Elon Musk now spends roughly half of Tesla's earnings-call time on artificial intelligence, robotaxis and humanoids — according to an analysis by research firm Hudson Labs that TechCrunch wrote about on August 4, 2026. Back in 2022, those topics took up 15–20 percent of the conversation. It is a sign of how sharply the carmaker's narrative has shifted toward AI and robotics.
Key takeaways
- Musk spends about 50 percent of earnings-call time on AI, robotaxis and FSD.
- In 2022, those topics took up 15–20 percent of the conversation.
- Automotive has fallen to 20–30 percent of the discussion on recent calls.
- The Optimus humanoid grew from about 2 percent of the conversation to nearly a third on the Q3 2025 call.
- Cars still account for about 70 percent of Tesla's revenue.
From cars to autonomy
The Hudson Labs analysis shows a clear trend: the share of automotive in Elon Musk's remarks on Tesla's earnings calls is steadily shrinking. On recent investor meetings, cars took up just 20–30 percent of the discussion, even though they generate most of the company's money. The conversation has shifted to full self-driving software (FSD), the robotaxi service and AI-based projects. It is an inversion: a company whose product is cars talks about them less and less.
| Topic | Earlier | Recent calls |
|---|---|---|
| AI, robotaxis, FSD | 15–20% | ~50% |
| Automotive (cars) | dominant | 20–30% |
| Optimus humanoid | ~2% | ~⅓ (Q3 2025) |
Optimus rises in the narrative
The fastest-growing topic is the Tesla Optimus humanoid. When the robot debuted in 2021, it took up about 2 percent of earnings-call conversation. On the Q3 2025 meeting, it drew nearly a third of the attention.
That shows Musk is positioning Optimus not as a side project but as a potentially central product of the company's future. The shift in emphasis is all the more striking because it comes at the expense of time spent on the core automotive business.
What this says about Tesla
The gap between what Tesla says and what it lives on is large today. Last quarter the company delivered about 500,000 cars, and vehicle sales account for roughly 70 percent of revenue.
Even so, AI and robotics dominate the earnings calls. For Musk it is a coherent strategy: he tells investors that Tesla's future value lies in autonomy and humanoids, not in vehicle production. He has framed it this way many times.
If somebody doesn't believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company.
Elon Musk, Tesla Q1 2024 earnings call.
Why it matters
The structure of an earnings call is not just style — it signals how management wants the company to be valued. Shifting attention from cars to AI and humanoids means Tesla is increasingly anchoring its investor narrative on promises that revenue does not yet confirm. For shareholders that is heightened risk: they are held to a vision of autonomy and robotics, while the real business still rests on car sales. The divergence between words and results is a measure of how much the market is buying the future instead of the present.
What's next
- Coming earnings calls will show whether Optimus keeps gaining narrative share at the expense of automotive.
- A real test will be the point at which Tesla reports concrete revenue from robotaxis or Optimus — today these are mostly announcements.
- The gap between 70 percent car revenue and AI dominance in messaging is a risk that can close only through deployments or a correction of the narrative.
Sources
- TechCrunch — Elon Musk spends half his time talking robots and AI on Tesla earnings calls
- Hudson Labs — Hudson Labs research
