Tesla's plan to put a can-do-anything-for-you humanoid on the market still looks a long way off.

Why it matters: CEO Elon Musk said last week at the company's "We, Robot" event that the Tesla Optimus humanoid "will be the biggest product ever of any kind."

• But since then a minor controversy erupted: It turns out that humans were helping to operate the robots at the event, where the robots milled among attendees and served drinks.
• It took the autonomy out of autonomous robot.

Tesla responded today by posting a video on X bragging about the robot's capabilities in what was seen as an attempt to provide assurances that the demonstration wasn't all smoke and mirrors.

• Yes, but: Optimus engineer Milan Kovac acknowledged yesterday in his own message on X that "of course they were human assisted to some extent to help showcase our vision of an amazing future."
• Musk did not respond to an Axios request for comment.

What they're saying: "So it was more a demonstration of degrees of freedom and agility," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a research note.

• "Overall, we did not pick up on anything new/novel about Optimus that clearly showed significant progress including little incremental detail from the company that the market was not previously aware of," he said.
• For investors hoping for a profitable and efficient Tesla, the fact that immense work remains to be done on Optimus indicates that "cost estimates may still be too low," Bernstein analyst and Tesla bear Toni Sacconaghi wrote in his own note.

💭 Nathan's thought bubble: When robots aren't robotic, you know they've still got a long way to go.

All is well with AI chip demand.

• Whatever wider fears chip equipment maker ASML triggered Tuesday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. wiped away today.

Zoom in: The AI-economy bellwether, which fields orders for chip production from the world's tech giants, reported a 36% jump in third-quarter revenue compared with a year earlier, to $23.5 billion. It also hiked its outlook.

• "The demand is real and I believe it's just the beginning," TSMC CEO C.C. Wei told investors about AI. "As one of my key customers said, the demand right now is insane."

💻 The FBI arrested a man in Alabama in connection with the January SEC social media hack that falsely announced the approval of bitcoin ETFs. (Axios)

⚡️ Lucid Group shares plunged after the Saudi-backed EV maker announced plans for a public offering of its stock. (CNBC)

Uber has explored the idea of acquiring Expedia, according to reports.

Why it matters: The deal, if it were to happen, would be Uber's largest ever acquisition and would present a new potential growth area for the $170 billion ride-hailing company.

Context: Uber's interest in the travel platform was described as "very early stage," and there are no current discussions underway, a person familiar with the process told the FT, which first reported the news.

Zoom in: Uber was originally presented with the idea by a third party, per the report.

• It reportedly then reached out to advisers. One of the areas it was looking at was how to deal with the fact that CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is a non-executive director at Expedia, having served as chief executive there for over a decade to 2017.

The impact: Both stocks moved, as tends to happen with merger news, however early. Expedia closed up 4.8%, while Uber lost 2.5%.

Ferrari today debuted its first "supercar" in about a decade: the $3.9 million Ferrari F80.

State of play: The two-seat F80 is the most powerful road car ever to come out of the Ferrari factory, the company said, delivering 1,200 horsepower from a V6 hybrid powertrain.

• It takes its place alongside past Ferrari gems like the 1984 GTO.

By the numbers: The Italian ultra-luxury auto brand will make only 799 units of the F80, with production starting in 2025.

• Sadly, potential buyers have already called dibs on every one of them, per Bloomberg.

💭 Nathan's thought bubble: You could have one Ferrari F80 ... or 219 Nissan Versas for the same price.