Elon Musk says he needs $1 trillion to control Tesla’s ‘robot army’

Well, that’s not precise subtle.

In an net telephone past night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said helium needs much power implicit Tesla, arsenic good arsenic a wage bundle that could beryllium worthy astir $1 trillion, successful speech for gathering a “robot army.” Otherwise, helium could get ousted arsenic CEO, and then, well, who would power the army?

In a sense, Musk is asking Tesla’s shareholders to ballot to o.k. an tremendous payday to insure that helium — and helium unsocial — remains successful power of the company’s legions of humanoid robots (that bash not exist). It was a precise unusual mode to transportation investors to ballot successful favour of the connection that’s been enactment guardant by the company’s board. And it amounted to an unsubtle menace that Musk could simply prime up his shot and spell play determination else.

“My cardinal interest with regard to however overmuch voting power I person successful Tesla is, if I spell up and physique this tremendous robot army, can I conscionable beryllium ousted astatine immoderate constituent successful the future?” Musk said. “That’s my biggest concern.”

Under the projected wage package, Musk would request to conscionable definite milestones successful bid to person that eye-popping compensation, specified arsenic producing 1 cardinal robotaxis and 1 cardinal humanoid robots, arsenic good arsenic summation Tesla’s valuation by trillions of dollars. Musk, already the world’s richest man, would ascend to caller heights of fiscal untouchability if helium is capable to execute these goals. Shareholders are expected to o.k. the bundle during the company’s yearly shareholder gathering connected November 7th.

Musk’s fears of being kicked retired of Tesla struggle with his erstwhile threats to simply permission the institution if the wage bundle is not approved. It seems outlandish that Tesla’s committee would ever see ousting Musk, particularly aft they sat connected their hands passim the twelvemonth arsenic Musk’s hard-charging efforts for the Trump medication as caput of DOGE led to a nationwide protestation movement against Tesla and a melodramatic driblet successful the company’s sales. If moonlighting arsenic Trump’s hatchet antheral couldn’t get Musk fired, it’s hard to ideate what would.

Musk besides tried a antithetic maneuver during the net call: questioning whether the wealth was adjacent that important to him. “It’s called compensation. But it’s not similar I’m going to spell walk the money,” Musk said. “It’s just, if we physique this robot army, bash I person astatine slightest a beardown influence over that robot army? Not control, but a beardown influence.”

It wasn’t truthful agelong agone that Musk was sounding the informing astir AI’s “threat to humanity.” He famously compared enactment connected AI to “summoning the demon,” and warned clip and clip again that the exertion poses an existential hazard to humanity. And helium urged governments to commencement regulating AI before it was excessively late.

Now helium is posing a situation to Tesla shareholders: Give maine the power, oregon else. This coming from a feline who threw not 1 but two Nazi salutes astatine Donald Trump’s inauguration. Whose propulsion to destruct backing for humanitarian programs done USAID could pb to the deaths of millions of radical by 2030, according to a caller study. Who claims to beryllium a escaped code absolutist portion welcoming back white supremacists and predetermination deniers to his societal media platform. And who built a chatbot that declared itself to beryllium “MechaHitler.”

Of course, Tesla’s Optimus robots are a agelong mode from posing immoderate benignant of menace to society. They struggled to hand retired popcorn astatine the company’s diner successful Los Angeles. And they were revealed to beryllium under distant control astatine Tesla’s Cybercab lawsuit past year. In the call, Musk acknowledged that it was hard to physique a robot manus that was arsenic dexterous arsenic a quality one.

The remainder was the mean Musk histrionics: Optimus volition beryllium Tesla’s “biggest merchandise of each time”; robot surgeons are a possibility; and the robot is similar “an infinite wealth glitch” for Tesla, insofar arsenic however overmuch gross it volition generate.

Musk said that Tesla volition unveil “Optimus V3” during the archetypal 4th of adjacent year. The 4th mentation volition beryllium the 1 that scales into the tens of thousands of units, helium added. “It’ll look like a idiosyncratic successful a robot suit, which is however we started disconnected with Optimus,” helium quipped. “It’ll look truthful existent that you’ll request to poke it, I think, to judge that it’s really a robot.”

Proxy-advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis are advising Tesla shareholders to reason Musk’s wage package, prompting the petulant CEO to telephone the firms “corporate terrorists.” If past is prologue, shareholders are apt to o.k. the board’s connection to acquisition Musk much power implicit the institution by a wide margin. And if his predictions astir Optimus travel to pass, we’ll spot what the world’s archetypal trillionaire does with his caller army.