Tesla gave up the EV crown. Now it wants to win the autonomy race.

<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/tesla-turns-to-50-year-old-stunt-technology-as-it-tries-to-roadster-again/">Elon Musk’s “flying” Roadster jumped and flipped through the air</a> this month in a stunt that went viral around the world. But his bigger bet is on changing the way Tesla makes money—and the wider car industry is scrambling to catch up.</p> <p>Five days after the spectacle, made possible by compressed-gas thrusters developed by Musk’s SpaceX, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/10/spacex-and-tesla-into-a-single-company-has-a-lot-of-merit-musk-says/">he revealed the companies were exploring a merger</a> that could accelerate his push into autonomous driving.</p> <p>At stake is more than a technological race. Car groups, already grappling with growing Chinese competition, are seeking to move beyond a business model centered on vehicle sales towards one that also generates recurring revenues from software and AI-powered services.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/tesla-wants-ai-and-software-to-be-its-next-profit-engine/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/tesla-wants-ai-and-software-to-be-its-next-profit-engine/#comments">Comments</a></p>