Elon Musk's electric car firm Tesla has revealed first-quarter revenue that more than doubled and said its upcoming Model 3 was on schedule for July - but downplayed the mass-market vehicle and gave a sales pitch for its more expensive Model S. The firms first-quarter loss widened 17 percent to $330 million as it ramped up spending ahead of the launch of its Model 3 sedan and its solar panel business. Elon Musk has likened future versions of Tesla's Model 3 production line to an'alien dreadnaught' - and last week the first pictures of the factory emerged. Elon Musk's electric car firm Tesla has revealed first-quarter revenue that more than doubled and said its upcoming Model 3 was on schedule for July Chief Executive Elon Musk's bold approach to cars, space exploration and clean energy has fueled investor enthusiasm for Tesla, although skeptics are waiting to see if Musk can fulfill his promise of producing 500,000 cars per year in 2018, six times Tesla's 2016 production. Tesla's comments underscored the additional challenge of keeping up demand for its older models. Shares were down about 1 percent in after-hours trade following the results.

KUKA also had good Q1/17 earnings as did Intuitive Surgical. As a result, iRobot adjusted upward their 2017 revenue forecast. According to CEO Colin Angle, iRobot has shipped over 15 million robotic home floor cleaners through 2016. Last year iRobot divested its Defense and Security Division for $45 million to a VC which shortly thereafter launched Endeavor Robotics. Thus iRobot is now exclusively a commercial robotics provider.

The remarks by Cuban came six days after Twitter reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The social media company has used algorithms to combat user harassment, vowing to prevent abusive behavior and block repeat offenders from the site. They've also used machine learning to tailor ads and tweets to users. Twitter said in its first-quarter earnings release, it "continued to use other machine learning techniques to improve the relevance of notifications, which increased engagement and brought people back to Twitter." In March, Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the impact of AI on society would be "positive," but he appeared unsure if the U.S. government is ready to deal with the impact.

Twitter's stock price jumped more than 4% Tuesday after billionaire investor Mark Cuban confirmed he acquired shares in the social media company. Mark Cuban, chairman of AXS TV and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, listens to testimony during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing Dec. 7, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images) According to CNBC, Cuban said he is buying shares in companies focused on tech such as artificial intelligence, deep learning and machine learning. "I started buying Twitter recently because I think they finally got their act together with artificial intelligence," during an interview on CNBC show Squawk Alley. During its quarterly earnings call last week, Twitter cited advances in machine learning on its platform to draw people back to the app when they have been away for a period of time, or to battle abuse and fight against spam accounts. Twitter also reported a boost in users in the first quarter, saying increased interest in news and politics was bringing both new and resurrected users to the platform.

The remarks by Cuban came six days after Twitter reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The social media company has used algorithms to combat user harassment, vowing to prevent abusive behavior and block repeat offenders from the site. Twitter said in its first-quarter earnings release, it "continued to use other machine learning techniques to improve the relevance of notifications, which increased engagement and brought people back to Twitter." In March, Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the impact of AI on society would be "positive," but he appeared unsure if the U.S. government is ready to deal with the impact. I think so, I hope so.

Mobvoi, a Chinese voice recognition startup, signed a strategic partnership to build a 50/50 joint venture targeting the automotive market with Volkswagen. The deal involved VW investing $180 million in a Mobvoi series D funding. Modvoi has developed an advanced Chinese speech recognition system, Chinese/English translation, semantic analysis and integrated vertical and proactive search, all adapted for and connected with a smart rear-view mirror that provides navigation, messaging and information through voice input. Prof. Dr. Heizmann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China said: "This partnership is a particular example of Volkswagen's determination to work with groundbreaking Chinese tech companies like Mobvoi to create new forms of people-oriented mobility technology. We are impressed by Mobvoi's innovative approach of AI technologies, and we are pleased to form this joint venture to explore the next generation of smart mobility."

Following Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL)'s first-quarter results, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster said the results reiterate the company's artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality ambitions. Munster noted Google CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized on the earnings call his "AI-first" mantra. The analyst noted increased machine learning investment was highlighted in at least two segments of Google's ad model, namely smart bidding and universal app campaigns. Loup Ventures explained that smart bidding helps machines predict in real time how an ad should perform in front of a particular target and adjusts advertiser bids to maximize ROI. In universal app campaigns, machine learning is being used to best promote developer apps across Google properties including Search, YouTube and the Display Network, the firm added.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Nidec's Conference Call hosted by Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to pass this conference to Mr. Abe at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities for opening remarks. Mr. Abe, please go ahead, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining this conference call. This is Abe, General Manager, Institutional Sales Department of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. Before the meeting starts, please make sure all materials have been distributed. If not, please download the files on Nidec's Homepage right now. Now, may I introduce Mr. Akira Sato, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who will be speaking to you shortly. First, Mr. Sato will make a presentation. After his presentation, we will move to a Q&A session. Mr. Sato will now discuss Nidec's fourth quarter fiscal year 2016 results, future outlook and management strategy. Mr. Sato, please go ahead. Thank you very much, Mr. Abe. My name is Akira Sato, Chief Financial Officer of Nidec, and I will be your main speaker for today.

Honda Motor Co. reported Friday a ¥95.9 billion ($864 million) profit for January-March, a turnaround from the ¥93.4 billion loss it racked up a year earlier, as the automaker recovers from costs for a massive air bag recall. Quarterly sales rose 2.9 percent to ¥3.76 trillion ($33.9 billion) from ¥3.66 trillion. The performance exceeded forecasts by analysts at FactSet. Tokyo-based Honda, which makes the Accord sedan, Odyssey minivan and Asimo robot, said an unfavorable exchange rate and research spending that chipped away at profits were offset by lower recall expenses and cost cuts. Honda is the biggest customer of Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp., which is recalling millions of defective air bags whose inflators can explode with too much force, spewing shrapnel. For the fiscal year through March, Honda posted a ¥616.5 billion ($5.6 billion) profit, up dramatically from ¥344.5 billion the previous fiscal year, and better than the company or analyst forecasts.