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Tesla provides details on the impact of Trump’s auto tariff

With 85% of its U.S. lineup USMCA-compliant and localized supply chains, Elon Musk says Tesla is “least affected” by Trump’s auto tariffs.

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(Credit: Tesla)

During Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q1 2025 earnings call, Elon Musk the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) provided details about President Trump’s auto tariffs and how they impact the company.

Elon Musk and other Tesla executives acknowledged that the company would face a few challenges resulting from President Trump’s auto tariffs. However, they also emphasized that Tesla is prepared for any tariff-caused headwinds.

Supply chain disruption is one of the challenges American automakers face due to Trump’s auto tariffs. With regards to supply chain, Musk stated that Tesla has been working to localize its supply chain for years–even prior to Trump’s second presidency. As a result, Tesla is able to mitigate some supply chain risks.

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“And so we are, I think, the least affected car company with respect to tariffs, at least in most respects. I mean, it remains to be seen. Now, tariffs are still tough on a company when margins are still low, but we do have localized supply chains in North America, Europe, and China. So that puts us in a stronger position than any of our competitors,” Elon Musk stated.

Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja offered more details about the company’s region-based approach to its supply chain, specifically in North America. Taneja noted that the Tesla Model Y has been rated the most American-made model by Car.com three years in a row, showing that Tesla has already started localizing its supply chains.

“This is in part is [from] all the work which the team has been doing over the years. And to the extent that today, you know, if you look at our vehicle lineup in [the] US, we’re about approximately on a weighted average basis, 85% USMCA compliant,” said Taneja, referring to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

However, Taneja also noted that Trump’s auto tariffs coming in May will impact Tesla because it will affect trade with Canada and Mexico. Next month, Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on auto parts imported into the United States. The Tesla CFO shared that Canada and Mexico are part of the company’s regionalization strategy. As a result, the Trump auto tariffs in May will impact Tesla’s profitability.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that Tesla is best positioned to take on Trump’s tariffs on auto parts. The analyst listed Tesla’s localization strategy and Musk’s work with President Trump as reasons the electric vehicle maker may have an edge over the Detroit Big Three when facing auto tariffs.

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Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Elon Musk

The Boring Company’s Vegas Loop moves 82k riders during CONEXPO

The Loop’s feat was highlighted by The Boring Company in a post on its official account on social media platform X.

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Credit: The Boring Company/X

The Boring Company said its Vegas Loop system transported roughly 82,000 passengers during the recent CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show in Las Vegas. The event was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) from March 3-7, 2026. 

The Loop’s feat was highlighted by The Boring Company in a post on its official account on social media platform X.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026

CONEXPO-CON/AGG is one of the largest construction trade shows in North America. This year’s event was quite impressive, attracting more than 140,000 construction professionals from 128 countries across the world.

Considering the number of this year’s attendees, the LVCC Loop seemed to have proven itself to be a very useful transportation solution. A video posted by The Boring Company on its official X account featured attendees expressing their enthusiasm for the underground transport system, with some stating that they would like to see similar tunnels across Las Vegas. 

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The LVCC Loop is only part of the greater Vegas Loop network, which is actively under construction.

New Vegas Loop extensions

One of the newest additions is a station at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort on the Strip. The station is located on level V-1 of the resort’s south valet area, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. From the Fontainebleau, passengers can travel free of charge to stations serving the Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as to Loop stations at Encore and Westgate.

The system is also expanding beyond the Strip corridor. In December, The Boring Company began offering Vegas Loop rides to and from Harry Reid International Airport. These trips include a limited above-ground segment after receiving approval from the Nevada Transportation Authority to allow surface street travel tied to Loop operations.

The Boring Company President Steve Davis previously told the Review-Journal that the University Center Loop segment, which is currently under construction, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2026. The extension would allow Loop vehicles to travel beneath Paradise Road between the convention center and the airport, with a planned station just north of Tropicana Avenue.

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Elon Musk’s xAI plans $659M expansion at Memphis supercomputer site

The new building is planned for a 79-acre parcel located at 5414 Tulane Road, next to xAI’s Colossus 2 data center site.

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Credit: xAI

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has filed a permit to construct a new building at its growing data center complex outside Memphis, Tennessee. 

As per a report from Data Center Dynamics, xAI plans to spend about $659 million on a new facility adjacent to its Colossus 2 data center. Permit documents submitted to the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development show the proposed structure would be a four-story building totaling about 312,000 square feet.

The new building is planned for a 79-acre parcel located at 5414 Tulane Road, next to xAI’s Colossus 2 data center site. Permit filings indicate the structure would reach roughly 75 feet high, though the specific function of the building has not been disclosed.

The filing was first reported by the Memphis Business Journal.

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xAI uses its Memphis data centers to power Grok, the company’s flagship large language model. The company entered the Memphis area in 2024, launching its Colossus supercomputer in a repurposed Electrolux factory located in the Boxtown district.

The company later acquired land for the Colossus 2 data center in March last year. That facility came online in January.

A third data center is also planned for the cluster across the Tennessee–Mississippi border. Musk has stated that the broader campus could eventually provide access to about 2 gigawatts of compute power.

The Memphis cluster is also tied to new power infrastructure commitments announced by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. During a White House event with United States President Donald Trump, Shotwell stated that xAI would develop 1.2 gigawatts of power for its supercomputer facility as part of the administration’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.”

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“As you know, xAI builds huge supercomputers and data centers and we build them fast. Currently, we’re building one on the Tennessee-Mississippi state line… xAI will therefore commit to develop 1.2 GW of power as our supercomputer’s primary power source. That will be for every additional data center as well… 

“The installation will provide enough backup power to power the city of Memphis, and more than sufficient energy to power the town of Southaven, Mississippi where the data center resides. We will build new substations and invest in electrical infrastructure to provide stability to the area’s grid,” Shotwell said.

Shotwell also stated that xAI plans to support the region’s water supply through new infrastructure tied to the project. “We will build state-of-the-art water recycling plants that will protect approximately 4.7 billion gallons of water from the Memphis aquifer each year. And we will employ thousands of American workers from around the city of Memphis on both sides of the TN-MS border,” she said.

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Elon Musk: Tesla could be first to build AGI in humanoid form

Musk’s statement was shared in a post on social media platform X.  

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Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk predicted that Tesla could become one of the developers of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in humanoid form. Musk’s statement was shared in a post on social media platform X.  

In his post, Musk stated that “Tesla will be one of the companies to make AGI and probably the first to make it in humanoid/atom-shaping form.”

The comment comes as Tesla expands development of its Optimus humanoid robot.

During Tesla’s Q4 earnings report, Elon Musk stated that production of the Model S and Model X would be phased out at its Fremont, California, facility. The vehicles’ production line will then be converted to a pilot line for Optimus. Tesla is looking to produce 1 million units of the humanoid robots annually to start.

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Musk has previously stated that Optimus could eventually function as a von Neumann probe. The concept, proposed by mathematician John von Neumann, describes a machine capable of replicating itself using planetary resources and sending those replicas to other worlds.

Optimus would likely only be able to achieve this potential if it manages to achieve Artificial General Intelligence.

Other leaders in the AI sector have also expressed strong expectations about AGI’s potential. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, recently spoke about the technology at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, as noted in a Benzinga report.

“It’s going to be something like ten times the impact of the Industrial Revolution, but happening at ten times the speed,” Hassabis said.

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Elon Musk’s recent comments about Tesla producing a product with AGI could hint at further collaboration among his companies. So far, Tesla is actively pursuing autonomous driving, but it is xAI that is pursuing AGI with its Grok program.

Considering that Elon Musk mentioned a Tesla humanoid product with AGI, it appears that an Optimus robot running xAI’s AI models could become a reality.

xAI had recently merged with SpaceX, though reports suggest that Elon Musk is also considering an even bigger merger for all his companies, including Tesla.

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