm reported higher free cash flow reserves compared to previous periods.
00:47Besides robo-taxis and AI, Tesla's investing heavily in Musk's Optimus humanoid robots, as well as developing TerraFab, a chip
00:55manufacturing project in Austin, Texas, in collaboration with Musk's other company, SpaceX.
01:02Questions about the firm's future loomed large as speculations over a potential merger with the aerospace manufacturer arose.
01:09The two companies have a combined stock market value of about $3.5 trillion, and Musk, who's CEO of both,
01:17said an independent committee was formed to explore the merger.
01:21The world's richest man added that both companies could gain from working together on AI software, chip design, robotics, and
01:28satellite infrastructure, but noted that there was no guarantee of a deal.
01:32That's all.
