Musk Plays Up ‘Sentient Humanoid’ Robots as Tesla Flounders
If ever there was a way to distract from Tesla’s lackluster corporate results on Tuesday, it was this: CEO Elon Musk declared during the company’s earnings call that he hopes to sell “sentient humanoid” robots by the end of next year.
Before then, the robots known as “Optimus” will likely be used at Tesla’s factories sometime this year, he said. “I think Optimus will be more valuable than everything else [at Tesla] combined,” Musk boasted. “If you’ve got a sentient humanoid that is able to navigate reality and do tasks…there is no meaningful limit to the size of the economy.”
Tesla is currently worth roughly half a trillion dollars.
Before the dawn of its not-yet-proven humanoid robot era, Tesla faces big financial issues in the short term. During the first quarter of the year, its profits tanked 55 percent—to $1.1 billion—the company announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, its revenue sank 9 percent, to $21.3 billion. Earlier this month, the carmaker announced that it would lay off 10 percent of its staff in an effort to shore up its finances.
Investors evidently thought the company’s results would be even worse on Tuesday, as Tesla’s stock rose more than 10 percent in after-hours trading.
Tesla waved away its struggles, writing in a press release that many obstacles—from conflict in the Red Sea to an arson attack on its factory in Berlin—had been out of the company’s control. But it hasn’t helped that Musk has also alienated some left-leaning buyers with his nonstop antics on X. Tesla said Tuesday that it would change some of its strategies, like moving up the release of new car models.
On the earnings call, Musk pressed the case for electric vehicles despite industry headwinds, arguing that gas-powered cars without autonomous capabilities will one day be viewed the same way horse-drawn carriages are today.
He also detailed Tesla’s plans to launch an army of robotaxis; within a decade, he forecasted, the company will have tens of millions of vehicles in operation that it may be able to utilize to that end. It’s worth noting, however, that Musk has previously made outlandish predictions about company timelines that did not pan out.
The billionaire insists that he is fully focused on the carmaker, despite the headaches at X. Considering his proposed pay package, investors will need to believe him.
This month, the company said it will ask shareholders to vote on Musk’s unprecedented compensation agreement, which is worth about $50 billion. The pay package was previously approved, but a Delaware judge tossed it out earlier this year, saying stockholders weren’t sufficiently informed about the “unfathomable sum” of money bestowed on him.
It’s not clear whether the new proposal will survive legal challenges. In the interim, Musk is working to reincorporate Tesla in Texas, away from the prying hands of the Delaware Chancery Court.
