Tesla shares jumped on Monday following a report that President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are planning to make a federal framework to regulate self-driving vehicles a top priority for the U.S. Transport Department.
As of 5:43 a.m. ET, Tesla stock was up 8.33% in U.S. premarket trading after the release of the Bloomberg News report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
CNBC could not independently verify the report and has requested comment from the Trump team and from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a Transportation Department unit tasked to oversee self-driving technologies.
Musk was a central figure in the business world pushing for Trump’s return to the White House in the lead-up to this month’s elections. The tech billionaire now stands to benefit from the close relationship he has formed with the Republican politician, who previously served a first presidential term between 2017 and 2021.
Last week, Trump picked Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency — or “DOGE for short — which he said would end government “bureaucracy,” relax “excess” regulations and cut “wasteful” expenditures.
This breaking news story is being updated.