Tesla Cuts Spending Targets After Underwhelming Investment Progress

Tesla has scaled back its spending plans after investment progress lagged behind expectations last quarter, casting a shadow over Elon Musk's efforts to transform the electric vehicle maker into an artificial intelligence and robotics company. Following its earnings report on Wednesday, Tesla said capital expenditure for this year will be around $20 billion, a reversal from earlier in the year when the company raised its spending target to more than $25 billion. The automaker has previously failed to keep pace with the investment required to meet its goals, particularly after spending only $4.73 billion in the third quarter, compared to an analyst average expectation of $7.95 billion.