Elon Musk Expresses Unease Over Tesla's AI Leadership Without Increased Voting Control
In a recent announcement on the social media platform X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed his discomfort with the prospect of growing the electric vehicle (EV) giant into a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics without a significant increase in his voting control. Musk expressed his preference for having at least 25% voting control of Tesla, nearly double his current stake, to ensure influence over the company's direction.
Musk's statement, posted on X (formerly Twitter), highlighted his conditions for expanding Tesla's role in AI and robotics. He emphasized the need for stock ownership that is "enough to be influential, but not so much that I can't be overturned." Without this increased voting control, Musk suggested he would consider building products outside of Tesla.
While Tesla has been a major player in the automotive industry, Musk has long been an advocate of advancing AI and robotics technologies. Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" software and the development of humanoid robots have been prominent aspects of Musk's vision for the company. However, Tesla primarily generates revenue from its automotive business.
Analysts have linked Tesla's valuation to its technological ventures, including the "Full Self-Driving" software and the Dojo supercomputer designed for training AI models. Musk's latest announcement comes with Tesla's shares falling about 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
Elon Musk, currently the world's richest person, currently holds around 13% of Tesla stock after selling billions of dollars of shares in 2022. This move was partly aimed at financing Musk's $44 billion purchase of the social media platform Twitter.
In a separate post on X, Musk expressed his willingness to consider a dual-class share structure to achieve his goal of obtaining 25% voting control. However, he noted that such a structure was deemed impossible after Tesla's initial public offering (IPO). Musk highlighted the seeming discrepancy, citing the example of Meta, formerly Facebook, which has a multi-class share structure allowing founder Mark Zuckerberg and his successors to maintain control over the company.
Tesla has not yet responded to requests for comments on Musk's statements.
Elon Musk is currently facing a lawsuit over his compensation package. Shareholder Richard Tornetta filed the lawsuit in 2018, alleging that Musk used his influence over Tesla's board to secure an outsized compensation package without committing to full-time work at the EV company. Musk stated on X that there is no "feud" with the board over his compensation and suggested that the pending lawsuit verdict is hindering ongoing discussions.
