Chinese automakers are stepping up investment in humanoid robots as a next-generation profit business, seeking new revenue as electric-vehicle profitability declines. Xpeng\'s robotics unit raised more than $900 million at a valuation above $6.3 billion, with investors including IDG Capital, Gaorong Ventures, Tencent and Alibaba. Analysts say China has an edge in manufacturing and supply chains, but AI will determine competitiveness against Tesla. Global automakers are also expanding robot efforts.

Sweden\'s largest industrial union IF Metall is ending a 1,021-day strike against Tesla after the company did not accept demands for a Swedish-style collective agreement. The union said the action lost effectiveness after participating members were effectively removed from the workplace. Separately, competition in autonomous driving is moving beyond development into real-world safety and stability, with attention shifting to accident response, regulatory hurdles for Tesla FSD in China and Europe, and Waymo’s robotaxi production expansion.