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Former Tesla short seller warns his TSLAQ peers: ‘I wouldn’t do that’
Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) may have seemingly leveled out in recent days, but a longtime critic of CEO Elon Musk still thinks that it’s too risky to bet against the electric car maker. In recent comments, noted Tesla bear Carson Block admitted that he is no longer shorting TSLA, simply because it is far too dangerous to go against Musk and his EV company.
Block, the founder of Muddy Waters Capital LLC, is a noted critic of Elon Musk. However, in an interview with Bloomberg’s Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal on the Odd Lots podcast on Wednesday, the short seller stated that he no longer has any bearish wagers against Tesla.
“I’m not short the stock, thank God. We used to joke that Tesla, when it files for bankruptcy, will probably have a $30 billion market cap. Short it at your own risk. I wouldn’t do that,” Block said, though he noted that he still believes that Tesla’s business is unsustainable.
Tesla has experienced a rise of over 300% since mid March. Amidst this massive bull run, and as the company exceeded expectations by delivering over 90,000 vehicles in the second quarter, TSLA stock has gained more supporters, especially among retail investors. As of Wednesday, Tesla stock was trading at 182 times its 12 month earnings, versus 10 times for rival American automaker General Motors.
During his segment, Block stated that at one point, he had a TSLA position that involved buying the electric car maker’s convertible bonds and using the coupon payments to fund long dated puts on the stock. Eventually, the short seller admitted that he sold the debt and let the puts expire. Block then issued a warning to fellow Tesla bears, stating that it’s very risky to bet against Elon Musk.
“It’s one thing to bet on Elon Musk, but it’s another thing to bet against him. The guy specializes in pulling rabbits out of the hat,” he said.
While Block was cautious enough to warn short sellers who would like to bet against Tesla, references to Elon Musk “pulling rabbits out of the hat” suggest that the Muddy Waters Capital founder still maintains a rather limited view of the company’s operations and expansion. It is easy to note that Tesla vehicle registrations fell in California during Q2, for example, but one should not neglect the effects of the pandemic, or the company’s numbers compared to other automakers, for that matter.
Tesla is also expanding its vehicle production and deliveries outside the United States, and this was no more evident than in Q2’s results. During the quarter, the company’s deliveries in the US were adversely affected by the pandemic, but sales of the Model 3 picked up in China, propelled by a ramp in Gigafactory Shanghai. And if Gigafactory Berlin goes live with Model Y production next year as planned, Tesla’s sales will be bolstered even more. Very few Tesla critics also acknowledge the potential of Tesla Energy, which is finally starting to ramp its operations.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of TSLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.
News
Tesla lands approval for Robotaxi operation in third U.S. state
On Tuesday, Tesla officially received regulatory approval from the State of Arizona, making it the third state for the company to receive approval in.
Tesla has officially landed approval to operate its Robotaxi ride-hailing service in its third U.S. state, as it has landed a regulatory green light from the State of Arizona’s Department of Transportation.
Tesla has been working to expand to new U.S. states after launching in Texas and California earlier this year. Recently, it said it was hoping to land in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, expanding to five new cities in those three states.
On Tuesday, Tesla officially received regulatory approval from the State of Arizona, making it the third state for the company to receive approval in:
BREAKING: Tesla has officially received approval from the Arizona Department of Transportation to launch its Robotaxi service on public roads in the state!
I just confirmed directly with the Arizona DOT that @Tesla applied for a Transportation Network Company permit on Nov 13th.… pic.twitter.com/iKbwfGfiju
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 18, 2025
Tesla has also been working on approvals in Nevada and Florida, and it has also had Robotaxi test mules spotted in Pennsylvania.
The interesting thing about the Arizona approval is the fact that Tesla has not received an approval for any specific city; it appears that it can operate statewide. However, early on, Tesla will likely confine its operation to just one or two cities to keep things safe and controlled.
Over the past few months, Robotaxi mules have been spotted in portions of Phoenix and surrounding cities, such as Scottsdale, as the company has been attempting to cross off all the regulatory Ts that it is confronted with as it attempts to expand the ride-hailing service.
It appears the company will be operating it similarly to how it does in Texas, which differs from its California program. In Austin, there is no Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat, unless the route requires freeway travel. In California, there is always a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. However, this is unconfirmed.
Earlier today, Tesla enabled its Robotaxi app to be utilized for ride-hailing for anyone using the iOS platform.
News
Tesla ride-hailing Safety Monitor dozes off during Bay Area ride
We won’t try to blame the camera person for the incident, because it clearly is not their fault. But it seems somewhat interesting that they did not try to wake the driver up and potentially contact Tesla immediately to alert them of the situation.
A Tesla Robotaxi Safety Monitor appeared to doze off during a ride in the California Bay Area, almost ironically proving the need for autonomous vehicles.
The instance was captured on camera and posted to Reddit in the r/sanfrancisco subreddit by u/ohmichael. They wrote that they have used Tesla’s ride-hailing service in the Bay Area in the past and had pleasant experiences.
However, this one was slightly different. They wrote:
“I took a Tesla Robotaxi in SF just over a week ago. I have used the service a few times before and it has always been great. I actually felt safer than in a regular rideshare.
This time was different. The safety driver literally fell asleep at least three times during the ride. Each time the car’s pay attention safety alert went off and the beeping is what woke him back up.
I reported it through the app to the Robotaxi support team and told them I had videos, but I never got a response.
I held off on posting anything because I wanted to give Tesla a chance to respond privately. It has been more than a week now and this feels like a serious issue for other riders too.
Has anyone else seen this happen?”
My Tesla Robotaxi “safety” driver fell asleep
byu/ohmichael insanfrancisco
The driver eventually woke up after prompts from the vehicle, but it is pretty alarming to see someone like this while they’re ultimately responsible for what happens with the ride.
We won’t try to blame the camera person for the incident, because it clearly is not their fault. But it seems somewhat interesting that they did not try to wake the driver up and potentially contact Tesla immediately to alert them of the situation.
They should have probably left the vehicle immediately.
Tesla’s ride-hailing service in the Bay Area differs from the one that is currently active in Austin, Texas, due to local regulations. In Austin, there is no Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat unless the route requires the highway.
Tesla plans to remove the Safety Monitors in Austin by the end of the year.
Tesla has officially opened Robotaxi access to everyone and everyone, but there is one catch: you have to have an iPhone.
Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin and its ride-hailing service in the Bay Area were both officially launched to the public today, giving anyone using the iOS platform the ability to simply download the app and utilize it for a ride in either of those locations.
It has been in operation for several months: it launched in Austin in late June and in the Bay Area about a month later. In Austin, there is nobody in the driver’s seat unless the route takes you on the freeway.
In the Bay Area, there is someone in the driver’s seat at all times.
The platform was initially launched to those who were specifically invited to Austin to try it out.
Tesla confirms Robotaxi is heading to five new cities in the U.S.
Slowly, Tesla launched the platform to more people, hoping to expand the number of rides and get more valuable data on its performance in both regions to help local regulatory agencies relax some of the constraints that were placed on it.
Additionally, Tesla had its own in-house restrictions, like the presence of Safety Monitors in the vehicles. However, CEO Elon Musk has maintained that these monitors were present for safety reasons specifically, but revealed the plan was to remove them by the end of the year.
Now, Tesla is opening up Robotaxi to anyone who wants to try it, as many people reported today that they were able to access the app and immediately fetch a ride if they were in the area.
We also confirmed it ourselves, as it was shown that we could grab a ride in the Bay Area if we wanted to:
🚨 Tesla Robotaxi ride-hailing Service in Austin and the Bay Area has opened up for anyone on iOS
Go download the app and, if you’re in the area, hail a ride from Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/1CgzG0xk1J
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 18, 2025
The launch of a more public Robotaxi network that allows anyone to access it seems to be a serious move of confidence by Tesla, as it is no longer confining the service to influencers who are handpicked by the company.
In the coming weeks, we expect Tesla to then rid these vehicles of the Safety Monitors as Musk predicted. If it can come through on that by the end of the year, the six-month period where Tesla went from launching Robotaxi to enabling driverless rides is incredibly impressive.
Tesla lands approval for Robotaxi operation in third U.S. state
Tesla ride-hailing Safety Monitor dozes off during Bay Area ride
