At a surprise all-hands-on meeting Thursday night in Texas, Tesla CEO Elon Musk rallied up his company’s employees as the brand’s public reputation continues to plummet, Business Insider reports. At the livestreamed meeting, Musk told employees to “hang on to your stock” – which declined in value by 50 percent since December – and promised big things are coming for its Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus humanoid robot.
Musk deflected on the stock drop at the meeting and reiterated promises that Tesla’s autonomous software used for its vehicles’ so-called Full Self-Driving feature, robotaxis, and Optimus bots would bring the company’s value to new heights. “It’s so profound and there’s no comparison with anything in the past,” Musk said. He says they can make about 5,000 Optimus robots this year. “I think we will literally build a legion, at least one legion of robots this year and then probably 10 legions next year,” Musk said.
On the Cybercab, Musk said a “revolutionary manufacturing process” is in the works that can build a robotaxi in “less than five seconds” like “a high-speed consumer electronics line.” Musk said Tesla will need to make a very big casting machine, which sounds like the “gigacasting” process the company was working on but reportedly pulled back on last year. Tesla revealed the Cybercab at its “We, Robot” event last year, and Musk said people could buy one for $30,000 by 2026.
These all-hand-on meetings usually happen during the day, but Musk seems pressured by escalating protests and concerned analysts, like Wedbush’s Dan Ives, who expressed concerns about how much time Musk spends on politics. “I have, like, 17 jobs,” Musk told the employee audience. During the Q and A portion of the meeting, employees did not bring up Musk’s role in Washington actively backing the Trump administration.
Musk has been spending a good deal of time heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) promising to cut wasteful government spending, but instead, recklessly gutting crucial institutions such as the FTC and USAID. In addition, he runs SpaceX, Neurallink, and The Boring Company.
