Elon Musk asks "nines of reliability" needed for robotaxi scaling

Tesla reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday despite a rise in vehicle sales, causing its stock to fall in after-hours trading. The company’s earnings were hurt by lower pricing, reduced regulatory-credit revenue, and a sharp increase in capital spending—which more than doubled to $5.8 billion as Tesla pursues major expansion, including a $20 billion chip project in Austin with Musk’s other ventures. During a conference call, Musk defended the heavy outlays and addressed analyst questions about the company’s robotaxi ambitions. Asked how Tesla would measure its progress toward scaling that service, Musk highlighted the need for extremely high reliability, asking rhetorically what level of dependable operation is required for large-scale deployment. Investors have grown wary about the returns from Tesla’s ambitious spending, and the lack of transparency around those investments weighed on the stock.