Tesla had invented a kind of two-phase induction motor, but the three-phase induction motor that is the ancestor of the modern induction motors was invented in 1891 by Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (working in Germany at AEG), who had also invented in 1888 the three-phase grid, the three-phase generator and the three-phase synchronous motor.

The Dolivo-Dobrovolsky motor is the ancestor of all high-power induction motors, while the Tesla motor can be considered the ancestor of the single-phase induction motors that have been used (more frequently in the past than today) for several household appliances, like washing machines (or reel-to-reel magnetic tape recorders, a half of century ago).