Elon Musk seeks greater control of Tesla for AI development
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, wants a 25% voting control in the company before diving into artificial intelligence (AI) projects. Musk currently owns around 13% of Tesla stock. He shared on X, "I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control." He believes that without this control, the company could be vulnerable to takeovers by questionable parties.
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Tesla's AI and robotics projects
Tesla is investing heavily in AI and robotics, including the Optimus robot and the Dojo supercomputer. The company is pouring over $1 billion into Dojo, which will help train machine-learning models for Tesla's self-driving systems. Analysts predict this project could boost Tesla's value by $500 billion. During Tesla's first-ever AI Day in 2021, Musk claimed that the company is "arguably the leader in real-world AI."
Challenges and shareholder dissatisfaction
Tesla also faces hurdles in creating a dual-class voting structure to meet Musk's desired control level as it is "impossible to achieve post-IPO in Delaware." The company is also awaiting a decision in a shareholder lawsuit regarding a previous $55 billion compensation package. Meanwhile, Tesla's shares have dropped 12% this year, wiping out over $94 billion in market value. Shareholders are concerned about succession planning and believe Musk may be too preoccupied with his work on X.