Investor's Corner
Tesla is most trusted brand in consumers poll for self-driving cars
A recent consumers poll conducted by Autolist revealed that Tesla holds the highest trust rating among companies currently working on self-driving technologies.
According to the results of the survey, 32% of respondents stated that they trust Tesla the most in bringing a self-driving car to the market. In comparison, Toyota, the most trusted legacy brand in the Autolist poll, was listed by 15% of the survey’s respondents. GM, which is actively developing full self-driving tech with Cruise Automation, is ranked third in the poll, with 9% of respondents stating that they trust the American legacy brand the most.
Uber, a company currently embroiled in controversy after one of its self-driving test vehicles killed a pedestrian last month, was listed by 6% of Autolist’s respondents as their most trusted brand for autonomous cars. German legacy automaker Volkswagen and ride-sharing service Lyft each received 2% of the respondents’ votes.
The results of Autolist‘s consumers trust poll for self-driving cars. [Credit: Autolist]
Waymo was perceived by the publication’s respondents as the least trusted brand to bring a self-driving car to market. According to Autolist, part of the reason behind Waymo’s less than 1% trust rating in the poll might be because few respondents seemed to be aware that the company is a subsidiary of Google. Thus, while the company’s technology is one of the best in the industry, it appears to be suffering from weak brand recognition.
Twenty-seven percent of the poll’s respondents stated that they do not trust any carmaker’s self-driving initiatives, while 6% listed “Other” in the survey.
Tesla’s top rank in the consumers trust poll is quite noteworthy, considering that Autolist conducted the survey following the deadly Model X crash near Mountain View, CA last month. Immediately after the accident, speculations among Tesla’s critics and TSLA bears suggested that the collision would weigh down the company’s image and dent consumer enthusiasm about the company’s self-driving initiatives. If the survey’s results are any indication, however, it appears like the Elon Musk-led company’s self-driving efforts still command a high trust rating among consumers.
The recent poll stands in line with Loup Ventures managing partner Gene Munster, who previously stated that Tesla stands as one of the leaders in the self-driving technology race, as noted by Benzinga. The results of the recent survey, however, is in stark contrast to the findings of research agency Navigant, which placed Tesla dead last in its rankings of companies engaged in the development of autonomous driving technology.
Back in January, Navigant placed the Elon Musk-led company in 19th place, directly behind Apple, which does not have a confirmed autonomous driving program as of date. The top two companies in Navigant’s research were GM and Waymo, both of which have fully-functioning self-driving cars testing on American roads today.
If a recent update to Model 3 owners is any indication, however, Tesla might be working on increasing its efforts in the development of its self-driving suite. As reported by owners of the electric car, v8.1 (2018.14.1) included a feature that would allow Tesla to gather data from its fleet’s external Autopilot cameras. According to the company’s release notes, short video clips from the cars’ Autopilot cameras would be utilized to “learn how to recognize things like lane lines, street signs, and traffic light positions.”
Elon Musk
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
Tesla and SpaceX may be closer to merging than Wall Street or either company is admitting.
Elon Musk has reportedly discussed merging Tesla and SpaceX with people close to him, according to CNBC, which cited sources familiar with the conversation. Tesla employees have long expected such a transaction and the topic is openly discussed internally, according to internal sources. With SpaceX is days away from kicking off its Wall Street roadshow for what could be the largest IPO in market history, this would be the first time the company will have public market currency to execute a stock-for-stock deal with Tesla.
The financial logic for a merger would make sense. A combined SpaceX and Tesla would create a conglomerate spanning rockets, satellites, electric vehicles, AI infrastructure, and energy storage valued at roughly $3.35 trillion to $3.6 trillion based on SpaceX’s IPO target range and Tesla’s current market capitalization. The two companies are already more intertwined than most people realize. SpaceX bought $697 million worth of Tesla Megapack systems for xAI data centers and $131 million worth of Cybertrucks. Tesla invested $2 billion in xAI, which subsequently merged with SpaceX. Past transactions also include Tesla selling solar equipment and parts to SpaceX, and SpaceX helping with Cybertruck materials.
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Musk himself signaled where this was heading in November 2025 when he posted on X, “My companies are, surprisingly in some ways, trending towards convergence.” Tesla and SpaceX announced a joint semiconductor fabrication facility in Austin called Terafab on the Gigafactory Texas campus, covering two advanced chip factories, with one serving Tesla’s AI needs for vehicles and Optimus robots, the other targeting space-based data centers under SpaceX’s infrastructure vision.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives places the probability of a merger at 80% to 90% with a target completion in the first half of 2027. The mechanics of a deal became possible the moment SpaceX filed its S-1. Legal experts said a merger likely would not spark antitrust issues but would raise concerns among shareholders in each company, with questions around which company would be the parent, how a stock swap would take place, and who determines the appropriate price. Musk holds about 20% of Tesla’s equity but controls 85.1% of SpaceX’s voting power through a super-voting share class, meaning he would largely be negotiating the terms with himself.
Not everyone is convinced the timing is imminent. Traders on Kalshi place only 33% odds that a merger will happen before May 2027. The more immediate concern for Tesla shareholders is whether the SpaceX IPO pulls capital and Musk’s attention away from Tesla before any merger consolidates the upside for both.
What is clear is that the structural groundwork is already being laid. The Terafab announcement, the xAI merger, the shared supply chain, the cross-company balance sheet transactions, and now the IPO all point in the same direction. Whether the merger follows in 2027 or later, the two companies are already operating more like divisions of a single entity than independent competitors.
Elon Musk
SpaceX just filed for the IPO everyone was waiting for
SpaceX filed its public S-1, revealing $18.7 billion in revenue and billions in losses.
SpaceX publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2026, making its financial details available to the public for the first time ahead of what could be the largest IPO in history.
An S-1 is the formal document a company must submit to the SEC before going public. It includes audited financials, risk factors, business descriptions, and how the company plans to use the money it raises. Companies are required to file one before selling shares to the public, and it must be published at least 15 days before the investor roadshow begins. SpaceX had already submitted a confidential draft to the SEC in April, which allowed regulators to review the filing privately before it went public.
The S-1 reveals that SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in consolidated revenue in 2025, driven largely by its Starlink satellite internet division, which posted $11.4 billion in revenue, growing nearly 50% year over year. Despite that growth, the company lost about $4.9 billion in 2025 and has burned through more than $37 billion since its founding.
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A significant portion of those losses trace back to xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, which was recently merged into SpaceX. SpaceX directed roughly 60% of its capital spending in 2025 to its AI division, totaling around $20 billion, yet that division lost billions and grew revenue by only about 22%.
SpaceX plans to list its Class A common stock on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America leading the offering. The dual-class share structure means going public will not meaningfully reduce Musk’s control, as Class B shares he holds carry 10 votes per share compared to one vote for public Class A shares.
The company is targeting a raise of around $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest IPO ever. The investor roadshow is reportedly planned for June 5.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
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India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
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