Musk raises concerns over who controls Tesla's future robot army

In a call with investors, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he does not feel comfortable creating a "huge army of robots" without sufficient control over them. The focus is on the Optimus humanoid project, which Musk calls the company's future alongside AI and software.

This information was reported by Wired.

Why does Elon Musk need an "army" of robots?

Tesla, which Musk positions as both an electric car manufacturer and an innovator in the fields of AI and robotics, is trying to increase its value significantly. In July, Musk wrote that the company could be worth up to $20 trillion — more than five times Nvidia's current market capitalization. In November, Tesla shareholders will vote on a proposal by the board of directors for a $1 trillion compensation package for Musk over the next decade. Under this plan, Musk's stake in Tesla would increase from 13% to nearly 25%, but only if Tesla meets several ambitious goals: delivering 20 million cars, launching 1 million robotaxis, achieving a $8.5 trillion valuation, and delivering 1 million Optimus robots.

During the investor call, Musk emphasized the last point, justifying the need for a "huge" reward based on his level of control over the future robot fleet.

"My fundamental concern with regard to how much voting control I have at Tesla is, if I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future? If we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over this robot army? Not control, but a strong influence ... I don't feel comfortable building that robot army unless I have a strong influence," Musk says.

Musk has publicly described Optimus as a force for peace that will "free humanity from routine tasks". During the same call, he said that Tesla robots "will create a world without poverty, where everyone has access to the best medical care." He said that Optimus "will be an incredible surgeon — imagine if everyone could have access to an incredible surgeon." Musk added that, for Tesla's business, Optimus will be an "endless money glitch" because "everyone will want a humanoid to do their job for them".

Despite these ambitions, the path to mass implementation remains difficult. During the call, Musk emphasized the engineering challenges associated with the humanoid's hands and forearms, effectively confirming previous reports that these components present the greatest difficulty for Tesla. Although the company had set an internal goal of producing 5,000 Optimus units this year, production plans were scaled back in the summer. Musk said a "prototype as close to production as possible" will be ready by February or March, with full-scale production starting by the end of next year.

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