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BYD overtakes Tesla as world's top EV seller |
China's BYD overtook Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's leading electric vehicle (EV) seller in 2025, as Tesla faced declining sales for a second year in a row. |
© Aaron Favila, Associated Press |
BYD said Thursday that it sold about 2.26 million EVs in 2025, up nearly 28 percent from the year before. In a release Friday, Tesla said it delivered about 1.64 million EVs last year, down around 9 percent from 2024. Musk's EV firm also saw a 16 percent drop in quarterly sales, delivering about 418,000 cars in the fourth quarter compared to 497,000 in the previous three-month period. Tesla's struggling sales come after a particularly rocky year for the company. The EV maker became a political symbol for Musk's controversial work with the Trump administration, leading the Department of Government Efficiency's cost-cutting efforts. After the company posted a steep 71 percent drop in earnings in the first quarter, Musk announced his plans to step away from the White House. Investors breathed a sigh of relief as Tesla's stock began to recover after sharp losses in the first few months of the year. However, the reprieve was short-lived, as Musk continued to stir controversy that weighed heavily on Tesla. Shortly after leaving the White House, the tech billionaire began publicly feuding with President Trump over his tax and spending bill, resulting in Musk's vow to launch a third party. Musk and Trump appear to have since mended fences, with the Tesla CEO appearing at a White House dinner for the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November. On an earnings call in July, Musk suggested his EV firm could face a "rough" couple of quarters going forward. Tesla and other American EV makers were expected to see weaker sales at the end of the year, after a $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired in September. |
Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, I'm Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. |
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: |
Tesla falls behind China's BYD as top EV maker after second year of declining sales |
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China’s BYD overtook Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's leading electric vehicle (EV) seller in 2025, as Tesla faced declining sales for a second year in a row. BYD said Thursday that it sold about 2.26 million EVs in 2025, up nearly 28 percent from the year before. In a release Friday, Tesla said it delivered about 1.64 million … |
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Starlink satellites to be moved to lower orbit |
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(NewsNation) — SpaceX will be moving around 4,400 satellites to a lower orbit in 2026, according to a Starlink official. Michael Nicholls, vice president of Starlink engineering, posted the news on social platform X, announcing the company’s plan to change the orbit of the satellites in order to reduce the chances of collision with others or space debris. Earth’s orbit has become increasingly cluttered with satellites, … |
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DoorDash bans driver over alleged AI delivery scam: 'Zero tolerance for fraud' |
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(NEXSTAR) – A delivery driver for DoorDash has been ousted from the platform after allegedly attempting to trick a customer into thinking their order had been delivered to their door with an image generated by artificial intelligence. DoorDash customer Byrne Hobart, from Austin, Texas, first shared news of the dubious delivery in a post on social platform X on Dec. 26. "Amazing. DoorDash driver accepted the drive, immediately … |
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: |
- French ministers report Grok's sex-related content on the X platform to prosecutors (Reuters)
- America's toughest privacy protections have finally kicked in (Washington Post)
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Bitcoin hacker touts Trump's First Step Act for early release |
Ilya Lichtenstein, who was charged in connection with the 2016 hack of the crypto exchange Bitfinex, said Thursday that he was released early from his five-year prison sentence. "Thanks to President Trump's First Step Act, I have been released from prison early," he wrote in a post on X. "I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can." Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, pleaded guilty in 2023 to money laundering conspiracy charges related to the theft of 120,000 bitcoin from Bitfinex. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison in November 2024. Morgan, who was sentenced to 18 months, appears to have been released in October 2025. The First Step Act is a bipartisan criminal justice reform measure signed into law by Trump during his first term in 2018. It reduced certain mandatory minimum sentences and expanded "good time credits" for well-behaved prisoners. |
Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington. |
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