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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meets with Elon Musk (L) in New York, United States on June 20, 2023. (Photo by Indian Press Information Bureau (PIB) / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Indian Press Information Bureau | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he is “incredibly excited about the future of India,” adding it has “more promise than any large country in the world.”

“I am a fan of Modi,” Musk admitted Tuesday in a video interview published on Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s official YouTube page. 

“He really wants to do the right thing for India. He wants to be open, he wants to be supportive of new companies, but at the same time make sure it accrues to India’s advantage,” said the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX after their meeting in New York.

Modi and Musk last met in 2015 when the Indian prime minister visited Tesla’s Fremont Factory in California. 

The Indian prime minister is on his first state visit to the U.S., where he’s expected to hold high-level talks with leaders and business executives on defense, technology and India’s role in the Indo-Pacific.

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President Joe Biden will be hosting him at a White House dinner in Washington on Thursday, where Modi is expected to meet a slew of business leaders including Apple‘s Tim Cook, Google‘s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft‘s Satya Nadella, according to CNBC’s Seema Mody.

Modi “really cares about India because he’s pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something we intend to do and we’re just trying to figure out the right timing,” Musk said.

Investing in India

India holds great potential for Tesla, one analyst told CNBC.

“Every single U.S. company which has a listed subsidiary in India has seen higher growth and value creation in India,” Nilesh Shah, managing director at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, said. 

“U.S. investors will be reassured that building a U.S.-India partnership will be a true win-win situation for both countries,” he added. 

Elon Musk says Tesla intends to make a 'significant' investment in India after meeting with PM Modi

Investments from Tesla would aim to support India’s sustainable energy generation primarily through solar and wind, said the CEO of the EV maker. 

“India is great for solar. The amount of land area you actually need to generate enough electricity to power India is very small. I believe it’d be probably 1% or 2% of the land area in India, so it’s very doable.” 

Other areas of investment include stationary battery packs and electric vehicles. 

“India will be a promising market for Tesla as their fate in China will be similar to other American car manufacturers who ended up being beaten by Chinese competitors,” Shah highlighted. 

Musk also said that he’s keen on improving India’s internet connectivity and hopes to bring SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service to the South Asian nation. 

This can be “incredibly helpful for remote or rural villages where they perhaps may have no access to [the] internet or the internet is very expensive and slow,” Musk said. 

Musk said Modi invited him to visit India, and it could happen as soon as next year.

Modi’s visit to New York saw him crossing paths with U.S. astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, investor Ray Dalio and Grammy Award-winner Falguni Shah.

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Salesforce slump deepens as stock drops 7% on disappointing guidance

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Salesforce slump deepens as stock drops 7% on disappointing guidance

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff attends the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2025.

Halil Sagirkaya | Anadolu | Getty Images

A bad year just got worse for Salesforce.

Following a disappointing revenue forecast in its quarterly earnings report late Wednesday, Salesforce’s stock slumped 8%, bringing its decline for 2025 to 28%. That’s the worst performance in large-cap tech.

Revenue increased 10% in the fiscal second quarter from a year earlier, cracking double-digit growth for the first time since early 2024. Sales of $10.24 billion topped the average analyst estimate of $10.14 billion, and earnings per share also exceeded expectations.

However, for the fiscal third quarter, Salesforce said revenue will be $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion, while analysts were expecting $10.29 billion, according to LSEG.

Salesforce regularly touts its investments in artificial intelligence and the advancements in its software as a service, or SaaS, but the company hasn’t been lifted by the AI boom in the same way as many of its tech peers — particularly those focused on infrastructure.

There’s also a concern on Wall Street that AI is going to eat away at much of the software sector.

“While the investor community oozes angst over the future of SaaS, the here and now from Salesforce, while impressive at scale, is not enough to reshape the narrative,” wrote analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets, in a report on Wednesday. The analysts have a buy rating on the stock.

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Salesforce is dealing with challenges selling marketing and commerce products, Robin Washington, the company’s president and chief operating and financial officer, said on a conference call with analysts.

In its earnings release, Salesforce said it closed over 12,500 total deals for Agentforce, which can automate the handling of customer service questions. That includes 6,000 paid deals. The company said that over 40% of bookings for Agentforce and its data cloud came from existing customers.

CEO Marc Benioff maintained his optimistic tone, downplaying concerns about the AI threat to software and telling analysts on the earnings call that “we are seeing one of the greatest transformations” in the space.

“To hear some of this nonsense that’s out there in social media or in other places, and people say the craziest things, but it’s not grounded in any customer truth,” Benioff said.

Salesforce kept its full-year revenue outlook but now sees higher earnings. The company is targeting $11.33 to $11.37 in adjusted earnings per share on $41.1 billion to $41.3 billion in revenue.

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We're seeing an incredible transformation in enterprise, says Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

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Figma’s stock slumps 18% after first earnings report to lowest since IPO

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Figma's stock slumps 18% after first earnings report to lowest since IPO

Figma shares continue to plunge on debut earnings call

Figma shares plummeted nearly 20% on Thursday, falling to the lowest price since the design software vendor’s IPO in July after the company reported earnings for the first time as a public company.

Results for the second quarter were largely inline with expectations, as Figma had issued preliminary results a little over a month ago. Revenue increased 41% from a year earlier to $249.6 million, slightly topping analyst estimates of $248.8 million, according to LSEG.

Analysts at Piper Sandler described the report as “largely a non-event,” but noted that the “shares have witnessed hyper-volatility” following their 250% surge in the trading debut.

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Since closing at $115.50 on its first day, the stock has lost more than half its value, lowering the company’s market cap to about $27 billion.

For the third quarter, Figma forecasted revenue of between $263 million and $265 million, which would represent about 33% growth at the middle of the range. The LSEG consensus was $256.8 million.

Figma’s IPO was significant for Silicon Valley and the tech sector broadly as it represented one of the highest-profile offerings in years and signaled Wall Street’s growing appetite for growth. The market had been in a multiyear lull that began in early 2022, when inflation was soaring and interest rates were on the rise.

Figma reported a 129% net retention rate, a reflection of expansion with existing customers. The figure was down from 132% in the first quarter.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

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Figma shares continue to plunge on debut earnings call

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JetBlue to boost in-flight Wi-Fi with Amazon Project Kuiper internet deal

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JetBlue to boost in-flight Wi-Fi with Amazon Project Kuiper internet deal

A JetBlue Airways Airbus A321-231 departs San Diego International Airport en route to New York on March 4, 2025 in San Diego, California.

Kevin Carter | Getty Images

JetBlue Airways plans to install Amazon‘s Project Kuiper on some of its airplanes to bolster in-flight Wi-Fi, the companies announced Thursday, in a vote of confidence for the nascent internet satellite service.

The technology will be added to about a quarter of the airline’s fleet, with the rollout beginning in 2027 and expected to be complete in 2028, JetBlue President Marty St. George said on a call with reporters.

The team-up is a significant win for Amazon, which has been working to build a constellation of internet-beaming satellites in low-Earth orbit, called Project Kuiper. The service will compete directly with Elon Musk‘s Starlink, which currently dominates the market and has 8,000 satellites in orbit.

Amazon has sent up 102 satellites through a series of rocket launches since April. It’s aiming to meet a deadline by the Federal Communications Commission, which requires it to have about 1,600, or half of its full constellation, in orbit by the end of July 2026.

The company hopes to begin commercial service later this year.

“Even though we still have a lot more work to do, we’re super excited to have JetBlue as the first airline customer for Kuiper,” Chris Weber, Kuiper’s vice president of sales and marketing, told reporters.

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Starlink has signed up a growing number of airlines to use its services. JetBlue is Kuiper’s first airline partner, though Amazon has signed several deals recently as it tries to expand the service, including with European plane maker Airbus in April.

JetBlue has offered free in-flight internet for years through a partnership with Viasat, which operates a network of geostationary, or GEO, satellites. That partnership will continue, St. George said.

He praised Amazon’s satellite service, saying Kuiper offers high speed, low latency and high reliability compared with GEO satellite networks. JetBlue could eventually use a combination of low-Earth orbit and GEO satellites for in-flight internet, St. George added.

U.S. airlines have been working to improve their in-flight Wi-Fi, which has long been derided for slow speeds and high prices.

Delta Air Lines followed JetBlue in unveiling complimentary connectivity in 2023 for its SkyMiles loyalty program members. Hawaiian Airlines is using Starlink for free in-flight Wi-Fi, and Alaska Airlines, which acquired that carrier last year, recently said it would outfit its planes with the same service.

United Airlines is also working to equip its planes to offer its loyalty program members free Wi-Fi through Starlink. American Airlines, for its part, in April said it plans to have free in-flight internet on most of its planes next year for members of its AAdvantage program.

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Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites into space

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