24/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | APR 24, 2026

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Tesla to increase capex for AI, robotics and chips

LAS VEGAS: Google unveiled new generation tensor processing units (TPUs) for training artificial intelligence and powering digital “agents” that are all the rage in the tech world. Google, along with Amazon, have taken to making their own cutting edge AI chips, taking control of designs and seeking to reduce reliance on coveted Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) that dominate the market. High-performance TPUs were among innovations touted at Google’s annual cloud computing conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “In the era of AI agents, infrastructure needs to evolve to take on the most demanding AI workloads,“ Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a blog post. “This year, we’re bringing the eighth generation of our Tensor Processing Units with a dual chip approach.” One of the new TPUs is optimised for training large language models that power AI and the other is tailored for a reasoning and decision-making process called “inference” used by AI agents. AI agents are digital assistants that can independently tend to computing tasks. The TPUs, created in partnership with semiconductor maker Broadcom, will be available later this year, according to Google Cloud unit leaderThomas Kurian. Nvidia early this year announced production of new Vera and Rubin GPUs for powering AI, shortly before cloud computing giant Amazon unveiled the latest generation of its custom Trainium processors. – AFP Google unveils latest chips for digital agents Microsoft unveils ‘largest-ever’ SYDNEY: Microsoft will invest US$18 billion in Australia over the next three years, upgrading government cyber defence tools and supercomputers used for artificial intelligence, the company said yesterday. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said it was the US-based firm’s “largest ever” investment in Australia. It follows a US$3 billion investment Microsoft announced in 2023 to build a string of data centres across Australia. “Australia has an enormous opportunity to translate AI into real economic growth and societal benefit,“ Nadella said while visiting Australia on a global tour touting Microsoft’s AI wares. The investment would be used to upgrade supercomputers used to churn through massive data sets powering the development of artificial intelligence. Microsoft is also working with the Australian government to bolster its cybersecurity. “We want to make sure all Australians benefit from AI,“ said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “Microsoft’s long-term investment in our national capability will help deliver on that plan – strengthening our cyber defences and creating opportunity for Australian workers and businesses.” – AFP investment in Australia

Cybercab – a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals – this year. The company had in January said production ramp would start in the first half. Musk said on Wednesday that initial production of Cybercab would be slow, but he expected that to gather pace toward the end of this year. Tesla started rolling out its Model Y robotaxis in Dallas and Houston, it said on Saturday, marking further expansion of its nascent service in the United States since its Austin launch last year. Preparations are under way to expand the service to five other cities in Arizona, Florida and Nevada, and Musk said on Wednesday he expects the service in a dozen or so states by the end of this year. That expansion was to take place in the first half of the year, according to plans laid out in January, though the company has previously missed similar timelines. Dutch vehicle authority RDW has notified the European Commission of its plan to seek

European Union-wide approval for the Full Self-Driving software system, the regulator said earlier this month. Tesla delivered fewer vehicles than Wall Street expected in the first quarter, but deliveries were up 6.3% from a year earlier, when protests against Musk’s far-right politics had weighed on demand. Analysts have cut their estimates for annual deliveries, with some expecting a drop this year. “We saw continued growth in demand for our vehicles in markets in APAC and South America, while also seeing a rebound of demand in both EMEA and North America,” Tesla said in a statement. Tesla’s core automotive business has come under pressure as competitors introduce newer models, often at lower price points. The expiration of a US electric-vehicle tax incentive has added to the strain. Tesla is developing an all-new smaller, cheaper electric SUV, with plans to start production in China and potentially expand production to the US and Europe, Reuters has exclusively reported. – Reuters

o Investors sceptical, shares fall despite surprise positive Q1 free cash flow

NEW YORK: Entrepreneur Justin Sun filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing a Trump family-backed cryptocurrency platform of fraud and alleging he was blocked from withdrawing his assets. In a San Francisco federal court filing reviewed by AFP, the China-born crypto billionaire and former Trump ally claims to have purchased US$45 million worth of WLFI, an electronic currency launched by World Liberty Financial in October 2024. To thank him for the investment – at a time when WLFI was generating little initial interest – World Liberty Financial executives appointed him as an adviser and awarded him an additional one billion WLFI tokens, the lawsuit says. AUSTIN: Tesla sharply raised its spending plan to more than US$25 billion (RM99 billion ) for the year as CEO Elon Musk pours money into artificial intelligence, robotics and chips – moves he said were “well justified” to build big future revenue streams. The EV maker’s investors took a more sceptical view, pushing its stock down 2.4% after these remarks on a post-earnings call with analysts on Wednesday. The shares had risen as much as 4% after the bell as Tesla reported positive free cash flow in the first quarter. “We are going to be substantially increasing our investment in the future,” Musk said. “You should expect to see very significant increase in capital expenditures that are I think well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.” “Tesla is not alone in this,” he added, noting big capex plans at top tech companies. Tesla is in the middle of one of the most expensive bets in its history. Musk pivoted the electric vehicle maker’s focus to building AI-powered self-driving cabs and humanoid robots, and much of Tesla’s US$1.45 trillion market cap rests on that vision. The company in January had forecast more than US$20 billion in capital expenses for 2026. Last year, it spent US$9 billion. “We are in a very big capital investment phase, which is going to start now and would last a couple of years,” Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said, adding that the company will record negative free cash flow for the rest of 2026. In the first quarter, Tesla recorded positive free cash flow of US$1.44 billion, compared with estimates for a cash burn of US$1.43 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. First-quarter profit topped Wall

Street targets in a sign that the electric vehicle maker was holding the line on costs in a difficult global environment. Tesla’s capital expenditures in the quarter were about 40% below what analysts on average were expecting. The Austin, Texas-based automaker reported revenue of US$22.39 billion for the three months ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of US$22.6 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Investors have increasingly turned their attention to Musk’s push into self-driving technology and robotics, seeking clearer evidence that the autonomy narrative is shifting from promise to commercial reality. Tesla said it was gearing up to start volume production of its

Tesla electric vehicles charge at stations during the opening of the Tesla Diner and Supercharger in Los Angeles. – AFPPIC

Entrepreneur Justin Sun sues Trump family crypto venture Sales to investors subsequently accelerated, and in March 2025, World Liberty Financial – whose founders included US President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump – announced that it had sold US$550 million worth of the digital currency. Sun also acquired several million dollars’ worth of $TRUMP, a meme coin marketed by Donald Trump just hours before his second-term inauguration in January 2025. when, in March 2025, the US Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with Sun to resolve alleged market manipulation charges filed during Joe Biden’s administration. Initially non-transferable, WLFI became tradable on Sept 1, 2025, and is now publicly listed. Its value has since plummeted from 46 cents per unit to its current price of 8 cents. damages for the harm he has suffered. The 35-year-old crypto billionaire is the founder of the cryptocurrency platform TRON. In November 2024, he garnered worldwide attention by spending US$6.2 million on an art piece featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall and then eating the fruit.

On Wednesday, Eric Trump, the US president’s son and co-founder of World Liberty Financial, said on X: “The only thing more ridiculous than this lawsuit is spending $6 million on a banana taped to a wall.” In mid-April, World Liberty Financial in a post on X accused Sun of “making baseless allegations to cover up his own misconduct.” – AFP

Sun claims that his WLFI assets were unilaterally frozen by World Liberty Financial and that he has been unable to resell any of them to date. According to him, platform executives even threatened to destroy his holdings if he attempted to take legal action. Sun is demanding the unfreezing of his assets as well as compensatory

This earned Sun an invitation to a dinner hosted by Trump in Washington in May 2025 for the 220 largest holders of $TRUMP. Democratic lawmakers claimed that Sun benefitted from his connections with the Trump family