Tesla Profit Falls 43% as Cybercab Robotaxis Roll in Austin; Round Rock Weighs PulseForge Chip-Tool Expansion

Tesla’s third-quarter report leads a day that also brought a federal waiver for T1 Energy, a new Austin headquarters for Asymbl and an incentive vote in Round Rock.

Austin-based Tesla Inc. reported a 43% drop in third-quarter profit Wednesday even as it put its purpose-built Cybercab into robotaxi service in Austin. Elsewhere in Silicon Hills, solar manufacturer T1 Energy won a federal waiver to keep its Texas module plant supplied while it builds a cell factory in Milam County, workforce software company Asymbl opened its first U.S. hub on East Cesar Chavez Street, and the Round Rock City Council votes Thursday night on a $600,000 incentive for semiconductor packaging toolmaker PulseForge.

Tesla’s profit slides as Cybercab robotaxi rides begin in Austin

Tesla posted net income of $787 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $1.37 billion a year earlier, on revenue of $28.05 billion, essentially flat with the same period of 2025, according to the company’s third-quarter update filed with the SEC. Operating income fell to $718 million. Capital spending more than doubled to $4.73 billion, though the company still generated $1.53 billion in free cash flow and ended the quarter with $45.4 billion in cash and short-term investments.

Austin featured prominently in the update. The company said riders began taking Cybercabs, its purpose-built robotaxi, in Austin on Sept. 3, and that cumulative unsupervised robotaxi miles grew eightfold from the prior quarter to nearly 2 million. Austin service hours now run from 6 a.m. to midnight. Tesla listed installed annual capacity at Gigafactory Texas of more than 375,000 Model Ys, more than 125,000 Cybertrucks and more than 125,000 Cybercabs, and said a semiconductor fab in Austin is under construction, with equipment commissioning planned for 2027.

Tesla began building Optimus humanoid robots on high-volume lines in Fremont, California, with a Texas Optimus line still under construction. CEO Elon Musk called the early ramp “somewhat bumpy,” The Next Web reported, and Electrek reported that the company pushed its timeline for unsupervised Full Self-Driving to the second quarter of 2027.

T1 Energy wins federal waiver to bridge supply until its Milam County cell fab opens

Austin-based T1 Energy Inc. said Thursday that the U.S. Commerce Department granted its request for an expedited waiver under the August Section 232 proclamation on imported polysilicon and polysilicon-derived solar products. The waiver lets the company import up to 1.725 gigawatts of solar cells so its G1_Dallas module plant can keep running and fill existing and expected contracts, according to the company’s announcement.

The waiver is temporary. It is meant to carry T1 until Phase 1 of its 2.1-gigawatt G2_Austin solar cell fab in Rockdale, about an hour northeast of Austin, begins producing cells, which the company expects in the first quarter of 2027. CEO Dan Barcelo said demand for domestic cells and modules “has meaningfully risen” since the proclamation.

T1, formerly known as FREYR Battery, moved its headquarters to Austin in 2025, Manufacturing Dive reported. When the company first announced the Rockdale project, it projected up to 1,800 manufacturing jobs there.

Asymbl opens Austin headquarters, its first U.S. hub

Asymbl Inc., which blends human workers, AI agents and software into a single workforce for staffing and recruiting firms, opened an office at 1515 E. Cesar Chavez St. on Oct. 19, the company announced Wednesday. The office opened with 14 full-time employees and seats 40, housing sales, marketing, customer success and people operations teams.

The company had been fully remote in North America. It will now concentrate North American hiring in Austin, where it has six open roles, mainly in sales and account management, while existing employees elsewhere stay remote. Asymbl has about 120 employees and more than 200 “digital workers,” and the Austin hub is its second office after Jaipur, India. “Austin is where we’re going to grow,” CEO Brandon Metcalf said.

Round Rock votes on $600,000 incentive for PulseForge expansion

The Round Rock City Council is scheduled to vote at 6 p.m. Thursday on an economic development agreement with PulseForge Inc., which makes photonic processing tools used in advanced semiconductor packaging, Community Impact reported. The company’s facility at 400 Parker Drive carries an Austin mailing address but sits inside Round Rock city limits.

Under the proposal, PulseForge would invest $20 million, including $6 million to expand its facility and $14 million in machinery and other business personal property, and add 60 jobs. In return, it could receive up to $600,000 in sales-tax-funded Type B grants: $250,000 in 2030 if it has invested $10 million and added 20 jobs, and $350,000 in 2032 once it hits the full targets. Round Rock Chamber official Danielle Morrissey said the company has identified a 20,000-square-foot space next to its current site, calling the deal “an opportunity to support an expansion of a local company.”

Oracle unveils AI agent builder for industry software

Austin-based Oracle Corp. introduced Oracle AI Agent Studio for Industry Applications, a no-code and low-code tool for building, testing and managing AI agents that work inside its industry-specific software, the company said Wednesday. It targets construction, retail, finance, restaurants, government, utilities, communications and hospitality customers and extends the agent studio Oracle already offers for its Fusion business applications. Oracle said it will roll out the product in the U.S. within the next 12 months.

Also in Silicon Hills

  • Electronic components distributor Sourceability, which issued its announcement from Austin, named former Dell Technologies CFO Yvonne McGill an independent board member. PR Newswire
  • Austin-based investor-property lender Visio Lending hired former Citi executive Ashley Shetler as vice president of underwriting, collateral and quality control. GlobeNewswire
  • Austin-based solar tracker maker FTC Solar will report third-quarter results Nov. 4. GlobeNewswire
  • The Austin City Council’s Thursday agenda includes up to $5 million for Microsoft Unified Support services and a contract of up to $3.8 million to retire legacy copper phone lines. City of Austin

Only in Austin

Before Round Rock was a hub for computers and chip tools, it was simply “Brushy,” named for the creek that runs through it. The name caused confusion with another area, and the U.S. Postal Service took notice. In 1854, postmaster Thomas Oatts was asked to pick a new name. He chose Round Rock, after a large round rock in Brushy Creek where he and blacksmith Jacob Harrell often fished. The rock also served as a handy low-water crossing for wagons and livestock. The city of Round Rock says exactly why Oatts settled on the name is still a matter of speculation.

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