AUSTIN, Texas — Tesla used its second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday to highlight expansion of its robotaxi service in Austin, redirecting investor focus toward autonomy as core vehicle sales weakened. Chief executive Elon Musk led the presentation.

The company reported that its driverless ride-hailing operation, which began with a limited invitation-only rollout in mid-2025, had widened its geofenced service area and opened access to a broader pool of public riders in Austin. Tesla executives framed the milestone as validation of its camera-based Full Self-Driving approach against rivals using lidar.

The autonomy update came alongside softer financial results. Tesla confirmed lower vehicle deliveries and compressed automotive margins for the quarter. Chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja attributed the results to pricing pressure and the phasing out of U.S. electric-vehicle incentives.

Analysts have grown skeptical of Musk's repeated autonomy timelines. The Austin service remains far smaller than Alphabet's Waymo, which operates commercially across multiple U.S. cities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has continued to seek information from Tesla on incidents involving its automated systems.

Musk told investors that Tesla intended to scale the robotaxi fleet aggressively through the second half of 2026, describing autonomy and the Optimus humanoid robot as the company's central long-term value drivers.