CNBC Daily Open: Tesla wobbles as BYD gets ahead in self-driving and Elon Musk is everywhere

Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, and the leader of Tesla, SpaceX, X, the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency as well as a recent group of investors bidding to buy OpenAI.

From a business point of view, Musk’s accomplishments are undeniable. The companies he heads are not only market leaders, but often trailblazers in their field — consider how Tesla kickstarted the electric-vehicle industry or how SpaceX successfully commercialized space flight.

Paradoxically, achieving success too broadly can have negative effects. Investors seem to be growing worried that Musk, for all his business acumen, is getting distracted. Tesla shares have fallen for the past five trading days, plunging over 6% on Tuesday as Chinese rival BYD appears to be eclipsing the company on AI-enabled autonomous driving.

If hands-free driving becomes a reality atTesla, that could free up Musk to have his fingers in other pies without dragging down the company’s shares.

BYD threatens Tesla
Tesla shares fell 6.3% Tuesday after Chinese EV maker BYD said it will integrate DeepSeek into its autonomous driving technology and offer it in nearly all its vehicles. There are also concerns over Musk’s distractions, such as his bid for Open AI and his role at the “Department of Government Efficiency” in the White House. Tesla’s stock price has fallen over 16% in the past five trading days.

Tentative U.S. markets
U.S. markets were mixed Tuesday as investors digested U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments in the Senate that the central bank doesn’t need to “be in a hurry” to adjust its policy stance. The S&P 500 was mostly flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.28% and the Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.36%. Asia-Pacific stocks traded higher Wednesday. The Hang Seng Index rose around 1.9% as Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba popped 7.15% on reports it is partnering Apple to roll out iPhone AI features in China.

Baidu to release next-generation AI model
Chinese tech giant Baidu plans to release its next-generation AI model in the latter half of the year, according to a source familiar with the matter. Named Ernie 5.0, the model is set to have “big enhancements in multimodal capabilities,” the source said. Multimodal AI models can work across media formats. Baidu’s release comes amid AI advancements in China, such as the cost-effective DeepSeek released in January.

Super Micro Computer reassures investors
Super Micro Computer CEO Charles Liang said on Tuesday he is “confident” that the company will file its delayed annual report by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Feb. 25 deadline. The company also said it expects to hit $40 billion in revenue in fiscal 2026, higher than the $30 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Shares of the company jumped as much as 8.4% in extended trading.

CATL files for listing in Hong Kong
China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology, also known as CATL, has filed for listing on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. The initial public offering is expected to raise at least $5 billion, Reuters reported, which would make it the city’s largest IPO in five years. The company supplies batteries to automakers like Tesla. In January, the U.S. Department of Defense included CATL and Tencent on its list of “Chinese Military Companies.”

[PRO] How to play the CPI
The U.S. consumer price index report will be released Wednesday and comes at a time when inflation concerns have resurged because of tariffs and higher-than-expected wage growth in January. JPMorgan traders laid out how the S&P 500 could react based on the CPI reading. The scenarios range from a 1.75% increase to a 2% fall, including an asset class that could “react violently.”

India’s oil minister says ‘we play by the rules,’ as markets weigh U.S. energy sanctions

India will “play by the rules” and not “go around” international sanctions regarding oil markets, the country’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told CNBC on Tuesday at the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference. India’s refiners have been snapping up discounted Russian oil since Western and G7 energy sanctions barred many consumers from Moscow’s supplies. New Delhi has repeatedly defended its purchases as a matter of national interest.

Puri also signaled that the government of Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, had endorsed India’s bolstered intake of Russian oil. “I’ve had a chat with the Americans, the previous administration. They said, please buy as much as you like. Just make sure that you buy it within the price cap. And that’s what we did,” Puri said.