Tesla records first revenue decline amid growing criticism of Elon Musk | indy100

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Tesla has recorded its first annual fall in revenue since it began publishing public financial results more than a decade ago

In its latest update on Wednesday (28 January), Elon Musk's company reported a decline in revenue for 2025, with total sales falling 3 per cent to $94.8 billion.

Profits also dropped sharply: net income for the final quarter fell 61 per cent, while annual profits reportedly fell from $7.1 billion in 2024 to $3.8 billion last year.

Musk is now steering Tesla towards a future built around self-driving taxi services and human-like robots, while also confirming plans to put $2bn into his artificial intelligence venture, xAI. The start-up, which underpins X and the controversial Grok chatbot, is set to play a central role in that strategy.

"Together, the investment and the related framework agreement are intended to enhance Tesla’s ability to develop and deploy AI products and services into the physical world at scale," Tesla shared in the report.

The financial downturn comes amid mounting public criticism of Musk. His online activity on X, combined with his vocal political positions (notably, his support for Donald Trump), has sparked backlash against both the billionaire and his companies.

The pushback intensified last year when campaigners organised a "Tesla Takedown," described as a "peaceful protest movement" that took place outside of the company's showrooms.

The protests were aimed at denting sales after Musk accepted a White House DOGE role focused on reducing government expenditure.

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