Connect with us

Published

on

The Tesla Cybertruck is unveiled at Tesla’s design studio on Nov. 21, 2019, in Hawthorne, Calif. 

Ringo H.W. Chiu | AP

Tesla has issued two more recalls for its Cybertruck pickups in the U.S., as the automaker continues to face challenges with its newest electric vehicle about six months after beginning deliveries.

The latest recalls — the third and fourth for the Cybertruck — involve physical repairs that would typically require booking an appointment with Tesla service. One is to fix problems with trim pieces, which can loosen and fall off the trunk, and the other is to address faulty motor controllers in the front windshield wipers.

A recall report dated June 19, and posted on the website for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says that if a trim piece “separates from the vehicle while in drive, it could create a road hazard for following motorists and increase their risk of injury or a collision.” Tesla plans to “replace or rework” that trim piece, to ensure “sufficient adhesion,” the report said.

According to a second safety recall report on the NHTSA site, on some vehicles, “the front windshield wiper motor controller may stop functioning due to electrical overstress to the gate driver component.” The report said a “non-functioning windshield wiper may reduce visibility in certain operating conditions, which may increase the risk of a collision.” Tesla plans to replace the motor controller in the Cybertruck windshield wipers for customers.

The electric vehicle maker didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Four years after CEO Elon Musk first unveiled the Cybertruck and two years after production was supposed to begin, the vehicle hit the market — with limited deliveries — in November at a launch event in Austin, Texas.

Musk described it at the time as a “better truck than a truck, while also being a better sports car than a sports car in the same package.” He frequently touts the truck as a vehicle that “looks like the future.”

An earlier Cybertruck recall was issued to repair an accelerator pedal issue. The pedal could come loose and get trapped in the interior trim of the vehicle, causing “unintended acceleration,” a problem seen in a viral TikTok video made by a Cybertruck owner.

The recall disclosures for the windshield wiper issue said that from Nov. 13, 2023, to June 6, 2024, there was a “vehicle population” of 11,688 Cybertrucks. The number suggests an initially slow start for the Cybertruck, Tesla’s first entry in the U.S. pickup market, where it’s going up against the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T.

In its first-quarter shareholder update, Tesla said Cybertruck production capacity exceeded 125,000 per year. At Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month, Musk said the company hit a record of 1,300 Cybertruck shipments in a week.

Beyond the Cybertruck troubles, it’s been a tough first half of the year for Tesla. The stock price is down 25% year to date, and sales have been declining due to an aging lineup, increased competition in China and brand deterioration that a recent survey attributed partly to Musk’s “antics” and “political rants.” The company is undergoing a broad restructuring that’s included cutting headcount by at least 14%.

Tesla is expected to report second-quarter vehicle production and delivery numbers as soon as early July.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Tesla internal data shows company has cut at least 14% of workforce this year

Continue Reading

Technology

Figma CEO says AI superintelligence is not a looming threat to the company

Published

on

By

Figma CEO says AI superintelligence is not a looming threat to the company

Figma CEO Dylan Field on IPO debut: Design is going public today

Figma co-founder and CEO Dylan Field said Thursday that artificial intelligence doesn’t pose a serious threat to the future of the design software company, which is on the verge of debuting on the public markets.

“We’re in this moment where you might, if you’re singularity-pilled, go, ‘Hey, superintelligence is coming and it’ll be able to do things that no human can do,” Field told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I have a harder time believing that we’re going to approach that really quickly right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the picture.”

Figma is slated to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FIG” on Thursday. Last week, the company estimated that it would price shares in the range of $25 to $28, and on Wednesday it priced above that range at $33 a share.

The offering values Figma, which ranked No. 45 on this year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list, at $19.3 billion.

The company was supposed to be acquired by Adobe for $20 billion, but the deal was scrapped in December 2023 after regulators objected.

Read more CNBC tech news

So-called “superintelligence,” a type of artificial intelligence that would be more powerful than the human brain, has recently become a growing focus among technology companies.

Field told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin that the company’s “complex” graphics engine and other aspects of its technology make it difficult to be replaced by superintelligence.

“I think that’s not stuff that you can learn from looking at code and sort of various places on the internet,” Field said. “It’s not part of the pre-training data mix. I believe that doing that at scale — it’s quite difficult.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been especially vocal about the potential for superintelligence, declaring in a Wednesday memo that the technology will serve as a tool for “individual empowerment” over automation and efficiency.

Meta recently created a lab to pursue superintelligence, and Zuckerberg has poured billions of dollars into building a roster of top AI talent.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed reporting to this story.

Continue Reading

Technology

Roblox stock soars 16% after revenue beat, strong user growth

Published

on

By

Roblox stock soars 16% after revenue beat, strong user growth

Thiago Prudêncio | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Roblox stock soared 16% Thursday after the company reported second-quarter revenue that beat expectations amid strong user growth.

The gaming platform saw $1.44 billion in net bookings, up 51% over the year prior. Analysts polled by LSEG expected $1.24 billion in net bookings for the quarter.

User and engagement numbers were also strong for the company, with daily active users at 111.8 million, up 41% year-over-year, and hours engaged at 27.4 billion, up 58% year-over-year.

StreetAccount expected 106 million DAUs.

“Our year on year growth this quarter is a reflection of our strategic investments in infrastructure and performance, discovery, and the virtual economy, which continue to create fertile conditions for creators to thrive as part of a healthy, interconnected ecosystem,” said CEO David Baszucki in a release.

Baszucki added that the company is looking to grab 10% of the global gaming content market.

Read more CNBC tech news

Roblox raised its booking guidance for the third quarter and now expects between $1.59 billion and $1.64 billion. FactSet expected $1.42 billion in third-quarter bookings.

The gaming platform did report a net loss of $279.38 million, a loss of 41 cents per share. Roblox had a net loss of $205.88 million, a loss of 32 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

The platform rolled out new age verification tools two weeks ago, as the broader gaming industry and app stores have faced regulatory pressure to improve safety for young users and limit access to certain types of content.

Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said the age-estimation tools will help keep younger users from accessing “something that should be limited to an older audience — 13 and over.”

Kaufman said having more mature content opportunities will help teens and adults stay on Roblox instead of moving to other platforms.

Continue Reading

Technology

Meta, Microsoft roar higher on strong earnings as AI spending booms

Published

on

By

Meta, Microsoft roar higher on strong earnings as AI spending booms

META CEO Mark Zuckerberg (L) and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Getty Images

Shares of Meta soared 12% and Microsoft popped 5% on Thursday, after the companies reported better-than-expected earnings that beat on top and bottom lines.

Microsoft topped the $4 trillion market cap benchmark with the move, joining Nvidia in the club.

Both Meta and Microsoft have been investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure in recent years, and the companies said they expect to continue to shell out billions in capital expenditures.

Meta said capital expenditures will range between $66 billion and $72 billion for the full year, raising the low end of the company’s previous estimate of between $64 billion and $72 billion. Microsoft sees over $30 billion in fiscal first quarter capital expenditures and assets acquired through finance leases, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $24.23 billion.

Analysts at Citi said the companies’ increased capital expenditures will likely be a boon for chipmakers. Microsoft makes up roughly 8% of Advanced Micro Devices‘ sales, while Meta makes up about 2% of Broadcom’s sales, the analysts said.

“We believe AVGO and AMD will be the primary beneficiaries of Microsoft’s and Meta’s increased capex,” they wrote in a Thursday note.

Read more CNBC tech news

In addition to increased capital expenditures, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been on an AI hiring blitz, highlighted by a $14.3 billion investment into the data-labeling startup Scale AI and the launch of its new Meta Superintelligence Labs unit.

Morgan Stanley analysts said they “applaud the effort” and are pleased with the state of Meta’s core business, but they remain a little wary of Zuckerberg’s AI spending.

“On one hand, the core business is so strong that it’s paying for all the new AI talent and infra several times over, but on the other hand the cavalier nature by which Zuckerberg is throwing money around is a bit unnerving, especially if things don’t come together as planned with the new superintelligence team,” the analysts wrote.

Barclays analysts said Microsoft’s generative AI scaling is still playing out, but the strong demand for its data center infrastructure continues to point to ongoing momentum for the quarters ahead. They maintained their overweight rating on the stock.

“With its strong Q4 FY25 results, MSFT confirmed its unique status in the software space and will likely continue to be one of the core holdings by investors,” they wrote in a note Wednesday.

Microsoft reported $76.44 billion in revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter, up 18% year over year. The company said net income increased to $27.23 billion, or $3.65 per share, from $22.04 billion a year ago.

Meta reported $47.52 billion in revenue for its second quarter, up 22% year over year. Its net income rose 36% year over year to $18.34 billion, or $7.14 per share.

WATCH: Kulina: Zuckerberg’s laser-focused on AI and building an all-star team

Kulina: Zuckerberg’s laser-focused on AI and building an all-star team

Continue Reading

Trending