The long-struggling electric vehicle startup made the payments in a year when it delivered only four vehicles and lost nearly $400 million. The company has pivoted to selling cheaper vans and robots imported from China. The payments happened while Faraday Future was still under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was probing what are known as 'related party transactions' between the company and entities related to or controlled by Jia, Faraday's own filings have shown. The SEC was also investigating whether Faraday Future properly represented the level of control Jia had over the company when it went public in 2021, and whether it lied about early sales of its EVs in 2023. The SEC dropped its four-year investigation in March, as TechCrunch first reported, despite having sent notices to Faraday Future, Jia, and other executives last year stating that investigators were recommending an enforcement action. The closure of the investigation comes amid a historic drop in white-collar crime enforcement during the second Trump administration....

On the other hand, early EV optimists assumed we'd be much further along by now. And while sales are up, the rate of growth is slowing, driven by affordability constraints, trade friction and shifting government incentives. The broad trend: Funding to EV-related startups reflects a similar mix of optimism and restraint. Investors are backing big rounds for a handful of upstart brands like customizable pickup truck maker Slate Auto and Rivian micromobility spin-out Also. Yet funding remains far below prior peaks and exit activity appears muted. The numbers: Companies in Crunchbase's electric vehicle category are on track to see higher investment this year relative to last. Around $3.6 billion has gone to companies in the space so far in 2026, spread across about 50 rounds. The largest round tied to the EV space this year went to Wayve, which isn't an electric vehicle brand but rather a developer of autonomous driving technology that has been tested on EVs. The London-based company raised $1.2 billion in a February financing at an $8.6 billion valuation....

Tesla saw an uptick in revenue and profit year-over-year, figures buoyed by an increase in automotive revenue and other services, including active subscriptions to its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) advanced driver assistance system, which reached 1.28 million. Tesla shares rose 4% in after-hours trading following the release of its first-quarter earnings report, driven largely by a jump in its free cash flow, as well as increases in revenue and profit on a year-over-year basis. That share price bump was brief and ended up heading into negative territory during the company's earnings call. The company reported Wednesday revenue of $22.38 billion, a 16% increase from the $19.3 billion it generated in the first quarter of 2025. Its automotive revenue also rose to $16.2 billion, compared to $13.96 billion in the same year-ago period. Notably, the company reported positive free cash flow 'of $1.44 billion, more than double what it held in the first quarter of 2025. The figure surprised analysts who had expected the company to burn through more cash in the first quarter....

In this episode of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast, host Sam Ransbotham talks with Peter Koerte, a member of the managing board and chief strategy and technology officer of Siemens, about how industrial AI is quietly transforming the infrastructure that powers everyday life. While consumer AI grabs headlines, Peter explains how artificial intelligence is improving factories, transportation systems, energy grids, and buildings behind the scenes. The conversation explores what makes industrial AI different ' from the need for near-perfect accuracy to the challenge of working with proprietary, domain-specific data. Peter shares examples like predicting train door failures days in advance, optimizing building energy use, and accelerating complex engineering simulations. Peter and Sam also discuss the importance of domain expertise, the value of data-sharing partnerships across companies, and why transformation is as much about people and workflows as it is about technology. As a member of the managing board, chief strategy officer, and chief technology officer of Siemens, Peter Koerte is responsible for developing the company's strategy and leading its worldwide research and development activities. His current priorities include accelerating development of innovative sustainable technologies and continuing development of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform....