Elon Musk is going on full propaganda mode to distract from Tesla’s delivery numbers with new Optimus robot content and misleading claims about Model Y’s popularity.
CEO Elon Musk, who has mostly stayed away from Tesla in recent months to focus on his efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), released a well-timed series of tweets about Tesla this morning, distracting from the upcoming release of the delivery results:
The posts include new images of Tesla’s Optimus robot walking, a repost of his claim that the humanoid robot will be “the biggest product of all time”, and a claim that Tesla’s Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in China.
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While some of Tesla’s progress with the Optimus robot has been impressive, it is mainly related to robotics. On the AI side of things, Tesla appears to still be lagging behind, as all demonstrations of the robot so far have involved humans remotely controlling the robots—something Tesla hasn’t been super upfront about.
As for the claim about the Model Y becoming the best-selling car in China in March, it is meant to make people think that its recent redesign is a success, but that’s misleading.
March was Tesla’s first whole month of deliveries for the new Model Y after accumulating orders for weeks since January. A small backlog of orders helped Tesla achieve a good month of deliveries for the Model Y in China, but what Musk is not highlighting is that this backlog was already exhausted by the end of March as Tesla could deliver the new Model Y within a week in China and started to offer 0% financing, which is basically a $2,000 discount on the vehicle.
Electrek’s Take
This is a clear distraction. Elon has been promising the moon with Optimus, but the truth is that Tesla is entering a very competitive market in humanoid robots and it’s still way too early to tell who is leading at this point.
As for Model Y, Elon can repost known misinformation spreader and paid propgandist Mario Nawfal all he wants, but the fact that Tesla’s most popular version of the Model Y, the RWD standard range, which accounts for 90% of Model Y deliveries in China, already needs to be discounted and can be delivered within 2 weeks proves that demand for the Model Y redesign is soft in China.
Tesla is being squeezed by competition in the country, and it’s becoming a real problem as the automaker is likely not making any profit in China right now while selling hundreds of thousands of vehicles.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s deliveries are expected to show that Tesla is starting the year down again after 2024 was its first full year without growth since it started ramping up the Model S.
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Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.
According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.
“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.
The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.
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The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.
Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.
And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.
The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.
Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.
That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.
The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.
Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.
The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.
Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.
In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
When they lose a significant other, most men do indeed become a “TRAIN WRECK.” Then they pick up the pieces of their lives and start living again — paying attention to their personal grooming, hitting the gym and discovering new hobbies.
What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.
Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”
Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.
It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.
To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.
Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.
— CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.
What you need to know today
And finally…
An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing, China.
US President Donald Trump, right, and Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, May 30, 2025.
Francis Chung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
When they find themselves without a significant other, most men finally start living: They pay attention to their personal grooming, hit the gym and discover new hobbies.
What does the world’s richest man do? He starts a political party.
Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named “American Party.”
Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on “just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” and will have legislative discussions “with both parties” — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.
It might be easier to realize Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.
To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.
Folks, here’s direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.
[PRO] Wall Street is growing cautious on European equities. As investors seek shelter from tumult in U.S., the Stoxx 600 index has risen 6.6% year to date. Analysts, however, think the foundations of that growth could be shaky.
And finally…
Ayrton Senna driving the Marlboro McLaren during the Belgian Grand Prix in 1992.
Pascal Rondeau | Hulton Archive | Getty Images
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CEOs today aren’t just steering companies — they’re navigating a minefield. From geopolitical shocks and economic volatility to rapid shifts in tech and consumer behavior, the playbook for leadership is being rewritten in real time.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC earlier this week, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown outlined a leadership approach centered on urgency, momentum and learning from failure.