Elon Musk threatened to abandon some of Tesla ’s most of import study on Monday in an ongoing struggle over how much he gets paid . The billionaire tweeted that he ’s “ uncomfortable ” working on AI and robotics projects at the company unless he gains more control of its breed . Musk , who owns about a 13 % share in the company , menace to “ make product outside of Tesla ” if his ownership does n’t grow to 25 % .
“ I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without have ~25 % voting controller . Enough to be influential , but not so much that I ca n’t be overturned , ” MusktweetedMonday . “ Unless that is the showcase , I would prefer to work up ware alfresco of Tesla . ”
The raise importance of AI seems to be the latest bargaining poker chip in a recent sound fight between Musk and his own shareholder . In July , 2023 , Musk and other Tesla panel members returned $ 735 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them ofsiphoning money from the organization . Tesla ’s control board members also agreed they would n’t be compensated for 2021 , 2022 , or 2023 .

Photo: Bloomberg / Contributor (Getty Images)
“ I should note that the Tesla board is slap-up , ” Musk wrote . “ The ground for no Modern ‘ recompense design ’ is that we are still waiting for a conclusion in my Delaware compensation case . The test for that was hold in 2022 , but a verdict has yet to be made . ” Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
Musk ’s portion of the company has been reduce ever since he wasforced to buy Twitter , after he announced his intent to purchase the companionship thentried to back out . The $ 44 billion prickle price was a lot , even for the world ’s richest man , andMusk sold billion in Tesla stockin part to finance the wad both before and after he assume control of the weapons platform . Still , Musk maintains one of the largest individual part of the railcar maker .
AI already make up a major part of Tesla ’s patronage , and Musk predicts it will grow to become even more significant than the party ’s car . The most obvious deterrent example is Tesla ’s misleadingly namedlevel 2 driver - assistance system“full ego driving mode ” ( which the company now admitsisn’t in reality amply self drivingafter effectual threat ) . But robots could be a bigger part of the company ’s future , if you believe the mercurial Musk .

Screenshot: Gizmodo / X
hr before threatening his own company , Musk tweeted a TV of Tesla ’s new humanoid robot Optimusawkwardly fold up a shirt , something it manifestly ca n’t even do without human aid . The world have a memorable introduction to Optimus in 2021 , when Musk infamously forced a guy to walk around in aspandex suit pretending to be a automaton . But the billionaire try out the robot is real , if nothing else , the following year , with a debut that feature the robotdrunkenly digress around a stagechaperoned by a team of employees who seemed terrified it might fall over . Do n’t rent that scare you off : Musk anticipate that Optimus “ ultimately will be worth more than the car business concern and worth more than full ego - drive . ”
Musk ’s USA of follower on X / Twitter seem broadly enthusiastic about the billionaire ’s admonition about the future of Tesla . The Neolibertarian Twitter movement that Musk champions online is increasingly interested about the “ wokeness ” of artificial news . The CEO and many of his following are alarmed that chatbots , includingone built by Muskhimself , won’t parrot their extremist viewson issue such as the human rights of trans people . On X , Musk spend Monday good afternoon go back and forward with following whoworried that AI might destroy the worldif he does n’t have more control of Tesla .
Elon MuskMuskTESLATesla , Inc. Twitter , Inc. vista of Elon MuskX ( Twitter )

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