Musk Warns ‘Teething Pains’ as Tesla Looks to AI, More for Growth
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, has advised investors to prepare for a possible bumpy period in the future as the auto maker experienced revenues decline 12 percent to 22.5 billion dollars in Q2, which was the most significant decline in nearly 10 years.
The income of Tesla decreased by 12 percent to 22.5 billion dollars and adjusted profit was 40 cents per share, according to Tesla, slightly lower than the analyst estimate.
Elon Musk emphasized the need of autonomous driving and the humanoid optimus robot program in the company, where he mentioned that “if Tesla continues to execute well with vehicle autonomy and humanoid robot autonomy, it will be the most valuable company in the world”.
Speaking at the shareholders meeting, Elon Musk added that “there will be some teething pains” given that the company has invested in robot engineering and autonomous driving, it would be more important to bring out the aspect of AI and chip development, which Tesla could explore in depth.
According to reports, Elon Musk says that they plan to bring robotaxi to new cities by the end of the year but cautioned that expiring EV incentives would affect its core automotive business.
Tesla also reported the “first builds of a more affordable model in June”, noting that it had originally said production would begin in the first half of this year. This model, which is saidto be similar to Tesla's Model Y according to Elon Musk, is being viewed as key to raising the auto major's declining sales.
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On the company’s robotaxi, Tesla says it aims to further improve and expand the service, and future growth could be in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, reaching “half of the population of the US by the end of the year”. But this is dependent on approvals from local state governments.
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The world's richest person also expressed concerns over his share of Tesla, suggesting that his holding should be larger in order to prevent a potential ouster from an activist investor, the report added. “I think my control over Tesla should be enough to ensure that it goes in a good direction, but not so much control that I can’t be thrown out if I go crazy,” Elon Musk says.