Tesla Cybertruck Demand Questioned as SpaceX Props Sales, Anthropic Expands London Footprint, Figma Tensions Rise, Europe Faces Jet Fuel Crisis
- Dipo Owolabi
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
From weakening consumer demand to rising AI power plays and a looming energy crunch, markets are navigating a mix of structural shifts and emerging risks. Tesla is facing fresh scrutiny as Cybertruck sales appear increasingly dependent on purchases from SpaceX and other Elon Musk-linked ventures. Meanwhile, Anthropic is doubling down on its global ambitions with a major London expansion, just as tensions rise with partners like Figma amid plans for competing AI tools. Outside tech, a more immediate threat is unfolding, with the International Energy Agency warning Europe could run dangerously low on jet fuel within weeks. From AI expansion to demand cracks and supply shocks, all this and more in today’s Read It And Eat! |
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Markets as of 16th April 2026.. Cells in RED mean that the value is down, cells in Green mean the value is up.
MAJOR HEADLINES
Tesla Cybertruck Sales Were Inflated By A SpaceX Buying Spree
Sales of Tesla Inc.’s Cybertruck have been propped up in recent months by Elon Musk’s other companies, an unusual arrangement that further indicates the polarizing pickup is failing to appeal to everyday buyers. SpaceX, the Musk-led rocket and satellite maker, accounted for 1,279, or more than 18% of the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the US during the fourth quarter, according to registration data that S&P Global Mobility provided to Bloomberg News.
The billionaire’s other ventures acquired another 60 vehicles during those months. That means almost one in every five Cybertrucks registered during the period were delivered from one part of Musk’s sprawling business empire to another. And the purchases, likely exceeding $100 million in value, have continued into this year. The figures reinforce the extent to which consumer demand is faltering only two years after Tesla began delivering the electric pickup. Without those sales to other Musk-run companies, which included xAI, Boring Co. and Neuralink, in addition to SpaceX, Cybertruck registrations in the fourth quarter would have fallen 51%. “Tesla is running out of buyers for the Cybertruck,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for advisory firm AutoForecast Solutions.
Tesla is under increasing pressure to reverse slumping sales across its lineup as it faces the prospect of a third straight annual decline. Once the undisputed electric vehicle leader, the company was surpassed by China’s BYD Co. as the world’s top seller of EVs last year.
Investors have largely overlooked Tesla’s declining auto sales as Musk reorients the company around futuristic pursuits including robotaxis and humanoid robots. But those products are still a ways off from becoming tangible business lines, and shareholders’ patience appears to be wearing thin. Since hitting a record high in mid-December, Tesla’s stock has lost a fifth of its value. Yahoo.Finance
Anthropic Unveils Plans For Major UK Expansion After OpenAI Announces First Permanent London Office
Anthropic said Thursday it’s expanding its presence in London with new office space for 800 people, days after rival OpenAI unveiled plans for its first permanent office in the U.K. capital.
The maker of the Claude AI chatbot currently has more than 200 people based in London, the company said in a statement. “London is already one of our most important research and commercial hubs outside the US, and our expansion in the Knowledge Quarter gives us the room to grow into,” Pip White, Anthropic’s head of EMEA north, said in a statement. Anthropic’s new office space will be located in the Knowledge Quarter area of London, home to a slew of AI companies including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta, Synthesia and Wayve.
The announcement follows a reported campaign to court Anthropic by U.K. officials, after the company’s spat with the U.S. Pentagon over the use of its AI models. Anthropic has been gaining momentum recently, releasing its viral coding agent, Claude Code, alongside its Mythos AI model, which excels at identifying weaknesses and security flaws within software. The company most recently raised $30 billion at a $380 billion valuation in February and has fielded VC offer to invest at an $800 billion valuation, according to reports. CNBC
Mike Krieger, Anthropic’s chief product officer, resigned from the board of interface design company Figma on April 14. His departure was disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the publicly traded $10 billion company the same day that The Information reported Anthropic’s next model, Opus 4.7, will include design tools that could compete with Figma’s primary offering.
Figma is the developer of a popular tool for user experience designers who build interfaces for websites and apps. The company has collaborated closely with Anthropic to integrate the frontier lab’s AI models into its products as assistants for its users. Krieger, who previously co-founded Instagram and the AI-powered news app Artifact, became the top product executive at Anthropic in 2024 and joined the board of Figma less than a year ago. Krieger’s departure and any forthcoming design tools will be another data point for investors who fear the SaaSpocalypse, that the largest AI labs will come to dominate software businesses, a thesis that has rocked public markets at times this year. For example, iShares’s primary software ETF, IGV, is down nearly 18% this year.
Anthropic, meanwhile, is turning down investors who want to buy into the company at $800 billion, more than double the valuation from its most recent round at the beginning of the year. Figma’s stock price is up 5% since Krieger’s departure was disclosed, though we’ll see what happens with the next Opus release. TechCrunch |
Europe Could Run Out Of Jet Fuel In 6 Weeks, IEA Warns
Europe may have just six weeks left of jet fuel, with serious consequences for the continent’s economy, the International Energy Agency warned on Thursday.
“Several European countries may start to face shortages of jet fuel in the next 6 weeks, depending how much they are able to import from international markets to replace the lost supply from the Middle East, which accounted for 75% of Europe’s net imports of jet fuel previously,” the IEA told CNBC in an emailed statement. Earlier, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the Strait of Hormuz blockade will result in “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. Birol previously warned that the energy crisis was set to hit harder in April as oil supply constraints worsen.
Air travel generates 851 billion euros (nearly $1 trillion) in gross domestic product for European economies each year and supports 14 million jobs, ACI Europe said. European airline EasyJet said Thursday that the Middle East conflict and rising fuel costs are weighing on customer bookings, with those buying tickets for later in the year down 2% compared with 2025. Meanwhile, the budget carrier said it took on roughly £25 million ($34 million) in additional fuel costs in March alone, and hedged at least 70% of its summer fuel to protect against volatility. ACI Europe, which represents airports across the European Union, said last week that peak summer travel will be disrupted, with “harsh economic impacts” for several member states that rely on the economic boost. CNBC
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